GAZA, (PIC)
Flouting the American initiative and its proposals for a ceasefire deal in Gaza, and ignoring all the decisions of international human rights institutions, especially the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), Israel goes far in its arrogance and insistence on continuing the genocide against the Palestinian people. It coldly commits a new massacre in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, targeting a school sheltering displaced persons, mostly women, children, and the elderly, causing dozens of casualties.
This may not be a surprising matter for a criminal government that has been coldly killing for eight months after its bankruptcy in achieving any of the declared aggression’s goals, but the messages from this massacre are multiple and contain clear indications that confirm to observers the continuation of the American green light, which sought instead of punishing Israel for its crimes and seriously seeking to impose an atmosphere that succeeds in negotiating a ceasefire deal to prove its credibility, and went far in supporting Israel by enacting legislation to impose sanctions on the ICC.
What drives Israel to continue its brutal crimes, and what makes it disregard the global opinion that is clearly siding with the Palestinian people and recognizing their rights.
Negotiations under fire
The writer Nihad Abu Ghosh, an expert on Israeli affairs, commented on the Israeli massacre in Nuseirat, saying, “The Zionist War Minister Yoav Gallant summarized this issue when he said that Israel is conducting negotiations under fire.”
Abu Ghosh said, “This continuous military pressure and the daily massacres that move from Rafah to Khan Yunis and back to Jabaliya in the north, then back to the central camp area as happened in the Bureij, Al-Maghazi, Deir Al-Balah and Nuseirat areas, are all pressure tools to coerce and push the resistance and the Palestinian people to accept an incomplete and uncomprehensive deal, a deal that does not include any Israeli readiness to stop the fire, as is evident from everything we hear from the Israeli government and its contacts and attempts to obtain American guarantees for that.”
He pointed out that the Israeli government wants to return to the original formula that they had been proposing since the beginning of the war and repeated after every failure and every stage of the negotiations, which they summarize in the phrase “the humanitarian deal”, meaning the release of Israeli prisoners in exchange for some humanitarian facilities such as the entry of aid, without achieving any of the national conditions demanded by the resistance, especially the comprehensive withdrawal in addition to the cessation of the war, the return of the displaced to their homes, the unhindered entry of aid, and a prisoner exchange deal.
Abu Ghosh noted that even with the failure of these negotiations, Israel returns to military pressure, hoping that this will contribute to weakening the position of the resistance or softening it, or presenting it to the Palestinian people as the reason for the people’s suffering and the continuation of daily killings.
Why doesn’t Israel care about all the pressures in the legal channels?
He emphasized that Israel is concerned with the pressures and legal channels, but these pressures are still theoretical and verbal threats of sanctions, but do not impose these sanctions. What specifically matters to Israel is the American position, and whether this position is accompanied by any practical measures that could affect American support.
Abu Ghosh added, “But so far, all these pressures do not include any practical action against Israel, and recently we heard that Joseph Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy coordinator, is summoning (Israeli) Foreign Minister Katz to discuss the continuation of the EU-Israel Partnership Agreement, and this is one of the most important issues that could affect Israel. However, it is very clear that in the composition of the European Union among its twenty-seven countries, there is no majority that can impose sanctions on Israel, including reviewing or canceling the partnership agreement.
He stressed that the issue of international courts is certainly important procedures, but they need to be completed and supported by real field efforts and others that translate themselves in the form of a deal.
For his part, the journalist Ibrahim Al-Madhoun commented on the massacre, saying, “Approximately 45 martyrs, mostly children and women, in the massacre at the Al-Nuseirat school. The schools have become shelters for civilians and their places of displacement, most of them displaced from Al-Bureij, Rafah, and Khan Yunis. They were crammed into these schools only to be bombed, burned, and about 45 killed so far, with dozens injured who are mostly awaiting death after the destruction of all hospitals in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Madhoun affirmed in a post, “This massacre is evidence that we are dealing with a rogue enemy who behaves in a barbaric manner, and that he is bankrupt, so he has nothing left but killing and destruction.”
For his part, the Palestinian journalist Raji Al-Hams described the scene, saying, Israel has expanded in the war of genocide over the past 24 hours, and the situation in the Gaza Strip is deteriorating.
He added, “The enemy has increased its criminality. More than a hundred martyrs in horrific massacres in 24 hours, including a massacre in targeting a shelter center, in addition to the continued bombing and killing in Gaza and continuous targeting every day of cars and houses. As for Rafah, as you see every day, more martyrs are recorded, as the occupation (army) bombs east and west and wreaks havoc in all the streets of the city, and the world remains silent, weak and accustomed, still watching which lines the usurper has exceeded.”
The American weapon again
Confirming America’s partnership in the crimes, despite the false statements of its officials, who verbally play with sympathy for what is happening to the Palestinian people, and bias towards Israel with political and military support. A CNN analysis revealed that the Israeli army used American weapons in its attack on Wednesday evening on a school belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of Gaza.
The American network said it is the second time in two weeks that it has been able to verify the use of ammunition manufactured in the United States in deadly attacks on Palestinian refugees in Gaza. CNN indicated that the first time was during an Israeli raid on a refugee camp in Rafah on May 26th.
Arrogance and boasting of the scale of destruction
On Wednesday, Israeli War Minister Yoav Gallant said that any negotiations with Hamas will only take place under the fire. This came in a statement after he went on a reconnaissance tour aboard a fighter jet over the Gaza Strip, according to the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation.
Gallant said he conducted a reconnaissance tour this morning aboard an F-15 fighter jet, and saw all the combat sectors of the Israeli army, whether in the east or the south, or in the Gaza Strip, or on the border with Lebanon. He boastfully added about the scale of the destruction caused by the Israeli bombing, “You can clearly see the performance of the Air Force, the attacks and smoke columns in the places where the attacks of the Israeli army appear are clearly visible, whether in the Gaza Strip or in the north (inside Lebanon).”
He added: “We are in an operation in which we continue to crush the enemy, and any negotiations with Hamas will only take place under fire.”
On Tuesday, Hamas leader Osama Hamdan, during a press conference held in the Lebanese capital Beirut, said that the Movement informed the mediators that it will not conclude any agreement with Israel regarding the prisoner exchange unless there is a clear position from Tel Aviv on its readiness for a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
The US President Joe Biden revealed on Friday that Israel has proposed a 3-phase plan that includes a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of detainees, and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
However, Israel has not announced a final position on Biden’s statements. Netanyahu described what the US President presented as inaccurate and said in a press statement on Monday that he did not agree to end the war in the second phase of the proposal, but only to discuss that step according to Tel Aviv’s conditions.
US house passes bill to punish the ICC
Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives has passed a bill calling for sanctions against the ICC, after its Prosecutor Karim Khan requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his army minister Yoav Gallant on suspicion of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
The Unlawful Court Sanctions Act, which was approved by the House with the support of almost all Republicans and about a fifth of Democrats, would prevent ICC officials involved in the case from entering the United States, revoke their visas, and restrict any real estate transactions they have.
House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement, “The United States stands firmly with Israel and refuses to allow international bureaucrats to issue baseless arrest warrants against Israeli leadership on false charges.”
Israel has been waging a brutal aggression on Gaza Strip since last October 7th with absolute American support, which has left more than 119,000 Palestinians dead or injured, mostly women and children, and about 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that has claimed the lives of children and the elderly.
Israel continues this war, ignoring a Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, and ICJ ruling to stop its attack on Rafah and take immediate measures to prevent genocide and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
