Israeli rights group accuses government of pursuing ‘Jewish supremacy’
The executive director of the rights group B’Tselem has condemned Israel’s actions over the past 11 months in Gaza, accusing it of pursuing a goal of “Jewish supremacy” since its founding.
“To understand the Israeli government’s criminal conduct over the last 11 months, you have to understand the overall goal of this regime,” Yuli Novak told the UN Security Council on Wednesday during a session on Palestine.
“Since Israel was founded, its guiding logic has been to promote Jewish supremacy over the entire territory under its control.”
Novak criticised the government for exploiting the collective trauma from the October 7 attacks “to violently advance its project of cementing Israeli control over the entire land”.
She said Israel’s ongoing war on the Palestinian people includes daily war crimes in Gaza manifesting as “expulsion, starvation, killing and destruction on an unprecedented scale”.
B'Tselem's Executive Director, Yuli Novak, addressed the UN Security Council this evening by invitation of the Slovenian President of the Security Council to provide an expert review of the state of human rights in Israel/Palestine following the war. pic.twitter.com/TCMnTvnoCn
— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) September 4, 2024
UNRWA chief says Israel must allow international press into Gaza
UNRWA head Phillipe Lazzarini has denounced Israel for barring international press from accessing Gaza for the past 11 months.
Palestinian journalists “continue to hold the torch despite far too many of them have been killed”, he said. “[They] have my admiration.”
Since October 7, Israel has faced accusations of systematic abuses, including the killing of more than 120 Palestinian journalists and media workers in Gaza, and the arrest and arbitrary detention of at least 49 journalists.
Lazzarini said the entry of international media to Gaza “is a must” and called on news organisation to exert pressure on Israel to enter Gaza and “report freely”.
Hamas says Netanyahu sabotaging ceasefire talks to prolong Gaza assault
Hamas has issued a statement on the status of Gaza ceasefire talks, accusing Netanyahu of intentionally dragging them out so Israel can “prolong the aggression against our people”.
Netanyahu’s demand for open-ended Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor is one “trick” to this end, said the Palestinian group.
So rather than hash out new proposals, Hamas said, Israel’s government should be pushed to “adhere to what has [already] been agreed upon”.
The statement echoes remarks by senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan, who told Al Jazeera yesterdat that the US should pressure Israel to accept a US-backed ceasefire plan put forward by President Biden in May.
