Israel Must Not Reoccupy Gaza

According to Galip Dalay, a nonresident senior fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, while negotiations suggest a ceasefire in Gaza might be imminent, there remains uncertainty about whether both sides fully agree on the terms.

Dalay explained to Al Jazeera that for many in Israel, the focus of a ceasefire centers on the release of Israeli prisoners.

On the other hand, for Hamas and Palestinians, the priorities extend beyond captives to include ending the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Dalay cautioned against allowing a ceasefire to pave the way for reoccupation of Gaza or the establishment of Israeli settlements there, an idea proposed by some Israeli ministers.

Such actions, he argued, would lead to disaster and fuel further radicalism across the region.

Dalay also warned that prolonged atrocities reduce the chances of captives being safely released, underlining the urgency of reaching an agreement for the sake of both the captives and the people of Gaza.

Continue reading
Israeli Soldiers Face Criminal Charges in World Courts

According to different Israeli media sources Israeli soldiers traveling abroad are now threatened with arrest in different countries for their war crimes in Gaza.

KAN, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that there are now many attempts to prosecute Israeli soldiers abroad showing that about 50 complaints have been filed against reserve soldiers in the Israeli army, and investigations have been opened in 10 countries with the numbers set to increase in the coming days.

Quoting security sources, KAN stated that the countries it described as friendly to Israel do not pose a direct or immediate threat with mass arrest warrants, and no official instructions have been issued to prevent travel to specific countries, despite some of them being considered problematic.

It added cases are dealt with individually, especially those related to soldiers with dual citizenship, such as South Africa, and/or soldiers with intelligence information against them.

A few days ago, the Israeli media reported an Israeli soldier wanted in Brazil managed to leave the country before being arrested. This comes after the Brazilian judicial authorities issued an urgent order for his arrest on the basis of a complaint filed by a human rights organization accusing him of committing crimes in Gaza.

Haaretz reported the Israeli army warned reserve soldiers abroad of the possibility of being arrested for participating in the war on Gaza.

For its part, Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar held a meeting of a ministerial team to discuss “ways to protect Israelis and Jews abroad.”

During the meeting, Sa’ar called for immediate and clear measures to deal with these issues, while directing the army to educate soldiers not to publish documentation of their crimes. He also stressed the need to monitor international organizations that work to legally prosecute Israeli soldiers.

For his part, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid described the incident of the soldier’s smuggling from Brazil as a “diplomatic failure” for the government, and criticized its failure to legally protect the soldiers, wondering how the Palestinians could become a more influential force on the international scene compared to Israel.

Human rights reports revealed the collection of information related to crimes committed by Israeli soldiers in Gaza, including the publication of video clips documenting these violations, with the aim of pushing local authorities in various countries to arrest them.

Israel Hayom reported that mothers of Israeli soldiers sent a sharp letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, demanding legal protection for their sons, warning of the consequences of international courts, especially with the decline in the independence of the Israeli judiciary.

Professor of international law William Schabas ruled out the possibility of Israel succeeding in protecting its soldiers involved in war crimes and genocide, pointing to the lack of credibility of the Israeli judicial system.

In the same context, Dr. Muhannad Mustafa explained that international prosecutions constitute an obsession for Israel, due to the repercussions they carry on accountability files and the absence of justice domestically as reported by the Palestine Information Center.

Continue reading
Israel’s Masked Gangs in Gaza

As part of its ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Israel is attempting to destroy the security and justice structures in the enclave by undermining public order. Israel’s inhumane strategy is designed to guarantee the Palestinians’ annihilation of one another without resorting to direct military action itself.

In order to spread chaos and insecurity as part of its genocidal war and create disastrous conditions that will result in the destruction of Palestinians in the Strip as a whole, the Israeli army has attempted to target members of the security and civil police forces as well as individuals working to coordinate the entry of humanitarian aid. Since the start of its genocide on 7 October 2023, Israel has been targeting members of these groups or teams while they are working  and even while they are in their homes or shelters. 

Chaos

The state of chaos brought about by the breakdown of the security system due to the Israeli army’s permitting of organized gangs to enter areas under its military control in order to steal humanitarian aid has resulted in the concerning rise of armed groups. These groups are composed of masked individuals who carry out coordinated attacks against civilians under a variety of pretexts, including “defending aid”, in egregious violation of civilians’ basic rights and dignity, which are guaranteed by international law.

Due to the chaos and the breakdown of the security system in the Gaza Strip, some families have started using weapons to settle disputes among themselves. This has resulted in the rise of individual retaliation and the spread of disputes and revenge through illegal means.

In addition to being a flagrant breach of international humanitarian law, Israel’s approach makes the population’s dire humanitarian situation worse. Israel’s 15-month-long genocide in Gaza has systematically destroyed civilian infrastructure, undermining political institutions and increasing the suffering of the civilian populace in ways never seen before in Gaza.

Masked Men

The Euro-Med Monitor field team has documented numerous instances in which anonymous masked men handcuffed individuals and physically assaulted or shot them—under the guise of these individuals’ involvement in thefts, attacks on private property and aid trucks, or trafficking in stolen goods—either by severely beating them or shooting them in the limbs. These actions are occurring outside of the legal system, i.e. without any legal processes to protect the rights of the accused, including their right to an investigation into accusations made against them. This is a blatant violation of fundamental rights and human dignity, and represents a grave lack of justice.

The systematic Israeli targeting of the police and security systems in the Gaza Strip makes it crucial to find effective mechanisms to control security and maintain community peace. However, any measures must be implemented within the approved legal frameworks, guaranteeing respect for people’s human dignity and the protection of their basic rights without any violations or transgressions.

Deliberate Destruction

The aforementioned violations are part of a deliberate Israeli strategy to destroy the Gaza Strip’s security and justice system by bombing official and makeshift police stations, judicial institutions, and police officers and staff, including local security personnel representing private companies or civil committees. The targeting of Palestinian courts and prisons by gangs backed by Israel in an effort to sow disarray and undermine stability is another example of the violations.

In addition to impairing the police’s capacity to maintain internal security, the Israeli occupation army’s frequent targeting of police officers or their makeshift checkpoints strikes fear in the hearts of the populace and keeps them from using these checkpoints to lodge complaints, which encourages the use of force and increases the tendency for people to take matters into their own hands, further destabilising the weakened security situation.

It is essential to uphold the values of justice and human dignity and to guarantee that those suspected of violating them are treated humanely and with discipline.

Regulating this situation and ensuring that any party tasked with upholding community security follows the law and respects human dignity are obligations of the Gaza Strip’s authorities and the relevant Palestinian factions, particularly Hamas. However, the international community must apply more pressure on Israel to cease attacking the Strip’s justice system and police, which are vital civil institutions. Ending Israel’s crime of genocide and all of its manifestations, including direct and indirect acts intended to systematically exterminate the Palestinian people, is the radical solution to all humanitarian crises in the enclave.

Euro-Med Monitor emphasizes that justice and dignity for the Palestinian people can only be attained by putting an end to Israel’s persistent crimes and violations.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

Continue reading
In Israeli Captivity

The journey from Khan Yunis to Deir Al Balah used to take 20 minutes, but now it takes almost an hour due to traffic and the damages to the road’s infrastructure. As Gaza people tend to chat during long rides, one passenger said to another, “Your voice sounds familiar. Where have we met?”

The other replied, “This is the first time I see you.” Yet, the first insisted, and after failing to guess where they might have met, they both exclaimed simultaneously, “Could it have been in Israeli captivity?”

https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1876029045424488821/photo/1

Continue reading
84 Israeli Violations in a Month

Palestinian Journalists Syndicate has reported that 84 Israeli violations and crimes were committed against Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip during the last month, condemning the ongoing attacks on them.

In a statement, the syndicate stated that ten journalists and eight members of their families were murdered by Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip, while five others were severely injured in Israeli attacks.

It also highlighted that 20 journalists were detained and prohibited from completing the coverage. They also were subjected to eleven live ammunition instances.

Continue reading