Amnesty has gathered concrete proof that US made weapons are / have been used in Gaza airstrikes
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/12/israel-opt-us-made-munitions-killed-43-civilians-in-two-documented-israeli-air-strikes-in-gaza-new-investigation/
- Fragments of US-made JDAM bombs found in rubble of homes destroyed by Israeli air strikes
- Attacks must be investigated as war crimes
- “US-made weapons facilitated the mass killings of extended families” – Agnès Callamard
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.
“The fact that US-made munitions are being used by Israeli military in unlawful attacks with deadly consequences for civilians should be an urgent wake-up call to the Biden administration. The US-made weapons facilitated the mass killings of extended families,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
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“In the face of the unprecedented civilian death toll and scale of destruction in Gaza, the US and other governments must immediately stop transferring arms to Israel that more likely than not will be used to commit or heighten risks of violations of international law. To knowingly assist in violations is contrary to the obligation to ensure respect for international humanitarian law. A state that continues to supply arms being used to commit violations may share responsibility for these violations.”
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Amnesty International did not find any indication that there were any military objectives at the sites of the two strikes or that people in the buildings were legitimate military targets, raising concerns that these strikes were direct attacks on civilians. In addition, even if the strikes – which Israel has yet to provide any information about – were intended to target military objectives, the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in such densely populated areas could make these indiscriminate attacks. As such, these attacks must be investigated as war crimes.
Just to harp some more on CNN reporting, they did report this yet with this in between (unlike when reporting on the alleged rapes for example)
CNN cannot independently verify Amnesty's findings.
In a statement to CNN, the Israel Defense Forces called the report “flawed, biased and premature, based on baseless assumptions regarding the IDF’s operations.”
“The assumption that intelligence regarding the military use of a particular structure does not exist unless revealed is contradictory to any understanding of military activity, and the report uses this flawed assumption to imply equally flawed and biased conclusions regarding the IDF, in line with existing biases and prior problematic work by this organization,” the IDF said.
Why does CNN keep parroting IDF (proven lies) while questioning everything the UN, UNWRA, WHO, Amnesty, PRCS, MSF, etc says.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-chief-rings-alarm-bell-global-security-threat-gaza-war-2023-12-06/
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a rare move on Wednesday to formally warn the Security Council of a global threat from the Gaza war as Arab states seek to use this alert to push the council to call for a ceasefire within days.
The United Arab Emirates gave the council a brief draft resolution, seen by Reuters, that would act on the letter from Guterres by demanding an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire" in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas.
Diplomats said the UAE aims to put the text to a vote on Friday when the council is due to be briefed by Guterres on Gaza. To be adopted, a resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the five permanent members - the United States, Russia, China, France or Britain.
Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood, said the United States does not support any further action by the Security Council at this time.
No doubt will be vetoed by the US
CNN's take
In his letter, Guterres said the conflict has created "appalling human suffering, physical destruction and collective trauma across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory." Israel’s envoy called the move "a new moral low" and, along with the country's foreign minister, called on Guterres to resign.
Erdan described Guterres’ move as “more proof of the Secretary-General's moral distortion and his bias against Israel," and accused him for “(choosing) to continue playing into Hamas' hands.”
The envoy reiterated his call for the secretary-general to resign immediately.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen also called on Guterres to resign, saying that the UN chief’s “tenure is a danger to world peace.”
Guterres’ decision to invoke the clause is "an endorsement of the murder of the elderly, the abduction of babies and the rape of women," Cohen wrote on X.
A furious diplomatic spat between Israel and the UN broke out in October, with Israeli officials calling for the resignation of Guterres after he said Hamas’ October 7 attacks on the country “did not happen in a vacuum.”
CNN's Niamh Kennedy and Richard Roth contributed to this report.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-06/un-chief-steps-up-pressure-for-gaza-cease-fire-with-rare-appeal
Guterres sent the letter under Article 99 of the UN’s charter, which allows the secretary-general to bring any issue seen as threatening international peace to the Security Council’s attention, the UN said.
It marked the first time he’s directly invoked his most powerful diplomatic tool since taking charge of the global body in 2017, and the first time the office has explicitly invoked the article since 1971, during the crisis between India and Pakistan that led to the birth of Bangladesh.
In response to the letter, the United Arab Emirates plans to introduce a Security Council resolution Friday that would call for an immediate cease-fire, according to two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. The proposal would call on all parties to comply with their obligations under international law.
