Gaza
This is the first article in a two-part series. https://thewire.in/world/law-and-humanity-buried-in-gaza-rubble
Law and Humanity Buried in Gaza Rubble 19/02/2024
Mass murder has in an Orwellian switch, come to be seen as self-defence ever since Israel began bombing the isolated and impoverished Gaza strip on October 8. And Israel’s principal backer on the global stage, the US has vowed unquestioning loyalty.
Thia is the second article in a two-part series https://thewire.in/world/legal-foundations-of-the-world-are-collapsing-in-gaza
Legal Foundations of the World Are Collapsing in Gaza 20/02/2024
HAMAS OFFICIAL: WE FULLLY SUPPORT THE SYRIAN OPPOSITION FORCES
An interview with Hamas official Talal Nasser, aired on Dec 2, regarding recent developments in #Syria.
He voiced strong support for the Syrian opposition forces and dismissed all claims that Syria’s revolution is Zionist.
He revealed that Hamas received $20 million in one month alone from the Syrian opposition factions and that Hamas was in regular contact with them.
He also revealed that the Syrian Revolutionaries freed several political prisoners who had been imprisoned in Aleppo Prison by Bashar al-Assad.
#Palestine
On January 11, South Africa accused Israel of genocide in Gaza before the International Court of Justice – the UN’s top court. The country, which moved this court asked it to issue orders that will compel Israel to suspend military operations in the Palestinian region.
Adila Hassim, advocate of South Africa’s high court, presented the case for why Israel’s actions can be clearly construed as genocidal. https://thewire.in/world/israel-south-africa-genocidal-acts-icj
Below is her submission in full. Almost each line of the original text carries a footnote. The Wire has removed them for ease of reading. The original text and annotations are available here.
Genocidal acts
Israel continues to exercise control over the airspace, territorial waters, land crossings, water, electricity, electromagnetic sphere and civilian infrastructure in Gaza, as well as over key governmental functions. As the honourable minister has said, entry and exit by air and sea to Gaza is prohibited with Israel operating the only two crossing points.
Gaza, which is one of the most densely populated places in the world is home to approximately 2.3 million Palestinians, almost half of them children.
For the past 96 days, Israel has subjected Gaza to what has been described as one of the heaviest conventional bombing campaigns in the history of modern warfare. Palestinians in Gaza are being killed by Israeli weaponry and bombs from air, land and sea.
by Adila Hassim
11/01/2024
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/14-000-babies-in-gaza-could-die-in-next-48-hours-warns-un-8461005 20 May 2025
14,000 babies could die in Gaza within 48 hours without aid: UN https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/babies-could-die-gaza-within-48-hours-without-aid-un Israel allows five aid trucks into Gaza, with a UN official describing it as a 'drop in the ocean'...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to ease the devastating 11-week aid blockade on Sunday night, saying it was necessary for Israel to prevent a "starvation crisis" in Gaza for "diplomatic reasons".
Meanwhile, Israeli air strikes have intensified across Gaza with at least 60 people, more than half being women and children, killed overnight on Monday.
More than 300 Palestinians were killed over only the last three days, according to thttps://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/fighting-back-tears-who-chief-begs-israel-to-show-mercy-in-gazahe health ministry.
"We are breaking the bodies and minds of the children of Gaza. We are starving the children of Gaza. We are complicit," deputy director-general Michael Ryan told reporters at the WHO's headquarters. - https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/we-are-breaking-the-bodies-and-minds-of-children-of-gaza-says-who-executive-director
https://thewire.in/history/israel-gaza-palestine-aerial-bombing
The bombing continues, and one question stands out: Why 1,200 people killed by guerillas matter more to Western governments than 12,000 – and counting – killed by bombs from the sky. Why one is a barbaric crime, and the other a civilised military action.
There are many correct answers to that. One of them is the history of bombing.
In a single line: From its beginnings, over a hundred years ago, aerial bombing was a technology meant for colonial powers to use exclusively against colonised, usually indigenous people.
For a hundred years, the West’s monopoly over that most lethal violence has conditioned how we see the victims of bombs – if we see them at all.
In 1920, the Royal Air Force carried out the world’s first systematic bombing campaign against Somalis. Thereafter, the first societies in to experience bombing were in Iraq, North and East Africa, and the North-West Frontier of India.
Every deflection and defence of Israel’s leadership – they’re not trying to hit civilians, Hamas is at fault for placing its fighters among civilians – is old news, straight from a hundred-year-old textbook for colonial collective punishment.
Meanwhile Israeli commanders have been saying it out loud, from day one: “The emphasis is on damage, not on accuracy.”
by Raghu Karnad
17/11/2023