Amnesty International: American munitions killed 43 civilians in two documented Israeli raids

Amnesty International: American munitions killed 43 civilians in two documented Israeli raids

    4:26 AM   No comments

 US-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) were used by the Israeli military in two deadly, unlawful air strikes on homes full of civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip, Amnesty International has found based on a new investigation into those strikes. The organization found that these air strikes were either direct attacks on civilians or civilian objects or indiscriminate attacks and is calling for them to be investigated as war crimes.

The organization found distinctive fragments of the munition in the rubble of destroyed homes in central Gaza following two strikes that killed a total of 43 civilians – 19 children, 14 women and 10 men. In both cases, survivors told Amnesty International there had been no warning of an imminent strike.

On 10 October, an air strike on the al-Najjar family home in Deir al-Balah killed 24 people. On 22 October, an air strike on the Abu Mu’eileq family home in the same city killed 19 people. Both homes were south of Wadi Gaza, within the area where, on 13 October, the Israeli military had ordered residents of northern Gaza to relocate to.

Meanwhile, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Al-Haq, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights express deep concern over the prolonged delay in the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor's direct engagement with Palestinian victims, especially in Gaza, despite persistent calls since the assumption of his office. While acknowledging Prosecutor Khan's upcoming meetings with Palestinian officials in Ramallah during his first-ever visit to the State of Palestine, the crucial need for direct interaction with victims remains unaddressed.

  

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan signals unwillingness to indict perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan signals unwillingness to indict perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity

    8:44 AM   No comments

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, who acted in record time to indict Russian president Putin at the urging of Western governments, is willfully blind to war crimes and crimes against humanity, the two main crimes the ICC was created to adjudicate, that are happening in Gaza.

After visiting the region, he stated that there “credible allegations of crimes during the current conflict should be the subject of timely, independent examination and investigation.”

Khan also expressed “profound concern” at what he called “the significant increase in incidents of attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank,” saying that “no Israeli armed with an extreme ideology and a gun can feel they can act with impunity against Palestinian civilians.”

Hinting at what will be his strategy of and justification for the delay in the Court’s action, Khan said that the standard would be to gather “objective, verifiable evidence which can stand scrutiny in the courtroom and ensure that when we do proceed we have a realistic prospect of conviction.”

This suggests that, unlike his quick action on events related to the war in Ukraine that is still going on, the ICC is likely to sit on its hands until more children and women, 70% of the civilians killed in Gaza thus far, are killed and until the war stops, which may be months or years.

Expressing concern about its inaction, the head of the Palestinian authority in West Bank, which unlike Israel, ratified the ICC treaty, told Khan that the credibility of the ICC will be determined by its action or inaction related to the war in Gaza.

Expressing growing global concern, the State of Qatar, which has been deeply involved in reaching a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, is now calling for an immediate, comprehensive and impartial international investigation into the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip.

 

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani renewed his country's strong condemnation of the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces.

 

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman said that Qatar has made great efforts in mediation to stop this war of revenge, and will continue its efforts with all active countries to resume the truce and reach a permanent ceasefire.

 

 

How many people have died in Gaza?

How many people have died in Gaza?

    4:19 AM   No comments

 

US president Joe Biden dismissed the figures accounting for the number of people killed in Gaza. The density of the small enclave, the frequency of bombardment, and the kind of weapons used, all point to the likelihood of staggering numbers of people killed, injured, or missing. Images of destructed homes and full neighborhoods in an enclave where more than 2.2 million people live also points to unprecedent level of deaths in Gaza. 

Gaza Strip is a 41 km (25 miles) long and 10 km wide, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on west and walled off from Israel by a "the smart, anti-tunnel wall" Israel built along its border with Gaza, and fenced off by another barrier along the border with Egypt. Since 2008, it became the most besieged, isolated community in the world.

Journalist Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber reported that "despite Biden's doubts, humanitarian agencies consider Gaza toll reliable." UN, too, said that Gaza Health Ministry death tolls, in this war, as it were in previous wars, "credible". 

So. what is Gaza's death toll?

Media reports concluded that "Gaza civilian deaths outpacing those of other conflict zones." 

UN called Gaza "a children's graveyard." UNICEF documented horrific stories of killed and orphaned children.

Possible sources for finding information about Gaza Body Count:

• Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza
• Social media sites: 
• Gaza Shaheed  a social media account that published names and photos of Gazans (and sometime persons from West Bank) killed. 
• News Outlets: AP reporting on the conflict often provides updates about death toll.
• ...

  

For years, the FBI quietly stopped tracking anti-Arab violence and hate crimes

For years, the FBI quietly stopped tracking anti-Arab violence and hate crimes

    10:08 AM   No comments

The families of three college students of Palestinian descent who were shot over the weekend in Vermont are calling it a crime "fueled by hate." So far, police in Burlington say they don't have information to suggest what the motive for the attack was.

Still, the shooting surfaces long-standing issues in tracking possible hate crimes committed against Arab Americans.

And the question of whether this attack will ultimately be prosecuted as a hate crime is set against an unique and complex history when it comes to tracking anti-Arab violence in the U.S. 

> read more...

BBC: "Released Palestinians tell the BBC the “violations” they were subjected to in Israeli prisons"

BBC: "Released Palestinians tell the BBC the “violations” they were subjected to in Israeli prisons"

    7:32 AM   No comments

Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails say that guards carried out abuse and collective punishment in the weeks after the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October.

They have described being hit with sticks, having muzzled dogs set on them, and their clothes, food and blankets taken away.

One female prisoner has said she was threatened with rape, and that guards twice tear-gassed inmates inside the cells.

The BBC spoke to six people in total, all of whom said they were beaten before leaving jail.

The Palestinian Prisoners Society says some guards are alleged to have urinated on handcuffed Palestinian prisoners. And that six prisoners have died in Israeli custody in the past seven weeks.

Israel says all its prisoners are detained according to the law.

Eighteen-year-old Mohammed Nazzal was one of those released by Israel this week, in exchange for Israeli women and children held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.

He had been held in custody in Nafha Prison without charge since August, and says he does not know why he was arrested. 

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