‘Dripping in blood’: MSF medic describes horrific aftermath of Israeli attack

Javid Abdelmoneim, the Gaza medical team leader of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), recounted to Al Jazeera the casualties he and his team received at their clinic in Khan Younis after an attack on Saturday:

“We were dripping in blood at the end of it. The first case I saw was a three-year-old girl with her thigh peeled off her bone. The second case I saw was a woman covered in dust. She looked at me, she was breathing, which meant she was globally OK, but I took down the dressing on her belly and a piece of abdomen, a piece of her bowel was out. And then suddenly a rush of healthcare workers, fully-dressed first aid responders, in their uniforms, all injured.”

“I looked across at my nurse, and she was helping manage the airway [relieve airway obstruction] of a boy who looked about 13, 14. And she [the nurse] looked at me and in a mass casualty if you have to manage the airway you have to call that person dead. It was a boy, none of us had the heart to call him dead.”

“And then the next one came in, and the next one. And there were no beds. And you’re kneeling on the floor and you can feel your knee is wet with blood.”

“And you have to quickly decide who’s more urgent and who’s not. ‘This man looks like he has a brain injury, he has to be left for dead. This woman has her knee almost blown off, take her straight to operating theatres.'”

‘They dealt with us as non-humans’

Earlier we reported that Israeli authorities released 13 Palestinians detained for weeks. Some wept as they reunited with their relatives. Others showed signs of bruising to journalists.

One of those released, Zakaria Abu al-Eish, said he was caring for his ill father in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza when Israeli forces stormed their home and detained him.

“For 55 days, I was handcuffed, blindfolded, deprived from sleeping, no rest. Even food they brought us was for animals,” said al-Eish. “If you eat or not, no one cares. They dealt with us as non-humans.”

Israel has detained an estimated 4,000 Palestinians since the October 7 Hamas-led attack that led to the war on Gaza. About 1,500 were released after the military determined they were not affiliated with armed groups.

Palestinian envoy condemns ‘the most documented genocide in history’

Riyad Mansour, Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, says Israel’s war crimes in Gaza have been committed “openly, brazenly, and repeatedly” with soldiers sharing videos on social media.

“What is happening in Gaza is going down as the most documented genocide in history,” Mansour told a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East. “When will the world denounce the crimes and stop tolerating their reoccurrence?

He asked the council why international laws and norms continue to be violated by Israel, but nothing is ever done to stop it.

“What is a rule that’s not enforced? What do these rules mean anymore when for nine months Israel has bombed the homes, hospitals, schools – including those designated as UN shelters – and now people in tents as is the case in al-Mawasi?”

Israeli courts cannot and will not prosecute Israel’s war crimes

...

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) has documented that between 2001 and 2022, more than 1,400 claims of torture by Israeli authorities were made, but only two were investigated and none resulted in indictments.

That is because agents of the Shin Bet (internal security services) and Israeli soldiers are protected by a legal loophole which allows for “necessity” to determine if torture can be used in all so-called “ticking bomb situations”. These scenarios are loosely defined and justify the use of torture to extract information from a suspect that can supposedly help avert imminent danger to life and national security. Despite how open to interpretation a “ticking bomb situation” can be, this exception was upheld by two rulings by the Israeli Supreme Court in 1999 and then again in 2018.

...

The matter of collective punishment shows a similar pattern. In practice, the Israeli army regularly exercises collective punishment on a large scale. This includes the demolition of family homes of suspected “terrorists” in the occupied Palestinian territory and the 17-year-long siege on the Gaza Strip.

Israeli courts have consistently rejected the claim that these two policies amount to collective punishment.

Regulation 119 (1) of the Israeli Emergency Laws allows for the demolition of houses as punishment for committing illegal actions or if there is a suspicion that an illegal action is taking place in that home, even if multiple generations live in it. This is directly contradictory to Article 33 of the Geneva Convention as the policy disregards any non-involved people living in the house and therefore constitutes collective punishment.

Nevertheless, in 1986, an Israeli court ruled that demolitions were not collective punishment, based not on the impact of home demolitions (which do affect whole families), but instead based on the odd consideration that it would make Regulation 119 (1) redundant as it would only be applied to “terrorists” who supposedly live alone.

More surprisingly, the same court argued that demolitions are a “deterrent” rather than a “punishment”, and that the collective impact (of the punishment) actually enhanced the deterring effect.

Judges have also been unwilling to “intervene”, as they are reluctant to infringe on the authority of Israeli field commanders, leaving these decisions entirely to their discretion, in violation of Article 71 of the Geneva Convention. These rulings have effectively closed the door on judicial accountability for this crime. To this day, no Israeli soldier has been prosecuted for the demolition of Palestinian family homes.

...

In the case of the Israeli siege on Gaza – which has been widely recognised as a form of collective punishment – Israel has also sought to dodge international law provisions.

Before October 7, Israeli officials and legal pundits argued that the siege was a set of economic sanctions. After October 7, the Israeli government imposed a total blockade, cutting off water, electricity, food and medical supplies. Despite the UN and various human rights organisations pointing out the clear evidence of collective punishment, including starvation, Israeli officials claimed that its forces are allowing enough aid “to prevent a humanitarian crisis”. According to Oxfam, the calorie count in Gaza currently stands at 245 per day, roughly a quarter of the bare minimum needed to avoid starvation.

Against this background of internationally prohibited practices, authorised by judicially created legal exceptions that contradict international law, the Israeli legal system has consistently failed to hold the Israeli authorities accountable for violations of international law. In fact, by upholding loopholes, Israel’s judiciary has systematically enabled torture and authorised instances of collective punishment.

Over the years, Israel has put a lot of effort into covering up the abyssal gap between international standards and Israeli army policies, facilitated by a convoluted system of legal exceptions. Now, the house of cards has come tumbling down.

Has it though? The ICC arrest warrants are still on hold under US pressure on UK labour, which has succeeded again.

UK Labour makes U-turn, shields Netanyahu from ICC arrest warrants

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240717-report-uk-labour-makes-u-turn-shields-netanyahu-from-icc-arrest-warrants/

Recent reports indicate that the UK Labour government has reversed its decision to withdraw objections to the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. This decision, reported by the Israeli newspaper Maariv, suggests that Labour has succumbed to pressure from the US, which has been lobbying against dropping the legal challenge.

The US keeps deferring any questions about accountability and war crimes to Israel to investigate (clear) themselves.

The ICJ keeps sitting on their hands despite more countries joining the genocide case and move evidence stacks up daily.
https://www.icj-cij.org/index.php/case/192

May 24 were the last provisional measures
https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240524-sum-01-00-enc.pdf
Which Israel has all ignored

The UNSC is not doing anything, blocked by US veto, and will not uphold the ICJ provisional measures.

USA and Europe are fully complicit in the genocide but will only impose some token sanctions on a few Settlers, which aren't enforced anyway.

Meanwhile US, UK, Germany keep sending more bombs to kill more children.

UNOCHA says Israeli court rejected appeals against evictions in East Jerusalem

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says an Israeli court has rejected an appeal by 11 Palestinian families against eviction from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem, placing 66 people at risk of forced displacement.

“More than 600 structures have been demolished in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the beginning of 2024 due to the lack of building permits, displacing more than 750 people,” the body said in its latest update.

Israel has intensified evictions, land confiscation and home demolitions, despite settlement expansion into Palestinian territory being prohibited under international law.

#WestBank:
❗️An Israeli court ruling rejects appeal against eviction of 11 Palestinian families in East Jerusalem; +60 ppl risk displacement

❗️Israeli military operation in Nur Shams refugee camp damages dozens of residential buildings, stores, sewage and water networks

More 👇

— UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) July 17, 2024

Some more virtue signalling

US imposes visa restrictions on former Israeli military sergeant

The restrictions on Sergeant Elor Azaria are for involvement in an extrajudicial killing in the occupied West Bank.

Azaria shot dead an injured Palestinian, Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, in Hebron in 2016. Al-Sharif had been lying wounded on the ground after allegedly stabbing and wounding a soldier, before Azaria walked up to him and killed him without apparent provocation. The incident was filmed by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem and quickly went viral.

Azaria was convicted of manslaughter by an Israeli court, but was only sentenced to 18 months, later reduced by four months. He was eventually released from prison in May 2018, having served almost nine months.

The US Department of State said in a statement on Wednesday that “Azaria and any immediate family members are generally ineligible for entry into the United States”.

It added that it was “taking steps to impose visa restrictions on an additional group of individuals for having been involved in or meaningfully contributed to undermining the peace, security, or stability in the West Bank” including “violence against persons or property, or unduly restrict[ing] civilians access to essential services and basic necessities”.

The US has imposed sanctions against some Israeli settlers accused of committing violence against Palestinians, but critics point out that these sanctions don’t go far enough, with Washington continuing to back Israel in its war on Gaza, including by supplying weapons, and offering little path forward for Palestinian statehood.

Gantz criticises US for sanctions on Israeli who killed Palestinian

Israeli opposition politician Benny Gantz, who served in Israel’s war cabinet until his resignation last month, said that Israel had “an independent, robust judicial system that is both capable and willing to punish under Israeli law”.

“I want to convey to our American friends – there is no justification to interfere in Israel’s legal processes,” he added.

Azaria was captured on video walking up to an injured Palestinian, Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, and killing him in 2016. He was sentenced to only 18 months by an Israeli court but ultimately served almost nine months before his release in 2018.

See my previous post...

It's official now, Biden's pier is done

US military ends Gaza pier mission

The US military’s much-criticised $230m floating aid pier off the coast of Gaza is being shut down, only two months since it became operational.

“The maritime surge mission involving the pier is complete, so there’s no more need to use the pier,” Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the deputy commander of US Central Command, told a news briefing.

While the pier has brought in 8,100 metric tonnes of aid to a marshalling area on Gaza’s shore since it started operating in May, the 370m (1,200-foot) floating pier has had to be removed multiple times because of bad weather. It only operated for about 20 days in total, and is currently in the Israeli port of Ashdod.

Many aid groups have said that while any amount of food for Gaza is welcome, the project has been a costly distraction, and the US should concentrate on pressuring Israel to allow more aid through land borders, which have long been considered the most productive option.

As I calculated before, the 8,100 tonnes (405 trucks) cost close to twice as much as air drops per ton. Over 28K per ton (compared to 16K per ton for air drops, 180 dollars per ton for trucks)

Gaza aid pier ‘a failure’, says former US aid official

The former US aid director for the West Bank and Gaza, Dave Harden, said that the now-closed pier was “interesting in theory, but in practice, an absolute failure – and my concern is who will be held accountable?”

“The pier, in concept, was an interesting idea from my perspective, because it created some potential facts on the ground so that the Gazans for once could actually have something in their favour where they could import basic commodities, either now or in the future,” said Harden, who is now the managing director of Georgetown Strategy Group.

“What we have not seen is a robust opening of the crossings … I think this goes first to the Israelis, and second to the Americans,” Harden added. “And in the meantime, the Gazans themselves continue to suffer. This was a tragedy compounding a tragedy.”

Deflection tactics, the US doesn't want to go to war with Iran for you. Iran isn't killing dozens of civilians daily nor deliberately starving and torturing millions.

Israel blames Iran for Middle East wars at UNSC

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan has said Iran is to blame for wars in the Middle East and accused the Security Council of failing to act on this threat while focusing instead on Israel’s actions.

“Iran is the greatest threat to global stability,” he said as he addressed the council.  “You continue to bury your head in the sand while focusing on us. Why?”

Erdan then turned to Gaza – where Israel has killed almost 39,000 Palestinians – saying that 120 captives were being held by “Iranian-supported and inspired terrorist organisations”.

He accused Hamas of crimes against humanity and added that the group “continues to exploit this council’s inaction by hiding its commanders among civilians and its military positions in UNRWA schools”.

“The war will not end until these hostages have been released,” Erdan added.

Is that why Netanyahu says the war will continue even after a hostage exchange?

‘Palestinian civilians are living in hell’: US

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield has told the UNSC that “Palestinian civilians are living in hell” in Gaza, amid a severe shortage of food, water and medicines.

“Israel must take additional immediate steps to eliminate barriers to the delivery of aid at scale,” Thomas-Greenfield said during her address to the UN body. “While we’ve seen progress, other requests particularly related to communication equipment that is vital for deconfliction remain unresolved.”

The US ambassador also expressed concern over Israel’s approved plans for thousands of new housing units in the occupied West Bank. “Unilateral action is inconsistent with international law and detrimental to a two-state solution,” Thomas-Greenfield said.


Thomas-Greenfield also provided an update on mediated truce talks, saying that the “United States, Qatar, Egypt and so many of our other partners remain persistent”.

She said there had been some progress and that “Israel and Hamas have now both agreed to the ceasefire framework” the Security Council endorsed in a US-backed proposal in early June, but added “there are still gaps to be closed”.

The council adopted a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on March 25, with the United States abstaining. The council then adopted a second resolution, endorsing a US-backed ceasefire proposal, on June 10.

Netanyahu, Gantz clash on October 7 inquiry

Former Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz has criticised PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to form a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 Hamas attacks.

“I am waiting for the state commission of inquiry to be established and for the protocols to be revealed in order to draw lessons from the greatest disaster in our history and for a better future for the State of Israel,” he said on X.

Netanyahu also lashed out at Gantz on X, accusing him of spreading “fake news”.

“The public will find out who was looking for excuses to ‘stop the fighting for a year or two’ and who really pushed forward to continue the war until victory,” the prime minister said.

Israelis continue to protest in favour of ceasefire deal

_{Protesters block a road during a rally calling on Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire deal before travelling to Washington}

Netanyahu criticised for US trip amid stalled captive talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing heated opposition in the Knesset from opposition lawmakers for his management of Israel’s war in Gaza, and over stalled talks aimed at having the captives released.

Protests in Israel – sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands – have demanded Netanyahu bring the captives home, and resign.

The clashes in the country’s parliament on Wednesday come before Netanyahu’s planned visit to Washington next week, where he is set to address a joint session of the US Congress.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid demanded to know whether Netanyahu would use the occasion to announce he’d accepted a captives deal.

If not, Lapid said, don’t go to Washington. Go to Qatar or Cairo or stay here and hold discussions around the clock. He added, “don’t go give a speech in the air-conditioning in Washington while the hostages are dying of suffocation in Gaza’s tunnels”.

Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Biden, who has defended Israel’s war in Gaza and condemned Hamas, but called for greater efforts to relieve the humanitarian crisis and pushed for a ceasefire that would allow more aid and a return of Israeli captives.

President Biden contracts COVID ahead of Netanyahu visit

US President Joe Biden has contracted COVID and has travelled to Delaware to isolate, with his sickness coming just days before he is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Biden’s doctor has said the president’s symptoms are mild and he has received a dose of Paxlovid, but an expected recovery timeline has not been announced. Biden and Netanyahu were due to meet at the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday, with it unclear how his sickness would impact the meeting.

Netanyahu has faced criticism for visiting Washington, where he is controversially set to address a joint session of the US Congress, while ceasefire-for-captive talks have stalled.

Israel’s Knesset adopts resolution opposing Palestinian statehood

The resolution was adopted with 68 votes in favour and only nine against, The Times of Israel reports, and is a further rejection from Israeli lawmakers of the two-state solution.

“The Knesset of Israel firmly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state west of Jordan,” the resolution said.

The vote came hours after UN chief Antonio Guterres said Israel is “driving a stake through the heart” of the two-state solution by changing the geography of the occupied West Bank through administrative and legal steps.

Under the Oslo Accords, signed in 1993, Israel agreed to bring about Palestinian self-determination in the form of a two-state solution: a Palestinian state – existing alongside Israel – in an area limited to a fraction of historic Palestine.

‘Dangerous remarks’ by Israeli gov’t spokesman put UNRWA chief’s security at risk

Protests at RNC, DNC link US-backed Gaza war to broader issues

In Milwaukee, protests outside the Republican National Convention (RNC) have highlighted concerns over the US-backed war on Gaza, linking it to issues like economic inequality and civil rights in the US.

Organised by the US Palestinian Community Network, the rally reflects worries about political leadership in the US.

Demonstrators initially targeted Trump, but will now focus on Biden’s policies as attention shifts to the Democratic National Convention (DNC), where protests will be held against so-called ‘Genocide Joe’, which is scheduled to start on August 19 in Chicago.

Saudi Arabia condemns latest attacks by “Israeli war machine” in Gaza

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned recent Israeli attacks in Gaza and the “continuation of Israeli genocidal crimes”, in a statement shared on X.

The statement comes after a wave of mass-casualty Israeli attacks, including a strike that killed 23 Palestinians sheltering in an UNRWA school in Nuseirat, and an attack that killed 13 in the Attar area on the western outskirts of Khan Younis.

The two attacks were “part of a series of repeated violations by the Israeli war machine against defenceless civilians,” the ministry said, calling for full accountability for those responsible.

#Statement | The Foreign Ministry expresses Saudi Arabia’s strong condemnation and denunciation of targeting Al-Razi School, affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees in the Nuseirat camp in Gaza, and the targeting of Al-Attar area in Khan Younis. pic.twitter.com/0C1Gepx0Zu

— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) July 17, 2024

Palestinians will never relinquish right to ‘liberty and dignity’, says representative to UN

We reported earlier that Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s envoy to the United Nations, asked the UN Security Council why Israel can “openly, brazenly, and repeatedly” commit war crimes in Gaza and yet nothing is done.

He asked the UN’s top body on world security why international laws and norms are continually violated but nothing is ever done to stop Israel’s criminal actions.

Mansour also said that Palestinians will never relinquish their “right to life, to liberty and to dignity”.

As all your nations refused to forego their rights, the Palestinian people will never accept to relinquish theirs. Peace will not be achieved at the expense of our rights but by upholding them. The right to life, to liberty and to dignity. That is the only path to peace. Let us… pic.twitter.com/pwGOu6eo32

— State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) July 17, 2024

Brazil calls to stop flow of weapons used in ‘illegal acts’ in Gaza

Brazil’s ambassador to the UN Sergio Franca Danese has called for an end to the flow of weapons used in illegal acts in Gaza.

Addressing the UN Security Council, Danese also said the “wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict will only cease with an end to occupation” and that admitting Palestine as a full member of the UN would make “it clear that Israel can not determine the fate of Palestine’s sovereignty and statehood”.

His speech at the UNSC came as Israel’s Knesset adopted a resolution opposing Palestinian statehood, further demonstrating Israel’s shift away from its commitments under the Oslo Accords.

At today's #UNSC Middle East Open Debate, while reiterating calls for a ceasefire amidst the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, the release of hostages and the provision of humanitarian aid, Brazil emphasized that the international community must do more: ⬇ pic.twitter.com/jsTMry89Ig

— Brazil Mission to the UN (@Brazil_UN_NY) July 17, 2024

Israeli military drops threatening leaflets over Jenin camp

The Israeli military has dropped leaflets in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, threatening to kill wanted young men if they do not surrender themselves, the Wafa news agency reports.

The leaflets, dropped via reconnaissance aircraft, were dropped near a mosque on Mahyoub Street in the camp, according to Wafa.

The Jenin area has long been a centre of Palestinian resistance to Israel’s occupation in the West Bank and has witnessed some of the most intense fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups since October 7.

 
Israeli forces carry out raids, arrests in the occupied West Bank

The Israeli military has stormed the occupied West Bank town of Tal, south of Nablus, and arrested two Palestinian sisters, according to local media.

Israeli forces, supported by a convoy of military vehicles, have also stormed the city of Nablus and Aqraba town, where they raided the home of former prisoner Osama Issa, without any arrests being reported.

An unspecified number of Palestinian men have also been arrested during the storming of the village of Deir Abu Mishal, north of Ramallah.

Israeli raids have been reported in other locations in the occupied West Bank. They include: