Just unbelievable, justice is shooting people in the head while sleeping in recovery?
US says Israel has right to ‘bring terrorists to justice’ after raid on Jenin hospital
The US State Department has said that it it cannot offer an assessment of Israel’s controversial raid on a hospital in Jenin, where Israeli soldiers disguised as civilians and medical staff entered the hospital and killed three alleged Palestinian fighters, one of whom was receiving medical treatment. Palestinian authorities in the occupied West Bank denounced the raids as an “assassination”.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday that the US wants to see hospitals protected but that Israel has the right to “bring terrorists to justice”.
According to the Red Cross, international law says that combatants receiving medical attention cannot be targeted if “not, or no longer, taking part in hostilities”.
Following deadly hospital raid, Israel says ‘will go after terrorists wherever they are hiding’
Israeli army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi claims Israel is not seeking to fight in medical centres, but will go after “terrorists wherever they are hiding”.
“We do not want to turn hospitals into battlefields… but we are even more determined not to allow hospitals in Gaza, Judea and Samaria [occupied West Bank], Lebanon — above ground or in shafts and tunnels under hospitals — to become a place that is a cover for terrorism,” he tells a group of reserve soldiers, according to a statement from the military posted on Telegram.
Halevi adds that Israeli forces will “also enter the most complex places to eliminate terrorism.”
Assassination in Jenin hospital a ‘war crime’: Palestinian rights group
Ammar Dweik, director-general of the Independent Commission for Human Rights in Palestine, has said that the attack by Israeli forces dressed as doctors and nurses, who killed three Palestinian men, is “an assault on an institution protected by international law”. Dweik told Al Jazeera that the men did not pose any threat to the raiding forces at the time of the attack, and that they could have been apprehended if they were wanted for alleged crimes.
“This is not the first time that the occupation has carried out an assassination inside a hospital. In 2015, Israeli forces assassinated Azzam al-Shalaldeh in the Al-Ahli Hospital in the city of Hebron in a similar manner,” he said. “This is a major escalation in the targeting of civilians in the West Bank. Therefore, we call on relevant international organisations such as the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross to denounce these crimes and help protect health institutions.”
Israeli military confirms it has been pumping "large volumes of water" into suspected Hamas tunnels
The Israeli military provided official confirmation Tuesday that it has been pumping "large volumes of water" into suspected Hamas tunnels in Gaza, following weeks of speculation. Back in December, a US official told CNN that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were "carefully testing" out the method of pumping seawater into tunnels "on a limited basis." The IDF failed to respond to CNN's request for comment at the time.
However, in a statement released Tuesday, the IDF said it has been implementing "new capabilities" to target Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip by "channeling large volumes of water into the tunnels." The IDF said tools like pumps and pipes were being used.
Experts highlighted concerns about the potential to contaminate freshwater supply and damage infrastructure at the surface level, as well as the viability of agricultural land.
What does it take to actually do something, UNSC is 'worried'
UN Security Council expresses concern over deteriorating conditions in Gaza
The UN Security Council has said that it is worried about “dire” conditions inside Gaza, urging all parties to the conflict to work with the UN humanitarian coordinator for Gaza. In a statement on Tuesday, the body expressed concern over the “rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation” in Gaza, where Israel has continued to carry out heavy bombardment and prevent access to humanitarian assistance.
The statement urging all involved in the conflict to work with Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag comes as numerous Western states freeze assistance for UNRWA, the main provider of assistance in Gaza.
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