‘Much bigger massacre’: Israel won’t stop unless sanctions imposed
Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti says the International Court of Justice’s latest measures against Israel are an “important step”, saying they will have an impact on many levels.
However, Israel will not stop unless sanctions are imposed on the country, he said. “Netanyahu wants to proceed with this terrible war, and he is now even promising a much bigger massacre by attacking Rafah,” he told Al Jazeera.
Barghouti, general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, said he’s disappointed in the muted response from Western governments, especially the United States. “The US is playing a very dangerous game here and continues to support Israel. That has created a very dangerous moment,” he said.
“The fact that so many Western governments are providing protection to Israel, allowing it to continue, is going to disturb the whole international order. It simply sends a message to the world that there is no more international law.”
Israel has become a ‘rogue state’
Commenting on the latest UN court measures ordering Israel to prevent genocide in Gaza and allow “unhindered” aid, analyst Adel Abdel Ghafar says international pressure on the country has yet to work.
“In effect, Israel has become a rogue state, which is in contravention of international law and international humanitarian law,” he told Al Jazeera.
“It now wants to push forward even with this potential assault on Rafah. Right now, the US is the only country that can really put more pressure on Israel to end this war. They can stop sending weapons, they can end financial support, and they can stop providing diplomatic cover. But this has not happened yet.”
‘The time of Israeli impunity is fading away’
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) welcomed the ICJ’s ruling ordering Israel to ensure food arrives without delay into besieged Gaza with “famine setting in”.
“The far-right Israeli government continues to ignore all international laws and orders by world bodies demanding that it end its genocidal campaign of slaughter, starvation and ethnic cleansing in Gaza,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said.
“It is able to ignore international demands because it has acted with impunity against the rights of the Palestinian people for decades, safe in its belief that the United States will not allow any substantive action to be taken in response to its denial of Palestinian human rights and dignity.
“The time of Israeli impunity is fading away as people worldwide see what the Palestinian people have experienced: a government that is determined to erase the Palestinian existence so that it can illegally lay claim to their land.”
