The U.S. Congress repeatedly stood in applause Wednesday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed American lawmakers, at instances deceptive, in different cases outright mendacity to the federal legislature.
While Netanyahu’s presence drew huge protests outdoors the Capitol and Washington, on the whole, his fiery speech has been denounced by the Palestinian group Hamas.
The Israeli Prime Minister informed the Congress that Israel’s genocidal conflict on Gaza has one of many lowest ratios of combatants to non-combatant casualties within the historical past of city warfare.”
The declare is way from the reality in Gaza, the place the confirmed Palestinian dying toll sits at almost 40,000, in line with Gaza’s Health Ministry.
It has repeatedly publicized lists of the useless, together with their Israeli-issued identification numbers, and whose information from previous conflicts the U.N. has attested as dependable.
The majority of the useless have been ladies and youngsters and never each man killed has been a combatant.
Israel has largely shrugged off civilian casualties, blaming Hamas because the quantity has risen dramatically over the previous 9 months.
The true dying toll is probably going far larger than the official numbers from the ministry, a reality even the Biden administration has acknowledged.
Many of the useless possible stay buried beneath Gaza’s sprawling rubble fields or have been summarily buried at makeshift websites by Israeli forces.
Civilian hurt
Israel, Netanyahu claimed, has applied extra precautions to stop civilian hurt than any navy in historical past, and “beyond what international law requires.”
His declare is at stark odds with repeated appeals for Israel to do extra to mitigate civilian hurt, together with from the Biden administration which has for months mentioned that extra have to be achieved to not solely keep away from extra deaths however to enhance the humanitarian state of affairs all through Gaza. The U.N. has additionally strongly criticized the situations at what Israel considers “safe zones.”
James Elder, a UNICEF spokesperson, mentioned on July 16 that “under international law, the place where you evacuate people to must have sufficient resources for survival – medical facilities, food, and water.”
“That is, these so-called safe zones are safe not just when they are free from bombardment, but when these conditions – food, water, medicine, protection – are also met.”
“However, these safe zones are tiny patches of barren land, or street corners, or half-built buildings, with no water, no facilities, no shelters from the cold and the rain. And now, in yet another deadly twist for families in Gaza, those forced into the al-Mawasi “protected zone” are not only deprived of such lifesaving services but have been bombed three times in the past six weeks!” Elder mentioned.
His feedback got here after 90 individuals have been killed throughout a collection of strikes on the al-Mawasi protected zone close to Rafah.
Blaming Hamas
“If there are Palestinians in Gaza who aren’t getting enough food, it’s not because Israel is blocking it, it’s because Hamas is stealing it,” Netanyahu additionally mentioned in his speech.
The U.N. and worldwide reduction teams, nevertheless, have repeatedly sounded the alarm at Israeli restrictions on the entry of humanitarian help, denials on ahead motion as soon as the convoys enter Gaza, and Israel’s repeated assaults on convoys as they try and make badly-needed deliveries.
A collection of Israeli airstrikes on a World Central Kitchen support convoy on April 1 killed seven staff and led to main support teams pausing their operations. In June, the World Food Programme paused its operations after two warehouses got here beneath rocket assault throughout an Israeli hostage rescue operation that killed almost 300 Palestinians.
The company had been finishing up supply operations from a brief pier the U.S. constructed on the Gaza shoreline to work round Israel’s restrictions.
The lack of adequate deliveries has led to excessive shortage of meals and clear water all through Gaza.
A panel of 10 impartial U.N. rapporteurs mentioned on June 9 that there’s “no doubt” famine now exists throughout all of Gaza.
“We declare that Israel’s intentional and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine across all of Gaza.”
“We call upon the international community to prioritize the delivery of humanitarian aid by land by any means necessary, end Israel’s siege, and establish a ceasefire,” they mentioned.
‘Practically none’
Israel’s Netanyahu, who’s accused of genocide in Gaza, additionally claimed that civilian casualties stemming from Israeli operations within the southern Gaza metropolis of Rafah have been “practically none.”
The declare isn’t solely far-fetched, it’s an outright lie. There have been a number of Israeli strikes in Rafah which have resulted in civilian casualties, together with one which set hearth to a tent camp housing displaced Palestinians in May, killing at the least 46 individuals.
Netanyahu himself mentioned that the strike was a “tragic mishap.” Hundreds of others have been handled for accidents they sustained throughout the assault, together with ugly burns.
U.N. consultants have been outraged by the strike.
Earlier in February, roughly 4 Israeli airstrikes killed at the least 95 civilians. About half of these victims have been youngsters.
Amnesty International referred to as the assault “unlawful,” and mentioned it provides to proof that “Israeli forces continue to flout international humanitarian law, obliterating entire families with total impunity.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com