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Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinians ‘amounts to war crime’: UN human rights chief

Press TV – November 9, 2023

The United Nations human rights chief has warned that Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinian civilians in the war-torn Gaza Strip “amounts to a war crime,” as the Tel Aviv regime continues its deadly bombing campaign in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

After a Wednesday visit to the Rafah crossing, the sole crossing point between Egypt and Gaza, Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Israeli bombardments have killed, maimed and injured in particular women and children in Gaza.

“The collective punishment by Israel of Palestinian civilians amounts also to a war crime, as does the unlawful forcible evacuation of civilians,” he said, amid his five-day visit to the region.

The war started after the territory’s resistance movements waged a surprise attack on October 7 against the occupying entity, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, in response to its decades-long crimes against Palestinians.

“The latest death toll from the Gaza Ministry of Health is in excess of 10,500 people, including over 4,300 children and 2,800 women. All of this has an unbearable toll on civilians,” Turk further said, warning, “We have fallen off a precipice. This cannot continue.”

For weeks, Israel has been violently pounding almost all areas and facilities of the blockaded territory, including hospitals, schools and residential buildings, rejecting all calls for a ceasefire in the region.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the UN human rights chief demanded respect for international human rights laws and international humanitarian laws, noting that “parties to the conflict have the obligation to take constant care to spare the civilian population and civilian objects.”

“Attacks against medical facilities, medical personnel and the wounded and sick are prohibited,” Turk stressed, warning that there is an “urgent humanitarian imperative to reach the population increasingly isolated” in Gaza.

According to officials in the Gaza Strip, the occupying regime’s aggression has so far destroyed 70 percent of the coastal sliver’s electricity grid.

Israel’s airstrikes, missile attacks and shelling not only destroy hospitals, homes, and houses of worship, but also cut off fuel, electricity and water supplies.

“Blackouts have serious consequences on rescue workers struggling to find and rescue the victims of strikes, families trying to find out the status of their loved ones and to access emergency medical care, and for the situation on the ground to be monitored and documented,” Turk stressed.

The Rafah crossing, according to Turk, is a “lifeline” for 2.3 million inhabitants of the tightly-blockaded Gaza Strip. Although a trickle of aid trucks has been allowed in recently, they are just a fraction of the aid that used to be allowed.

“The lifeline has been unjustly, outrageously thin. In Rafah, I have witnessed the gates to a living nightmare,” the UN human rights chief said.

In this nightmare, “people have been suffocating, under persistent bombardment, mourning their families, struggling for water, for food, for electricity and fuel. My colleagues are among those trapped, and among those who have lost family members, suffering sleepless nights filled with agony, anguish and despair,” Turk added.

He also strongly called for a ceasefire to end the Israeli aggression.

On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the war was turning the coastal sliver into “a graveyard for children.”

The UN chief said clear violations of international humanitarian law were being committed during the war, adding that the Israeli regime was simultaneously targeting “civilians, hospitals, refugee camps, mosques, churches, and UN facilities – including shelters. No one is safe.”

November 9, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes | , , , , | 2 Comments

Hezbollah’s actions showcase their perseverance to secure victory

Al Mayadeen | November 6, 2023

Benjamin Netanyahu desperately seeks to get the United States involved in a multi-front war, Scott Ritter, a former United States Marine Corps intelligence officer, told Al Mayadeen.

During a panel discussion, Ritter explained that Netanyahu is the only person who wants the Northern Front to open with Lebanon, in order to draw the US into the war his government is leading on Gaza because he realizes that his forces are “not up to the task; they can’t defeat Hamas and Hezbollah at the same time.”

Ritter also pointed to the crucial role that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, is executing regarding the unfolding events. “The key player here is Hassan Nasrallah what he will do and he’s made it clear that he is in the business of escalation management; that he is not willing to precipitously escalate the violence with Israel unless provoked.”

For Ritter, Hezbollah’s actions showcase their perseverance to secure victory against the Israeli occupation.

‘Israel’ has lost the propaganda war

“There was a horrific attack against civilians in Lebanon, a sovereign state, carried out by Israel. Nothing we can say can change that reality But this is not the first time this has taken place nor will it be the last time it takes place. This is the standard Israeli operating procedure, Ritter said.

The former Marine Corps officer highlighted Hezbollah’s awareness and perseverance in responding to such situations, which has exacerbated contradictions between the Israeli and American governments.

“The people of Lebanon, the people of Syria, the people of Iraq, [and] the people of Palestine have suffered under this kind of Israeli behavior for decades now,” Ritter told Al Mayadeen.

He later underlined the key factor that will affect “Israel’s” ability to commit brutal and careless crimes in the region, which is the “unquestioned backing of the United States.”

Ritter underscored “that is no longer as guaranteed as it used to be in the past,” as disparency between the United States and “Israel” grows.

This has been accelerated by “a paradigm shift taking place” where “hundreds of thousands of people were in the streets, demonstrating in support of the Palestinian cause, demonstrating in many in support in Hamas,” Ritter underscored.

The political analyst shed light on the vast protests happening in core US cities, such as New York and Washington, as well as popular protests all across the world as factors that have pushed the Palestinian narrative to the forefront of discussions.

“This has never happened before. This is a historical moment, as President [Joe] Biden likes to say, it is an inflection point on American relations with the Arab world, on American relations with Israel today.”

Sayyed Hassan’s foresight cracks Israeli-US ties

Ritter reiterated that Hezbollah’s approach to the war on Gaza has pushed the Palestinian narrative to the forefront globally. In a scenario where Hezbollah instigates a wider escalation, Ritter believes that “people will stop talking about Palestine. People will stop talking about Israel’s aggression, and they will now focus on a new front that will probably include Iran.”

“This is again why Hassan Nasrallah speaks of perseverance. Perseverance means that you have to struggle through the difficult times to ensure that you are not distracted from the strategic vision,” Ritter explained.

He reiterated that “Hamas is winning this fight. Israel cannot prevail. Israel cannot defeat Hamas on the ground. Israel has lost the propaganda battle globally; they have lost in the United States.”

November 9, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Violent clashes break out in northeast Syria in response to US airstrikes

The Cradle | November 9, 2023

Local sources in Syria’s Deir Ezzor governorate report that intense clashes broke out between the US occupation army and its Kurdish proxy – the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – against the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies stationed west of the Euphrates River in the morning of 9 November.

Attacks on the US-occupied territory east of the Euphrates started shortly after US jets bombed an alleged weapon storage facility the Pentagon says was used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Wednesday night that two F-15 jets bombed the facility, adding that attacks on US troops in West Asia “must stop.” According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), at least nine people were killed in the attack.

“If attacks by Iran’s proxies against US forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people,” Austin stressed.

As the clashes raged early on Thursday, missiles and drone strikes hit the US-occupation bases in Al-Omar and Conoco oil fields in Deir Ezzor. Earlier in the night, the Iraqi Resistance in Iraq (IRI) announced that a new round of airstrikes hit US troops stationed at the Al-Harir air base in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

The latest attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria happened mere hours after Yemeni resistance group Ansarallah announced they had shot down an advanced US MQ9 Reaper drone that was “carrying out hostile, monitoring, and spying operations in Yemeni territorial waters.”

According to the Pentagon, 45 US troops have been injured in drone and rocket attacks by regional resistance forces since the start of the Gaza-Israel war.

In response to the growing threat from the Resistance Axis, Washington has deployed nearly a dozen warships and thousands of troops to the region. Special forces from the UK, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands have also been deployed recently to provide support for Israel’s campaign of genocide in Gaza.

November 9, 2023 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, Wars for Israel | , , | 1 Comment