I was born in Poonch (Kashmir) and now I live in Norway. I oppose war and violence and am a firm believer in the peaceful co-existence of all nations and peoples. In my academic work I have tried to espouse the cause of the weak and the oppressed in a world dominated by power politics, misleading propaganda and violations of basic human rights. I also believe that all conscious members of society have a moral duty to stand for and further the cause of peace and human rights throughout the world.
Zarah Sultana, thank you for highlighting what PM Starmer said about Gaza in October and what he says now. Suppose a responsible public official is not totally indifferent to how Israel has been busy ethnically cleansing Gazans by killing innocent civilian population, mainly children and women, and is systematically destroying the infrastructure of Gaza, then how can anyone say that Israel has a right to do this?
But there are some in the ruling elites of the United States, Canada, Australia, Britain, Germany, France, etc. etc. who openly support the destruction of a captive population. They do not name it ethnic cleansing, genocide or large-scale slaughter of Palestinians. Instead, they justify what Israel does by repeating the mouldy mantra that 'Israel has a right to defend itself' and thus the crimes against humanity by Israel are brushed aside.
Let us not forget that, apart from the rulers of the countries just mentioned, vast numbers of the people of these countries are against the genocidal war in Gaza, and they strongly oppose what Israel has been doing. They show their solidarity with the victims of the Israeli war on the people of Gaza and the rest of the occupied territories.
In his recent response, Prime Minister Starmer expressed his knowledge of the concept of genocide, which he is unwilling to apply to Gaza. But the lives of millions of Palestinians are not a question of some definition, which he, President Biden and Antony Blinken will not use. But what stops them from using other words like mass slaughter, ethnic cleansing and killing fields of Gaza, for instance?
Lastly, I wonder if Prime Minister Starmer will be generous enough to admit that over 45 thousand Palestinians in Gaza have been mercilessly slaughtered by Israel's army and air force and what steps he has taken to stop the ongoing carnage and destruction. Has he done anything to stop the killings and destruction or not?
As residents of the north are forced to flee, the Knesset has
passed a law allowing Arab citizens of Israel to be deported to the
besieged enclave
Mourners react next to the body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli
strike, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, in the central
Gaza Strip on 13 November 2024 (Reuters)
The Israeli Knesset recently passed a law allowing the state to deport the families of Palestinian attackers from within Israel or occupied East Jerusalem.
Under the legislation, family members accused of having advance
knowledge of such an attack, or who express “support or identification
with the act of terrorism”, could be deported to Gaza or elsewhere,
depending on the circumstances.
This new law appears to fit with Israel’s overarching goals in Gaza
and Palestine more generally. The situation in Gaza, particularly in the north, provides a clearer picture of these plans.
After more than 55,000 Palestinians from Jabalia reportedly fled south, Israeli army general Itzik Cohen told reporters that “there is no intention of allowing the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return to their homes”.
Cohen added that humanitarian aid would only be made available in the
south, as there were “no more civilians left” in the north. (An Israeli
army spokesperson subsequently said his words had been taken out of context and did not reflect the military’s “objectives and values”.)
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The mass expulsion of residents from Jabalia has been accompanied by
Israel’s widespread destruction of buildings and infrastructure
throughout northern Gaza, and the killing of at least 2,000 people.
Across the besieged territory, the damage is so severe that aid agencies
have warned it could take centuries to rebuild.
A detailed operations map, which covers the northern areas of Beit
Lahia, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia, suggests that Israel is effectively –
but quietly – implementing the Generals’ Plan, a genocidal strategy to ethnically cleanse Gaza that has faced widespread international condemnation.
Genocide and permanent occupation
Israel’s recent creation of the Netzarim Corridor
sliced Gaza in half, and as the army has zoned in on the north, most
Palestinians have been pushed south of the corridor. The ultimate aim
appears to be the annexation of the entirety of northern Gaza, creating
space for Israel to expand its settlements and deepen its control over
vital trade projects in the Mediterranean.
In addition, the recent appointment of Israel Katz as defence minister raises the possibility of reviving a project he has long promoted: the creation of an artificial island that Israel would use to control and monitor aid to Gaza.
Amid the challenges of implementing a mass displacement from Gaza to Egypt’s Sinai – a notion Cairo has refused to entertain
– it appears Israel is settling instead on a project to ethnically
cleanse and annex the northern part of the enclave, barring displaced
people from returning north of the Netzarim Corridor.
The new law enabling the deportation of families of Palestinian
citizens of Israel and residents of occupied East Jerusalem is further
evidence of Tel Aviv’s resolve to maintain its annexation and occupation
of northern Gaza.
Israel’s actions point to a broader, emerging strategy that aims not
only to reoccupy Gaza and sever it geographically, but also to reshape
Palestine as a whole
By specifying Gaza as a potential destination for those being
deported, the legislation suggests that the territory will remain under
Israeli control. International law prohibits deportation or the
revocation of citizenship without the prior agreement of the state to
which the deportee is being sent – although Israel is a habitual violator of international law.
The Generals’ Plan was not the initiative of a rogue Israeli
official, but rather appears to reflect a broad consensus and the
coordination of high-ranking government circles.
Amid international legal constraints, the Israeli government cannot
officially declare policies of genocide, ethnic cleansing, permanent
occupation and annexation – but on the ground, this is what has been
happening. At its core, the Generals’ Plan is no different than former
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s declaration last year that Gaza would receive “no electricity, no food, no fuel” after the 7 October Hamas attack.
Israel’s actions point to a broader, emerging strategy that aims not
only to reoccupy Gaza and sever it geographically, but also to reshape
Palestine as a whole. In this context, northern Gaza would be annexed,
while the south would become an enclave for displaced Palestinians –
whether from the north, or those deported from within Israel or East
Jerusalem.
Effectively, the southern Gaza Strip would serve as a barren point of
exile for an increasingly dense population, devoid of livable
conditions.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Ameer Makhoul is a leading Palestinian activist and writer in the 48
Palestinians community. He is the former director of Ittijah, a
Palestinian NGO in Israel. He was detained by Israel for ten years.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said Thursday
that Israeli forces killed 78 Palestinians and injured 214 in the
previous 48-hour period as Israeli strikes continued across the Gaza
Strip.
One strike on Thursday targeted a school-turned-shelter in the Shati refugee camp in
northern Gaza. At least 12 Palestinians were killed and 30 were wounded
in the attack on the Shati Elementary Boys School, which is affiliated
with the UN’s Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA.
Palestinians
react after a school sheltering displaced people was hit by an Israeli
strike in Shati camp in Gaza City November 7, 2024 (REUTERS/Mahmoud
Issa)
Reutersreported that
dozens of Palestinian families were pushed out of Beit Lahia, one of
the cities where the ethnic cleansing campaign has been focused. Israeli
forces have been destroying homes in Beit Lahia to ensure Palestinians
don’t return.
“After they displaced most or all of the people in Jabalia, now they
are bombing everywhere, killing people on the roads and inside their
houses to force everyone out,” a displaced Palestinian man told Reuters.
In southern Gaza, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported three children were killed by an Israeli strike in Rafah.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said that the latest violence brought its
death toll since October 2023 to 43,469 and the number of wounded to
102,561. The ministry only counts bodies brought to hospitals and
morgues. “There are still a number of victims under the rubble and on
the streets, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them,”
the ministry said.
A group of American healthcare workers who volunteered in Gaza have estimated the US-backed Israeli bombing campaign and siege has killed at least 118,908 Palestinians, including over 60,000 who have starved to death.
The election of Donald Trump is a critical event in the protracted
crisis of American democracy, whose shattering repercussions will be
felt throughout the world. A fascist demagogue—who attempted in January
2021 to violently overthrow the last presidential election—has
decisively won the 2024 election with both an electoral and popular vote
majority. He will be re-installed in the White House in little more
than 70 days.
Republican
presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures at a
campaign rally at the Santander Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in
Reading, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Trump owes his political triumph to the bankruptcy of the Democratic
Party, whose fixation with the identity politics of the affluent middle
class, arrogant indifference to the devastating impact of inflation on
workers’ living standards, and unrelenting support for war in Ukraine
and genocide in Gaza prepared the ground for the election debacle.
The major pillars of the capitalist press are already attempting to
downplay the political implications of Trump’s victory. “Mr. Trump’s
election poses a grave threat,” writes the New York Times, “but he will not determine the long-term fate of American democracy.” The Times
reassures its readers that Trump will be a lame-duck president because
he is barred by the Constitution from seeking another term.
This is wishful thinking. Trump openly proclaimed that this would be
the last election, and that his supporters would not have to vote again.
The political reality is that the election of Trump sets the stage for
an unprecedented wave of social counterrevolution, which he plans to
enforce with an iron heel.
Trump has pledged to become “dictator” and deploy the military to
crush “the enemy within.” He plans to deport 11 million undocumented
immigrants, an operation that would require placing major American
cities under martial law. He has floated eliminating the income tax and
promises to slash taxes for the rich and end corporate regulations. The
devastating impact that these policies will have on the working class
cannot be overstated.
He is not a political accident. However it was achieved—and this is
not to minimize the political complicity of the Democratic Party—the
coming to power of a second Trump administration represents the violent
realignment of the American political superstructure to correspond with
the real social relations that exist in the United States.
Donald Trump speaks not simply as one criminal individual but as the
representative of a powerful capitalist oligarchy that has taken shape
over the last three to four decades. Mega-millionaires and
billionaires—led by the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel and
Larry Ellison—are utilizing Trump to effect in their interests a
reactionary restructuring of American society. They will use the time
leading up to the January 20 inauguration to prepare the barrage of
repressive and socially reactionary measures that will be unleashed as
soon as Trump is once again ensconced in the White House.
He was able to exploit the absence within the political establishment
of any articulation of the interests of the vast majority of the
population. The Harris campaign was opposed to making any social appeal
to the working class. They pitched their campaign to the most affluent
voters, promoting hated warmongers like Liz Cheney and promising to
place Republicans in the cabinet.
Harris, Barack Obama and other Democratic surrogates traveled the
country haranguing voters that a failure to turn out for Harris would be
proof of misogyny or racism. They combined incessant appeals to racial
and gender identity with full-throated endorsement of war abroad. The
Democrats pledged further support for Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza
and called for an escalation of the US-NATO war against Russia in
Ukraine.
The Democrats offered nothing to address the escalating social crisis
in the United States, instead presenting the country as “on the right
track” to a population which almost unanimously believes the opposite.
Figures like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez presented the
absurd lie that the Biden-Harris administration had improved conditions
for working people and that Harris would challenge the domination of
“the billionaire class.” Mimicking Hillary Clinton’s 2016 claim that the
working class consists of “a basket of deplorables,” Biden called
Trump’s supporters “garbage” in the final days of the election.
The vote totals show not a surge in support for Trump, who appears to
have lost votes compared to his 2020 totals, but a staggering collapse
in support for the Democrats, with Harris winning somewhere between 10
and 15 million fewer votes than Joe Biden in 2020.
Harris underperformed Biden in every single region of the country.
The Democratic Party’s efforts to cajole various racial and gender
groups behind the Harris campaign on the basis of an appeal to identity
fell completely flat. Trump saw the largest increase in vote margins in
counties where over 50 percent of the population is non-white, and exit
poll data shows that Harris lost Latino men nationally by a 54-44
percent margin, a reversal from 2020, when Biden won that demographic by
a 59-39 percent margin.
The margin by which the Democrats won young voters also fell
substantially from 2020, as countless young people refused to vote for
the candidate complicit in the genocide in Gaza. Harris won the youngest
voters by only 56-41 percent versus Biden’s 65-31 percent margin. Trump
won a majority of votes among first-time voters, a sign that the
Democrats were unable to activate voters beyond the affluent
upper-middle class.
In fact, Harris improved only among the affluent. Among voters with
an income of $200,000 or more, she won 52-44 percent, reversing a narrow
Trump win in that income bracket in 2020. Trump won voters with an
income between $100,000 and $200,000 in 2020 by a 58-41 percent margin,
but Harris won by 53-45 percent. Democrats simultaneously saw a collapse
in support from working people, with Harris losing those making between
$30,000 and $100,000, a wide swath of the population which Biden won by
a roughly 57-43 percent margin in 2020.
The electorate was driven by deep social anger. Among the 43 percent
of voters who said they were “dissatisfied” with “the way things are
going in the country today,” Trump won 54-44 percent. Among the 29
percent who answered that they were “angry,” Trump won 71-27 percent.
Harris won 89-10 percent among the tiny sliver of the population who are
“enthusiastic” about economic and social conditions today. The total
percentage of the population who said their financial situation is
“worse” today versus four years ago more than doubled to 45 percent,
with Trump winning those voters by an 80-17 percent margin.
Trump and the Republicans are well aware that they will preside over a
social powder keg, and that the right-wing policies they plan to
implement will only deepen the social anger. Their strategy is to
combine massive police state repression with a fascist campaign to
scapegoat immigrants for all social ills. Though exit polling does not
suggest that voters were taken in by Trump’s vile attacks on immigrants,
and though large majorities say they believe immigrants deserve a
pathway to citizenship rather than face mass deportation, the stage is
set for a massive and violent attack on immigrant workers on a scale
that will make even his first administration appear like child’s play.
And while Trump’s demagogic claims to oppose war might have won votes
away from the inveterate warmongers in the Democratic Party, Trump is
himself a ruthless imperialist politician who advocates escalatory
confrontation with China, Iran and North Korea.
The response of the Democrats to Trump’s electoral victory will be to
seek compromise and coalition, already evident in Harris’ capitulatory
statement Wednesday afternoon. She made no warnings about the
dictatorial character of the incoming Trump regime and pledged to
cooperate with the transition to the would-be American Fรผhrer. The
Democrats will shift even further to the right, while seeking to forge
an agreement with the Republicans on their central priority, the
escalation of war.
The reactionary character of Trump’s political and social program
will become clear enough. As the ruling class seeks to restructure the
state, there has to be a restructuring of politics, along class lines.
As WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North wrote,
Trump’s election “is the disastrous outcome of the long-term and very
deliberate repudiation by the Democratic Party of any programmatic
orientation to the working class…
In the United States, the new anti-Marxism blended with the
longstanding tradition of anti-communism. Left-wing politics, of the
sort connected to working class militancy, disappeared. The grievances
related to identity displaced any serious concern with the massive
concentration of wealth in a small segment of society at the expense of
the working class.
Those who have promoted this form of right-wing politics, promoted by
the Democratic Party, now resort to the most bankrupt of all responses
to the election: blaming the population.
In fact, the past year has seen an explosive growth of political and
social opposition, from the mass protests against the genocide in Gaza
to a steady growth of strike action by workers, who are striving to
break free from the control of the corporatist trade union apparatus.
Immense social struggles are on the horizon.
These struggles must be politically directed, and they must be guided
by an understanding that fascism can only be stopped by the development
of an independent movement of the working class against the source of
political reaction and oligarchy: the capitalist system. There must be
“a new birth” of genuinely socialist politics, based on the working
class and animated by an international strategy.
The Socialist Equality Party, through its presidential election
campaign of Joseph Kishore and Jerry White, set out to mobilize the
working class on an international, socialist program in opposition to
war, inequality and the capitalist system that produces them. This
program now takes on an even greater urgency. In the period ahead, the
Socialist Equality Party and International Committee of the Fourth
International will fight to win the leadership of a growing movement of
workers and youth against war, dictatorship and inequality and for the
socialist transformation of society.
Defeating the Arab democracy movement left autocratic states hollowed
out and often reliant on US and Israeli support to survive.
Palestinians cannot expect help anytime soon
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (R) meets with US Secretary of
State Antony Blinken in Alamein in northern Egypt on 20 August 2024
(AFP)
341 Shares
As Israel continues its genocidal war in Gaza, and expands it to Lebanon, most Arab countries appear to be mere observers or enablers of the massacre of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians on an unprecedented scale.
Even with the threat of a large-scale regional war looming, which
could have extremely destabilising effects on the entire region, the
ability and desire of Arab states to restrain Israeli imperial hubris
appears to be non-existent.
There is good reason to argue that the main enabler of the current crisis engulfing the Middle East is none other than the United States, which has effectively funded the Israeli wars on Gaza and Lebanon, with aid topping $17.9bn since 7 October 2023. It has also provided diplomatic cover to Israel and given its far-right government the green light to expand the war into Lebanon.
This, however, misses an important aspect of the dynamic. Namely, Israel’s colonial hubris regards having the ability
to reshape the Middle East through mass violence being fed by the
autocratic nature of the Arab states and the failure of the democratic
movement in the region.
More than a decade after the mass revolts
that swept the region, the result is weak states, with contested
legitimacy, only able to exercise power over their own citizens through
mass violence – not dissimilar to the way that Israel is treating the
Palestinians.
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In many ways, the logic of regime survival at any cost has eroded the
ability of these states to influence events in the region – and, in
some cases, the social foundation of the national state itself.
Flow of US aid
A notable example of this is Egypt,
the most populous Arab state and the only one to have a border with the
Gaza Strip, making it, theoretically, one of the Arab states with the
most potential to influence the conflict and restrain Israeli
aggression.
Egypt is also a close ally of the US, receiving a whopping $183.5bn in aid since the end of the Second World War, positioning it as a possible interlocutor with Israel’s patron.
This strategic positioning, however, was overridden by the Sisi
government’s obsession with survival, which placed it in a dependent
relationship with Israel, even as Israel threatens the very stability
that Sisi covets.
Indeed, Israel played a not insignificant role in the consolidation
of the Sisi government after the 2013 coup, offering political support,
security cooperation and deeper economic ties to the direct benefit of
the Egyptian elites.
War on Gaza: Arab despots’ failure to stand up to Israel could fuel an explosion
For example, during the summer of 2013, after the coup that overthrew
the elected president, Mohamed Morsi, the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee (Aipac) was lobbying on behalf of the fledgling military autocracy to ensure the continued flow of American aid.
The close relationship between President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the Zionist lobbying groups continued, with reports
emerging in February 2017 that Sisi met representatives of the most
influential pro-Israel groups, including Aipac, Friends of the Israel
Defense Forces (FIDF) and the Zionist Organization of America (Zoa) five
times in 20 months.
The relationship
between Sisi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been
described as the closest between any leaders from the two nations since
the peace treaty of 1979.
This apparent closeness was anchored in close security cooperation
between the countries, with reports emerging in 2018 that, in the
preceding two years, Israel had conducted over 100 air strikes against militants in Sinai, with Cairo’s approval.
This security cooperation was extended to include direct repression of peaceful dissent in Egypt, with the sale of Israeli spyware to Sisi’s government, which was used to hack into the phone of Ahmed Tantawy, a prominent member of the secular opposition.
The depth of the alliance extended to the energy sector, with a $15bn deal signed in 2018 between the two countries to import Israeli gas for re-export in liquid form.
An investigation by human rights campaigner Hossam Bahgat revealed
that the Egyptian private company responsible for the deal was managed
by Egypt’s General Intelligence Services (GIS), allowing the country’s
security elites to profit from the deal directly.
Egypt’s debt crisis
These deep structural dependencies placed Sisi’s government in an
extremely vulnerable position, unable to restrain Israel, even when the idea
of the ethnic cleansing of Gaza was floated by Netanyahu, with its
highly destabilising effects on the government and the country.
Indeed, beyond rhetorical condemnation, Egypt has done little to
impact the dynamic on the ground. The most notable example of a critical
public stance was the Egyptian declaration in May that it would join the International Court of Justice case against Israel.
At the time of writing, there is no evidence
of it doing so. But there is evidence of deepening economic ties, with
Egypt in September signing another deal with Israel, to increase its
imports of natural gas by 20 percent.
More than a decade after the coup, with the Sisi government facing a
grinding debt crisis and following a logic of power consolidation at any
cost, it finds itself at the mercy of Israel and its colonial hubris,
unable to exert influence on one of its closest allies.
Syria in shambles
The enabling of Israel’s colonial ambitions is not limited to
Israel’s Arab allies, but also extends to Syria, where the logic of
government survival above all else is at its most extreme.
More than a decade after the start of the Syrian uprising, the Assad
government has survived, albeit at the cost of hundreds of thousands of
lives, high levels of foreign interference and the loss of large swathes of territory. The Syrian economy is decimated, the state’s monopoly on violence is now completely eroded, and the social foundations of the state have been eviscerated.
The post-colonial state has failed to meet its raison d’etre, namely
to empower the people of the Middle East, and confront the old imperial
powers, including Israel
The Syrian government has reduced the country to a narco state, blackmailing the Gulf states into reintegrating it into the Arab fold in exchange for stopping the flow of illicit drugs.
In essence, Assad decided to sacrifice the Syrian state on the altar
of his survival, leaving behind a state in shambles – unable to assert
control within its own borders, let alone restrain Israeli aggression
that could spiral to engulf Syria as well, whose territory it already
occupies.
The horrors that we are witnessing in Gaza and Lebanon are as much
the result of an Israeli colonist mania, and western support for it, as
it is also a direct result of the nature of the Arab political landscape
that emerged from the failed Arab spring.
The post-colonial state has failed to meet its raison d’etre, namely
to empower the people of the Middle East, and confront the old imperial
powers, including Israel. Any pretences of this have now completely
disappeared, with a new raison d’etre emerging, namely the domination of
their own citizens at any cost.
This is not to argue that these states were not repressive before,
but there is not now even a pretence of confronting a dangerous external
enemy, now that said enemy is internal.
The dissident has now come to replace colonists and the occupier as
the number one enemy of the Arab states, with the mass slaughter of the
Palestinians, Lebanese and whoever dares to challenge the Israeli vision
of the new Middle East standing as a testament to a new Arab autocratic
political order.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Maged Mandour is a political analyst who is a regular contributor to
the Arab Digest, Middle East Eye, and Open Democracy. He is the author
of an upcoming book entitled Egypt Under Sisi, to be published by IB
Tauris. The book will examine the social and political developments in
Egypt since the 2013 coup.
Footage shows a Palestinian man being used by the Israel Defense Forces as a human shield.
(Photo: Al Jazeera)
“The earliest testimony we have on it is
from a soldier who was aware of it just a few weeks after the ground
invasion began,” one human rights expert said. “The latest testimony we
have on this is from the summer.”
The Israel Defense Forces routinely use detained Palestinians as human shields in Gaza, according to testimony from four Palestinians and one IDF soldier shared withThe Washington Post.
Their stories, published on Sunday, build on other accounts from Haaretz, Al Jazeera, the international press, and Defense for Children International
to reveal a pattern of Israeli soldiers forcing Palestinians—including
children—to enter buildings or tunnels ahead of them to check for
militants or explosives, in clear violation of international law.
“This wasn’t something that happened just here and there but rather
on a large scale throughout a number of different units, at different
times, throughout the war and in different places,” Joel Carmel,
advocacy director of Breaking the Silence, told The Washington Post.
“My hospital was turning into rubble, and they were asking me to demolish it with my own hands.”
The incidents recounted to the Post occurred between January
and August. One man, 20-year-old Mohammed Saad, said he was detained by
the IDF in June and interrogated for several days. Then, a new pattern
began. Every day, he and two other Palestinian men were blindfolded and
taken to a different location. They were made to wear IDF uniforms,
given cameras, and told to enter buildings ahead of the Israeli soldiers
to film and check for explosives. On the second day, an explosion went
off after Saad had made his forced investigation.
“They tied my hands and threw me on the sand,” he recalled. “They
took turns beating me. I still don’t know where the explosion came
from.”
Another time, the captain of the unit he was detained by showed him an image of his family home destroyed by bombing.
“If you do not cooperate with us, we will kill all your family members like this,” the captain said.
On the 15th day of Saab’s ordeal, he was given civilian clothes and
told to walk. As he did so, he felt a pain and realized he had been shot
in the back.
The other three Palestinians interviewed by the Post were detained during the IDF’s raid
on al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City in March. One was a surgeon at the
hospital, while the other two were taken from their homes nearby. They
were made to enter the hospital building ahead of IDF troops, remove any
barriers, and take pictures of each room they entered.
“I was telling them that my hands are precious for my work; I am the
only vascular surgeon here,” the surgeon, Omar al-Jadba recalled to the Post. “My hospital was turning into rubble, and they were asking me to demolish it with my own hands.”
The IDF soldier, who spoke anonymously, said that two Palestinian
detainees were placed with his unit to make sure that buildings were
safe to enter. One of them was only a teenager. His commander said the
two men were terrorists, but then later said they could be released
after the mission was over.
“At this point we understood that if we could release them, then they were not terrorists,” the soldier, a reservist, told the Post. “The officer just lied to us.”
“Every one of their accusations is a confession.”
Another group of soldiers questioned the use of human shields,
telling a higher-level commander that it was against international law.
“He told us that international law is not important and the only
thing that simple soldiers need to think about is the ethical code of
the IDF,” the soldier told the Post.
However, the IDF said in a statement that its orders prohibit the use of human shields.
Breaking the Silence, a group that records testimonies from Israeli
soldiers in the occupied Palestinian territories, said the reservist’s
account was in line with others they had received.
“The earliest testimony we have on it is from a soldier who was aware
of it just a few weeks after the ground invasion began,” Carmel said.
“The latest testimony we have on this is from the summer.”
The Post reporting came the same day as a major Associated Press investigation
into Israeli raids on three hospitals in northern Gaza at the end of
2023. Israel has often justified its hospital raids with the claim that
Hamas operates from the inside, turning all the patients and doctors
into human shields. However, the AP concluded that “Israel
has presented little or even no evidence of a significant Hamas
presence at the three” hospitals it considered: the al-Awda, Indonesian,
and Kamal Adwan hospitals.
“What do [former U.S. President Donald] Trump and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu have in common?” asked journalist Mehdi Hasan in response to the Post‘s reporting. “Many things but especially… projection. Every one of their accusations is a confession.”
Other commenters responded
to the clear violations of international law and questioned why the
U.S. continues to provide weapons and funding to the IDF while it
engages in war crimes.
The Austin for Palestine coalition shared a quote from the article, noting that what it described was “paid for by our tax dollars.”
