Israeli forces have demonstrated a pattern of systematically targeting densely populated civilian areas across hundreds of attacks in Gaza that likely violate international wartime laws, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) found in a report released Wednesday.
“Monitoring by OHCHR strongly indicates that the Israeli Defense Forces have systematically failed to comply with the following fundamental principles of international humanitarian law in its conduct of hostilities in Gaza since 7 October: the principle of distinction, the prohibition of indiscriminate attacks, the principle of proportionality and the principle of precautions in attack,” the report said.
According to the analysis, in 87 percent of Israel’s attacks since October, over five people have been killed, while 10 or more have been killed in over 60 percent of Israel’s attacks. This proportion alone suggests widespread war crimes, the report said. Meanwhile, the very use of 2,000, 1,000 and 250 pound bombs in these densely populated areas could amount to wartime violations. Further, the UNHCR wrote, the launching of such large bombs in this way could indicate direct attacks on civilians.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials have been clear about their objectives, as the report points out. In October, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Major General Ghassan Alian referred to “Hamas and the residents of Gaza” as “human beasts” and told them, “you wanted hell, you will get hell.” The report quoted another IDF spokesperson saying at the beginning of Israel’s current incursion into Gaza that they’re “focused on what causes maximum damage.”
Meanwhile, the very use of 2,000, 1,000 and 250 pound bombs in these densely populated areas could amount to wartime violations.
What Biden keeps “selling” Israel in exchange for our tax money we gave them…
Especially with how he went around congress, I don’t understand how people keep saying he’s innocent.
He’s breaking US and international law and us ignoring it because he has a D by his name is taking us down the same path that led republicans to trump.
You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.
I’m voting for Biden because of how much more fascist & pro-genocide Trump is. On most (except some items like the border) other policy, Biden is certainly more progressive relative to Trump, and that is a very important difference. In our bullshit democracy, where both parties represent the interest of the capitalist class and the rachet effect is in full swing, the only party that can still be influenced by progressives is the Democratic party. (In local politics, voting for progressive candidates and supporting Ranked choice voting is the way to go.)
However, that should in no way give him a free pass from criticism about defending and arming a genocidal apartheid state. That should never be defended or brushed aside, regardless
His border policy is certainly more progressive than Trump’s. Trump banned Muslims and “suspected Muslims,” while deporting parents of immigrants and detaining their children to be sexually and physically abused. The legal cases from Title 42 are in the tens of thousands now.
Biden left the border open, while pressing Congress for immigration reform, until sanctuary cities could no longer meet housing needs before restricting entry again. There’s not much else he can do when we have homeless migrants and no federal funding to supplement the overextended states with sanctuary cities.
Biden is certainly better than trump on some things like with repealing the Muslim ban. He is also worse in some ways such as deporting millions, 3x more than trump, each year.
Illegal border crossings soared in the months after Biden took office and immediately rolled back many Trump-era restrictions. Biden warned that he’d still enforce immigration laws, and he temporarily kept in place a Trump pandemic policy known as Title 42 that allowed authorities to quickly expel border crossers.
Trump vs. Biden on immigration: 12 charts comparing U.S. border security - NYT archived
The vast majority of homelessness is due to people getting priced out of the housing market and evicted, as well as zoning laws. Housing First and nice Public Housing are the ways to address that
Congress sells weapons, not the president. Congress can even prevent a veto if the sale is large enough.
The Biden administration once again bypasses Congress on an emergency weapons sale to Israel
- AP News Dec 29, 2023
He has bypassed Congress to sell weapons to Israel at least twice during this genocide, albeit some months ago
I think this article omitted important further context by not describing the target selection approach the IDF was using: they had an AI tool make guesses as to who was part of Hamas, then suggest bombing runs of their homes when they were believed to be inside around meal times or sleeping. They reserved precision weapons for commanders, and used dumb bombs to kill low-ranking suspected combatants.
This approach is inherently designed to create a pretense to carpet bomb neighborhood full of families based on a process with little to know human oversight it discretion.
For details, look up “lavender” and “where’s Daddy”.
Absolutely true, the targeting of civilians and civilian architecture has been blatant and deliberate. 972 Magazine has a great article about it and the use of ‘Power Targets’
Compared to previous Israeli assaults on Gaza, the current war — which Israel has named “Operation Iron Swords,” and which began in the wake of the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7 — has seen the army significantly expand its bombing of targets that are not distinctly military in nature. These include private residences as well as public buildings, infrastructure, and high-rise blocks, which sources say the army defines as “power targets” (“matarot otzem”).
Although it is unprecedented for the Israeli army to attack more than 1,000 power targets in five days, the idea of causing mass devastation to civilian areas for strategic purposes was formulated in previous military operations in Gaza, honed by the so-called “Dahiya Doctrine” from the Second Lebanon War of 2006.
