Yoav Gallant

Israel Has Killed Over 1,000 Doctors and Nurses in Gaza

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Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Hussam Abu Safiyeh, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, is treated by colleagues for his injuries following an Israeli strike that hit the medical compound in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 23, 2024. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)

“These people, they target everyone, but I swear, this will not stop us from continuing our humanitarian work,” said a Gaza hospital director injured in an Israeli strike.

More than 1,000 doctors and nurses are among at least 44,211 people killed in Israel’s 13-month assault on the Gaza Strip, officials in the Hamas-governed Palestinian enclave said Sunday.

“Over 310 other medical personnel were arrested, tortured, and executed in prisons,” Gaza’s Government Media Office also said in a statement, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency. “The Israeli army also prevented the entry of medical supplies, health delegations, and hundreds of surgeons into Gaza.”

“Hospitals have been a declared target for the Israeli army, which bombed, besieged, and stormed them, killing doctors and nurses, injuring others after directly targeting them,” the office said. The statement came after the director of the main partially functioning hospital in northern Gaza was injured in an Israeli strike.

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Hussam Abu Safiyeh is the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital—which, according to Al Jazeera, Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked, damaging “the facility’s generators, fuel tanks, and main oxygen station.”

The wounded director said: “These people, they target everyone, but I swear, this will not stop us from continuing our humanitarian work. We will keep on providing this service no matter what it costs us.”

Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in addition to killing tens of thousands of Palestinians, Israeli forces have injured at least 104,567 others. Along with attacking hospitals, they have destroyed many homes, schools, and religious sites, and displaced most of the enclave’s 2.3 million people.

Israel—which has been armed by the Biden administration and bipartisan U.S. Congress—faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its conduct in Gaza. Additionally, the International Criminal Court earlier this week issued arrest warrants for Israel’s current prime minister and former defense minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri.

Last month, 99 U.S. healthcare providers who have volunteered in Gaza since last fall sent U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris a letter detailing “the massive human toll from Israel’s attack” and urging them to “end this madness now!”

“It is likely that the death toll from this conflict is already greater than 118,908, an astonishing 5.4% of Gaza’s population,” the Americans wrote. “With only marginal exceptions, everyone in Gaza is sick, injured, or both. This includes every national aid worker, every international volunteer, and probably every Israeli hostage: every man, woman, and child.”

“We quickly learned that our Palestinian healthcare colleagues were among the most traumatized people in Gaza, and perhaps in the entire world,” they continued. “All were acutely aware that their work as healthcare providers had marked them as targets for Israel. This makes a mockery of the protected status hospitals and healthcare providers are granted under the oldest and most widely accepted provisions of international humanitarian law.”

They added that “we wish to be absolutely clear: Not once did any of us see any type of Palestinian militant activity in any of Gaza’s hospitals or other healthcare facilities. We urge you to see that Israel has systematically and deliberately devastated Gaza’s entire healthcare system, and that Israel has targeted our colleagues in Gaza for torture, disappearance, and murder.”

Despite such appeals and accounts, the outgoing Biden-Harris administration has declined to cut off weapons to the Israeli government and earlier this week most U.S. senators from both major parties rejected a trio of resolutions from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that would have blocked some American arms sales to Israel.

Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Continue ReadingIsrael Has Killed Over 1,000 Doctors and Nurses in Gaza

US Complicity at a Crossroads: ICC Arrest Warrants Demand Accountability

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Original article by Raed Jarrar republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) confers with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (R), during their meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden at the start of the Israeli war cabinet meeting, in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and Gallant this week. (Photo by Miriam Alster / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Their entanglement in Israel’s war makes U.S. leaders vulnerable to legal accountability not just for aiding and abetting crimes, but for direct complicity in their commission.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued historic arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, charging them with war crimes and crimes against humanity. This unprecedented move against Israeli officials holds profound implications not only for Israeli leaders but also for their enablers, including the United States. As the Biden administration continues to provide billions in military aid to Israel, these warrants serve as both a warning and a call to action. To avoid complicity in these crimes, top U.S. officials should immediately halt military assistance or risk legal repercussions for continued support of Israeli war crimes.

Significantly, the ICC also has a history of issuing sealed indictments that remain confidential until the targeted individuals enter a member state. This means that beyond Netanyahu and Gallant, other Israeli officials, most likely soldiers documented committing gross crimes, likely face undisclosed warrants, with far-reaching implications for Israeli military forces and those who support their actions.

As the Biden administration continues to provide billions in military aid to Israel, these warrants serve as both a warning and a call to action.

This development should serve as a wake-up call for the U.S. government. The Biden administration continues to provide billions of dollars in unrestricted military aid to Israel—$17.9 billion this year alone—despite a majority of Americans who now oppose such aid. Israeli forces have used these weapons to commit the very crimes for which the ICC has issued arrest warrants. This is not just morally indefensible; it is legally risky. Article 25(3)(c) of the Rome Statute explicitly outlines criminal liability for aiding and abetting war crimes. While the U.S. is not an ICC member state, its officials and leaders could still face prosecution for enabling crimes under the court’s jurisdiction, such as the crimes underway in Palestine.

It’s important to note that the Biden administration has not only armed Israel but has also contributed directly to operations on the ground, including intelligence sharing, targeting data, and direct military combat in Yemen and Iraq targeting armed groups who are fighting Israel. This entanglement in Israel’s war makes U.S. leaders vulnerable to legal accountability not just for aiding and abetting crimes, but for direct complicity in their commission. This moment calls for more than celebration—it demands meaningful and decisive action. For justice to prevail, the international community should rise to the occasion and ensure accountability at every level. A critical first step lies with the 124 member states of the ICC. These nations should publicly commit to upholding their obligations under international law by affirming their readiness to arrest Israeli officials if they enter their jurisdiction. Notably, countries such as the Netherlands, France, Canada, Spain, and Italy have already signaled their intent to enforce the ICC’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

By cutting ties with leaders implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity, nations can exert pressure on Israel to change course and demonstrate their commitment to upholding justice and human rights.

Beyond national commitments, ICC member states could leverage international mechanisms to restrict the movement of indicted individuals. They should work collectively to request Interpol Red Notices for Netanyahu, Gallant, and any other officials facing charges. These notices would alert law enforcement worldwide to the existence of arrest warrants, ensuring that the accused cannot travel freely without risk of apprehension and extradition. Such measures are not merely symbolic; they serve as a tangible step toward accountability, signaling to perpetrators and their supporters that the international community will not tolerate impunity.

Equally important is the need for countries to reevaluate and sever their political and military ties with Israel’s leadership, at least as long as Netanyahu serves as Israel prime minister. This includes halting weapons sales and other forms of military cooperation with the Netanyahu government. Military aid and arms exports fuel the very crimes that the ICC is now investigating, making complicity in these actions inexcusable. By cutting ties with leaders implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity, nations can exert pressure on Israel to change course and demonstrate their commitment to upholding justice and human rights. These steps, taken collectively, would not only support the ICC’s mission but also strengthen the principles of accountability and rule of law in international relations.

Original article by Raed Jarrar republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Continue ReadingUS Complicity at a Crossroads: ICC Arrest Warrants Demand Accountability

Activists welcome the ICC arrest warrants issued against Netanyahu and Gallant

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/activists-welcome-icc-arrest-warrants-issued-against-netanyahu-and-gallant

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant attend a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 28, 2023

ACTIVISTS and experts welcomed the arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant issued by the International Criminal Court today.

Leading Hamas official Mohammed Deif also had a warrant issued against him.

The warrants accused each of them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the 13-month war in Gaza and the October 2023 attack on Israel respectively.

The three-judge panel was unanimous in its decision to issue warrants for Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant, saying that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”

…

The court’s action turns Mr Netanyahu and the others into internationally wanted suspects.

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/activists-welcome-icc-arrest-warrants-issued-against-netanyahu-and-gallant

Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted "I support Zionism without qualification." He's asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted “I support Zionism without qualification.” He’s asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
Genocide denying UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government's support for Israel's Gaza genocide and the UK government and military's active participation in genocide.
Genocide denying UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government’s support for Israel’s Gaza genocide and the UK government and military’s active participation in genocide.
Continue ReadingActivists welcome the ICC arrest warrants issued against Netanyahu and Gallant

Pope Francis Urges Genocide Probe of Israel’s War on Gaza

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Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Pope Francis speaks on December 25, 2023 in the Vatican City.(Photo: Alessandra Benedetti/Corbis via Getty Images)

The pontiff’s call comes as the International Court of Justice is reviewing evidence in a South Africa-led genocide case against Israel.

In a new book set to be released this week, Pope Francis I endorsed a genocide investigation into Israel’s war on Gaza—which has killed or maimed more than 150,000 Palestinians and forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened millions more over the past 13 months.

“In the Middle East, where the open doors of nations like Jordan or Lebanon continue to be a salvation for millions of people fleeing conflicts in the region: I am thinking above all of those who leave Gaza in the midst of the famine that has struck their Palestinian brothers and sisters given the difficulty of getting food and aid into their territory,” the pontiff wrote in his latest book, which goes on sale in some countries on November 19.

“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” the Pope added. “It should be carefully investigated to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.”

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The Pope’s words echo last week’s finding by a United Nations expert panel that Israel’s annihilation of Gaza is “consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”

The International Court of Justice—a U.N. organ—is currently weighing a South Africa-led genocide case against Israel backed by more than 30 nations and regional blocs as well as hundreds of groups and experts around the world.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three former Hamas leaders assassinated by Israel, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including extermination.

Many jurists, scholars, and other experts—including some of Israel’s leading Holocaust historians—have called Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza genocide. Early in the war, Raz Segal—an Israeli historian and professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University in New Jersey—called Israel’s Gaza onslaught “a textbook case of genocide.”

Numerous world leaders and other international officials, artists, entertainers, and others—including half of Democratic voters in the United States surveyed in May—also agree that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Many Palestinian Christians have been killed, injured, or otherwise harmed by Israeli forces during the bombardment, invasion, and siege of Gaza. With just 800 to 1,000 people believed remaining in Gaza, members of the world’s oldest Christian community warned early in the war that they were “under threat of extinction.”

In their most infamous attack on Gaza Christians, Israeli forces bombed the 12th century Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church, Gaza’s oldest, in October 2023, killing 18 Palestinians including numerous children. Among the victims were two women and an infant related to former Republican U.S. Congressman Justin Amash of Michigan.

After an Israeli sniper fatally shot an elderly woman and her daughter on the grounds of a Catholic church in Gaza City last December, Pope Francis condemned what he called an act of “terrorism.”

Amid the death and destruction wrought by Israel’s assault on Gaza, last December’s Christmas celebrations were canceled in Bethlehem, the purported birthplace of Jesus Christ.

“How can we celebrate when we feel this war—this genocide—that is taking place could resume at any moment?” asked Palestinian Lutheran pastor Munther Isaac at the time.

Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Biden’s Faith and Support for Genocide in Gaza

Continue ReadingPope Francis Urges Genocide Probe of Israel’s War on Gaza

Historic ICC War Crimes Complaint Names 1,000 Israeli Soldiers

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Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

The bodies of victims of the October 31, 2023 Israeli bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip are lined up outside the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza City. (Photo: Fadi Alwhidi/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“This complaint is not only the largest ever submitted to the ICC, but it is also a milestone in documenting Israeli war crimes for future generations.”

A Belgium-based advocacy group on Tuesday announced it “filed an unprecedented and historic complaint with the International Criminal Court against 1,000 Israeli occupation forces soldiers for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Gaza,” where more than 150,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded and millions more displaced, starved, and sickened by Israel’s yearlong onslaught.

The Hind Rajab Foundation—named after the 6-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in January along with half a dozen relatives and rescue workers by Israeli troops invading Gaza in retaliation for the October 2023 Hamas-led attack—said that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) personnel identified by name in the International Criminal Court (ICC) complaint “are accused of participating in systematic attacks against civilians during the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”

“This complaint, supported by over 8,000 pieces of verifiable evidence—including videos, audio recordings, forensic reports, and social media documentation—demonstrates the soldiers’ direct involvement in these atrocities,” the group explained. “All of the named soldiers were located in Gaza during the genocidal assault, and the evidence reveals their participation in violations of international law.”

The foundation accuses Israeli forces of:

  • Destruction of civilian infrastructure: Targeted attacks on homes, hospitals, schools, markets, mosques, and other civilian infrastructure.
  • Illegal occupation and looting: Soldiers were documented occupying civilian homes, looting personal belongings, and exploiting occupied properties.
  • Participation in the Gaza blockade: The soldiers played an active role in enforcing a blockade that deprived civilians of essential goods such as food, water, and medical supplies.
  • Targeting civilians: Audio and video evidence show soldiers deliberately attacking noncombatant individuals, including medical personnel and journalists.
  • Use of inhumane warfare tactics: Indiscriminate bombing campaigns, starvation, and the systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure were all part of their actions.

The IDF soldiers identified in the complaint include at least 12 American, 12 French, four Canadian, three British, and two Dutch nationals.

“This complaint is not only the largest ever submitted to the ICC, but it is also a milestone in documenting Israeli war crimes for future generations,” the Hind Rajab Foundation said. “By meticulously identifying the perpetrators and detailing their crimes, we are establishing a historical record that will ensure the individuals responsible are remembered and held accountable.”

“The submission of this complaint represents a significant moment in the fight for justice,” the group continued. “We honor the memory of Hind Rajab and the countless victims who have perished in the ongoing genocide. Their stories will not be forgotten, and their voices will be heard through our persistent legal action.”

The foundation added that the complaint “supports the efforts” of International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan—who is seeking to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leaders—and “pushes for immediate action, including the issuance of arrest warrants for those responsible.”

“We believe this complaint marks a turning point in the global fight to bring justice to Palestine,” the group asserted.

The complaint’s filing came amid Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, for which the U.S.-backed ally is on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice. In recent weeks, Israel has escalated attacks on Lebanon, Syria, and elsewhere, killing and injuring thousands of people and threatening to plunge the Middle East into a wider war.

The filing also came on the same day that Sky News published an investigation confirming that IDF officials lied when repeatedly claiming there were no Israeli troops near the site of Rajab’s killing at the time of the attack. The British network published satellite images showing numerous IDF vehicles nearby and interviewed military experts who identified damage done by bullets and tank rounds to the vehicle in which the family was traveling.

The car was hit multiple times. Hind Rajab and her 15-year-old cousin Layan were the last survivors. In one recorded phone conversation with Rajab’s mother before the two children were killed Layan said, “The tanks are next to us.”

Hamas has no tanks.

The Sky News investigation was at least the second journalistic probe that concluded Israeli officials are not telling the truth about the attack.

In June, the U.K. research agency Forensic Architecture collaborated with Al Jazeera journalists and the advocacy group Earshot to publish an analysis that found Israeli tank fire likely fired the bullets that killed Rajab, her relatives, and two paramedics trying to rescue them in an ambulance that was blown to pieces despite receiving IDF permission to proceed with the rescue shortly before being attacked.

Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Continue ReadingHistoric ICC War Crimes Complaint Names 1,000 Israeli Soldiers