IT'S TIME TO STOP REPUBLICAN WAR MONGERS WHO SUPPORT GENOCIDE & 

ISRAELI BOMBING CIVILIANS, BUT ESCHEW A CEASEFIRE & PEACEFUL 

SETTLEMENT! 

ISRAEL MAY HAVE A RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF, BUT MASSACRES, WAR CRIMES 

& GENOCIDE DO NOT CONSTITUTE DEFENSE! 

ISRAEL IS BLOCKING HUMANITARIAN AID - A WAR CRIME! 

FOOD AS WEAPON IS A WAR CRIME! 

THERE IS EVIDENCE OF ISRAELI TORTURE & MASS EXECUTIONS! 

THERE IS EVIDENCE OF MASS GRAVES!

WHERE IS AMERICAN HUMANITY? 

CORRUPT NETANYAHU INTERRUPTED HIS CORRUPTION TRIAL & CONTINUES 

TO LIE!

Netanyahu openly Reneges on Ceasefire, Stabs Biden in Back, Charging US cut off Weaponry

JUAN COLE06/24/2024

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In an interview on Israeli Channel 14, the Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “The heavy duty phase in the war is about to end with the end of the operation in Rafah. Therefore, the forces will be moved to the north.” By “north” he meant the border with Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire. He underlined, however, that the war on Gaza would continue until his objectives of “eliminating Hamas and returning the hostages” are achieved. He said, “I reject leaving Hamas in existence. The war will not end.”

Since Israel killed 100 Palestinians in Gaza in 24 hours over the weekend, there isn’t actually any evidence that the “heavy duty” phase of the total war on the residents of the Strip is ending.

Netanyahu openly reneged on the earlier alleged cabinet decision reported by President Joe Biden in late May and endorsed by a UN Security Council resolution, that there would be a halt in the fighting to allow an exchange of hostages. He said, “I am ready to reach a partial agreement with Hamas to recover some of the hostages, and this is no secret.” That Netanyahu and his ultra-right allies were the bottleneck here had been clear for some time, but the Biden administration chose to blame Hamas.

On Sunday, Netanyahu at a cabinet meeting repeated in public his false allegation that the Biden administration has reduced its weapons shipments to Israel. Not only have Biden spokesmen denied it, the charge makes no sense since Israel could not have continued its intensive bombing campaign on Gaza without daily resupply of arms and munitions by the United States. Israel ran out of its own ammunition months ago.

Having been invited to address Congress, Netanyahu clearly intends to cooperate with the Republicans in trying to damage Biden and plump for a return to the presidency of Donald Trump by spreading the Big Lie that Biden cut off weaponry to Israel. The only shipment that was paused consisted of 2,000-pound bombs, which Biden did not want Netanyahu using against the dense neighborhoods of Rafah. Those heavy bombs were in any case not suited to the Rafah campaign and would mainly have destroyed civilian infrastructure and killed innocent civilians.

I mean, I wish what Netanyahu is saying were true — it would much improve my opinion of the Biden team. But alas, like almost everything that comes out of the Polish-Israeli politician’s mouth, it is a piece of monumental prevarication.

The liberal American Zionists in Congress such as Chuck Schumer, who joined Republicans in issuing the invitation to the war criminal Netanyahu to come to Washington, have been had.

Regarding the Arab 48 story on Netanyahu’s retreat from his own peace plan, Hamas immediately fired back at the Israeli leader’s comments: “The position expressed by Netanyahu, which confirms that he will continue the war, and that he wants a partial agreement to recover a number of prisoners; and then resume the war after that, is substantiation of his rejection of the Security Council decision, and Joe Biden’s proposals.” Hamas pointed out that the prime minister’s assertions are “the opposite of the line the US administration tried to peddle about the alleged acceptance” of it by Israel.

The terrorist organization added: “Our insistence that any agreement contain a clear affirmation of a permanent ceasefire, and a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, is absolutely necessary, in order to bar Netanyahu’s evasive and deceptive attempt to perpetuate aggression and genocide against our people.”

Netanyahu, of course, does not accept any scenario in which Hamas reemerges to take control of Gaza again, and said he was working on an alternative model that would be gradual, involving the creation of a “civil administration” in Gaza within a new framework for “the day after the war.”

This proposal sounds a lot like that of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who wanted to find local partners in Gaza civil society with whom to cooperate in administering the Gaza Strip, but who failed to do so. Netanyahu acknowledged that failure, and sounds to me like Tricky Dick Nixon running for president in 1968 with a “secret plan” to end the Vietnam War. Netanyahu said “We want to establish a civil administration in cooperation with locals; I will not divulge the details.”

The prime minister was asked about the prospect of Israeli squatters flooding into post-war Gaza to usurp land from local people and settle on it. He replied, “I know there are many who support the resettlement in the Gaza Strip; but I am realistic and I see that this is unrealistic.”

Arab 48 says that his Jewish Power (i.e. fascist) National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, immediately shot back on social media after the interview, “If we wanted, it would be realistic.”

Netanyahu continued to put out the line that no commission of inquiry into the security failures on October 7 should be established during the war, since it would eat up scarce resources. He hinted that internal, secret investigations are anyway superior because an open commission might throw up information helping international courts make cases against Israel.

That sounds like about the most explicit confession of war crimes that a war criminal could make.

An organization of the families of Israeli hostages, infuriated at the interview, put out a statement saying, “Netanyahu has retreated from accepting the Netanyahu deal.”

Their statement read: “The Forum of Prisoners’ Families condemns the Prime Minister’s announcement regarding his retreat from accepting the Israeli proposal (for the prisoner exchange deal), which means that he decided to abandon 120 hostages and violate the moral duty of the state towards its citizens.”

It added that “the end of fighting in the region without releasing the hostages is an unprecedented national failure, and a failure in achieving the goals of the war. The families of the hostages will not allow the government and its leader to abandon their fundamental commitments towards the fate of our loved ones.” The families underlined that “the responsibility and duty to return all hostages lies with the Prime Minister.”

Netanyahu replied by blaming Hamas. He said he was committed to bring out the hostages. He has, however, repeatedly refused to engage in good faith negotiations that have any prospect of doing so.

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

INFORMED COMMENT

Informed Comment daily updates (06/23/2024)

 

Hostage Families demand Deal, Netanyahu Resignation, in Largest Demonstrations since Oct. 7 Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Saturday evening witnessed the biggest Israeli demonstrations against the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the outbreak of war on October 7, 2023, according to the Israeli press as summarized by Al Jazeera. Some 150,000 are said to have rallied in Tel Aviv alone. They demanded that the […]

Why Iran’s Upcoming Presidential Elections Matter By Abolghasem Bayyenat | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Iran is set to hold extraordinary presidential elections in about two weeks following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in northwestern Iran last month. Out of a list of 80 presidential nominees, the Council of Guardians, which is in […]

Does Israel really want to Open a Two-Front War by attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon? By Ian Parmeter, Australian National University | – (The Conversation) – Among the many sayings attributed to Winston Churchill is, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” This sentiment seems appropriate as Israel potentially appears ready to embark on a war against the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. […]

Old posts you may have missed

UN: Israel Flattened Civilian Housing Complexes with 2000-lb. Bombs in absence of Specific Military Target Jewish critics of Zionism have Clashed with American Jewish Leaders for Decades Rupture and Repair: A report by the Stanford Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian Communities Committee Not your Father’s Israel: Extremist Israeli PM Netanyahu is Playing Biden and Blinken for Fools The Looming Famine in Gaza is an Extension of Israel’s Colonial Power The Art of the Submarine: Or 5,824 Hiroshima’s per Sub UN Human Rights Commission: Israel’s is among most Criminal Armies in the World, Clear intention of forcible Dislocation

Informed Comment daily updates (06/22/2024)

 

UN: Israel Flattened Civilian Housing Complexes with 2000-lb. Bombs in absence of Specific Military Target Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report, this week on “Indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks during the conflict in Gaza” during the first three months of the Israel campaign against Gaza. The UN is painfully polite, so you may not be able to tell that the […]

Jewish critics of Zionism have Clashed with American Jewish Leaders for Decades By Marjorie N. Feld, Babson College | – Since October 2023, American Jews have been engaged in an intense, fractious debate over Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip. Media reports say that American Jews are experiencing “the great rupture,” widening “rifts,” and stand at a “moral, political crossroads.” While most American Jews remain broadly supportive […]

Rupture and Repair: A report by the Stanford Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian Communities Committee May 2024 Rupture and Repair is published in pdf format here. Below I present an html version with the permission of the authors. 2 With Gratitude: This report would not have been possible without the time, insights, and care of so many Stanford community members. We are deeply grateful for and humbled by every single […]

Old posts you may have missed

Not your Father’s Israel: Extremist Israeli PM Netanyahu is Playing Biden and Blinken for Fools The Looming Famine in Gaza is an Extension of Israel’s Colonial Power The Art of the Submarine: Or 5,824 Hiroshima’s per Sub UN Human Rights Commission: Israel’s is among most Criminal Armies in the World, Clear intention of forcible Dislocation Israel Threatens all-out War against Lebanon’s Hezbollah: Curve-ball for US Presidential Campaign? Why the United States is the Main Obstacle to Peace in Palestine Climate Emergency strikes Islam’s Holy Ritual, with nearly 600 dead of Heat stroke at 124.24° F. in Mecca

 

Not your Father’s Israel: Extremist Israeli PM Netanyahu is Playing Biden and Blinken for Fools

H. SCOTT PROSTERMAN06/21/2024

Though Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries signed onto inviting Israeli PM Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu to address Congress on July 24 in the “spirit of bi-partisanship,” many US and Israeli Jews loudly object. They plan a major demonstration in Washington to show up his address. The organization UnXeptable is organizing an effort to have Bibi’s Congressional speaking invitation rescinded. Considering Schumer’s bold break to become the highest ranking elected Jewish-American to call for Bibi’s resignation, it is surprising he would execute this abrupt about-face and sign on to such an outrageous invitation. While Bibi’s showmanship may be entertaining in a dark Trumpian way, no one expects him to have a sudden epiphany, and decide to embrace US leadership or to honor a cease fire in Gaza. He is not an honorable negotiating partner.

Biden and the Democrats do not get the sea change in Israeli politics under this government, into which Netanyahu invited the most extreme factions of Jewish Power and Religious Zionism. One of his predecessors, Ehud Barak, served honorably as Israeli PM from 1999 to 2001, and has a distinguished record as a general. He sees Bibi as trying to stage a judicial coup, “with its goal of establishing a racist, ultranationalist, messianic and benighted religious dictatorship.”

It’s painfully obvious that Bibi is playing President Joe Biden for a stooge. After he upstaged President Barack Obama with a speech to Congress in 2015, it is absolutely mystifying that Democrats would leave themselves open to another choreographed insult with this invitation. Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken are letting Bibi make fools of them. While Donald Trump hopes to be president again to stay out of jail, Bibi is struggling to stay in power to avoid going to prison. But Biden and Blinken act as though they are dealing with an decent ally, rather than a wily and treacherous war monger.

Bibi is openly mocking Biden!  Despite his reticence to deny significant military aid to Israel despite its deliberate atrocities in Gaza, Biden did withhold one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs in response to the Rafah invasion, which crossed Biden’s red line. These munitions cannot be used in Rafah in any case, or ought not to be.

ILTV Israel News Video: “Netanyahu’s Video Prompts Furious Response From Biden Admin”

Haaretz columnist Yossi Verter called out how Bibi has dared to dictate to the US about its own foreign policy, when said, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition to Israel. Israel, America’s closest ally, is fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies.” Bibi forgets that Israel is the client-state, and the US is the benefactor and enabler. Bibi also had the audacity to compare himself to Winston Churchill, as if he’s a liberator rather than a genocidal oppressor.

The July 24 demo led by UnXeptable is appropriately titled, “Non-Grata.” Offir Gutelzon, founder of UnXeptable, said, “We hope that Jewish-Americans will get off the fence and join us. We know that the majority of them support the Biden plan to end the war and bring home the hostages, and they also must know that most Israelis oppose Netanyahu, so there is good reason to be there showing their solidarity with us.” Their campaign pitch states: “Benjamin Netanyahu has lost the faith of Israeli citizens, and does not deserve the honor of addressing Congress. UnXeptable calls on all who those who care about Israel’s future as a liberal and democratic state to join American Jews and Israelis, including families of hostages still held in Gaza,” in declaring Netanyahu to be persona non grata.

NYT columnist Thomas Friedman articulated objections to Bibi’s invitation to Congress, saying that Biden and Blinken are “debasing themselves” by going along. Doing so illustrates how badly most US leaders fail to recognize how destructively radical this Israeli government is. It is ludicrous to think Bibi could offer any thoughtful perspective, “to share the Israeli government’s vision for defending democracy, combatting terror, and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region.” That’s because Bibi is actively destroying Israeli democracy and the justice system, with his Trumpian efforts to avoid prison by continuing as PM — and because he is inciting and promoting terror, not combatting it. He has adamantly and repeatedly refused to work toward any long-term peace agreement, and insists on prosecuting the genocidal campaign in Gaza.

Though he called for Bibi’s resignation in March, Schumer said he signed on, “because America’s relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends one person or prime minister, I joined the request for him to speak.” That presumes that Bibi is a reasonable man, open to embracing new ideas and approaches. Many prominent Democrats including Sen. Elizabeth Warren plan to boycott the event. She said, “Prime Minister Netanyahu has created a humanitarian catastrophe. He has also made clear that he does not support U.S. policy for a two-state solution that will let the people of Israel and the Palestinians develop their own national self-determination and live with dignity.”

Meanwhile, disingenuous Republicans continue with their campaign of divisiveness, and wail their phony concerns about anti-Semitism (while promoting it with their unqualified support of Bibi’s government, among other factors.) They fail to recognize that the genocide in Gaza is driving global anti-Semitism worse than any time since WWII. Republicans are weaponizing anti-Semitism as a cudgel of divisiveness for the US electorate. Though Biden is also guilty of some pandering to weaponize anti-Semitism, Trump and Republicans employ this tactic with greater cynicism to their perceived advantage. Bibi’s July 24 invitation is designed by Speaker Mike Johnson to elicit cat-calls and insults from House Democrats, in order to alienate Jews from their Democratic loyalties, and drive them to vote for Trump. So many are sitting this one out. It’s yet another attempt by Bibi to interfere with US electoral politics, as no Israeli or other foreign leader has ever done; that is beyond Putin’s brazen election interference to aid Trump in 2020. Both Putin and Bibi are biding their time for Trump’s re-election, and doing all they can to promote it.

Bibi’s goal is to expand Israel’s territory with permanent annexations of the West Bank and Gaza in violation of international law, and in the teeth of overwhelming world opinion. He doesn’t deserve a platform in a joint session of Congress to promote this aggressive expansionism. With a Republican majority in the House, the invitation won’t be rescinded. Ideally, both Schumer and Jeffries would revisit their foolish invitation, and withdraw their support. They can do it gracefully by pointing out how quickly the situation in Gaza has deteriorated under Bibi’s leadership and campaign of genocide. They signed on. They should sign off!

About the Author

H. Scott Prosterman is a writer and communications consultant in the San Francisco Bay Area, and holds an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan

INFORMED COMMENT

IF YOU WANT TO DEFEND ISRAEL, WATCH THE VIDEO! 

THIS IS GENOCIDE! 

YOU ARE COMPLICIT IF YOU FAIL TO SPEAK OUT! 

UN: Israel Flattened Civilian Housing Complexes with 2000-lb. Bombs in absence of Specific Military Target

JUAN COLE06/22/2024

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report this week on “Indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks during the conflict in Gaza” during the first three months of the Israeli campaign against Gaza.

The UN is painfully polite, so you may not be able to tell that the terms “indiscriminate” and “disproportionate” are war crimes, of which it is accusing the Israeli government.

The report notes, “According to the Israeli Air Force (IAF), between 7 October 2023 and 19 February 2024 over 29,000 targets in Gaza were attacked.”

Again, although OHCHR is agreeably quoting this official Israeli source, it is not paying a compliment to the air force for its thoroughness:

“The rate at which Palestinians were killed in Gaza during this reporting period was reportedly higher than in any recent conflicts globally.”

Again, not a compliment.

In fact, you have to think of this litany of facts and figures as sort of like the opening statement of a prosecuting attorney, establishing the grounds for a conviction.

They are building up to it: “The war has also witnessed many tragic instances of entire families killed together, from infants to grandparents, many while in their homes (128,904 housing units have been damaged between 7 October 2023 and 1 April 2024) or in other places they had sought safety. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, as of 3 May 2024, more than 3,129 families have been killed or injured together.” The OHCHR subjected reports of Israeli attacks and their aftermath to very sophisticated CSI-style forensics.

They found, “87 per cent of the verified fatalities have occurred in incidents that resulted in 5 or more fatalities, and over 60 per cent were killed in incidents that resulted in 10 or more fatalities.”

What they discovered is that the Israeli attacks weren’t targeted at, say, a single Hamas militant. The Israeli military went big. Six in ten of their strikes produced 10 or dozens of fatalities. That outcome is weird if you were only trying to kill 37,000 militiamen in a population of 2.2 million people. You’re only targeting 1.6 percent of the population, none of which are women or minors. But “the majority of those killed are children and women.”

So what is the significance of entire families being killed or wounded and over a hundred thousand domiciles being damaged?

Here’s what the High Commissioner’s office is getting at: “These statistics suggest that Israel’s choices of methods and means of conducting hostilities in Gaza since 7 October, including the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in densely populated areas, have failed to ensure that they effectively distinguish between civilians and combatants. The widespread, large-scale and continuing toll of civilian deaths, notably the high proportion of women and children amongst them, and accompanying destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza since 7 October, raise serious concerns about the Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) compliance with IHL, including as to patterns of systematic violation of the principles of necessity, distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack.”

Violating these four principles is in each case a war crime. Remember that the International Court of Justice is deciding whether Israel is guilty of genocide, and the International Criminal Court has asked for warrants against Israel’s prime minister and its minister of defense on grounds that they may have committed war crimes.

The report gives examples of each of the violations it has identified. Last October 9, the Israeli air force appears to have dropped without warning a 2,000-pound BLU-109/MK 84 bomb on the densely populated Jabaliya Refugee settlement, pulverizing two multi-story buildings and damaging many others, and killing at least 60 people, wounding dozens more. A 2000-pound bomb can have a blast radius of a quarter mile. The point is that this was not a precision strike on a handful of guerrillas. It took out two apartment buildings full of families.

The same day, more 2000-pound bombs were dropped on Gaza city: “An area of 5,700 square metres [61,354 square feet] was essentially flattened, with at least seven structures, including Taj3 Tower, completely destroyed and three other structures showing signs of significant damage.”

61,000 square feet is the size of a town shopping center.

In fact, the US Pentagon, which has very good satellite photography, has seen 500 craters consistent with use of 2000-pound bombs. The US military is clearly appalled, since these weapons should not be used on densely populated urban areas, and were not deployed by the US against ISIL in Mosul, for instance. Several Biden administration officials, civilian and military, who have seen these atrocities unfold and recognize them for what they are have resigned in protest.

That is why President Biden paused a shipment of 2000-pound bombs to Israel– he didn’t want them used on Rafah, which had swollen with refugees. Netanyahu, however, just vigorously protested that halt, saying he needs the bombs. What does he plan to do with them? Knock down that last three apartment buildings in Gaza?

The report gives other examples of the Israelis flattening entire residential blocks. It concludes that the Israeli army in Gaza has not distinguished between military targets and civilians, and that it has launched indiscriminate attacks on urban infrastructure with no specific military target in sight.

Israeli commanders violated the principle of proportionality, which holds that “an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.” That is, you can’t take out a whole city block and kill hundreds of people to get at three terrorists. But that procedure has been the Israeli war on Gaza in a nutshell.

Using 2000-pound bombs on dense neighborhoods also violates the principle of precaution, which requires military commanders to give some thought beforehand to what would happen to unarmed civilians if they chose a highly destructive 2000-pound bomb to accomplish their mission rather than something more appropriate to targeting a small guerrilla band.

Moreover, there is no evidence that the Israeli military issued any warnings to the civilians it planned to wipe out. These attacks were not like the US Fallujah campaign in Iraq in fall of 2004, where most of the city was allowed to leave before the assault.

So if the Israeli government has committed war crimes, it has to investigate them and punish those responsible. Otherwise, the High Commissioner warns ominously, “Member States must support accountability measures at the international level, including through the International Criminal Court.”

Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant had better enjoy Israel in the summer, because their future ability to travel will be circumscribed when they are convicted of war crimes by the ICC.

Middle East Eye Video:
“Israel dropped hundreds of 2,000-pound bombs on Gaza”

INFORMED COMMENT

       

         SILENCE MAKES YOU COMPLICIT TO GENOCIDE!
         THERE IS NO EXCUSE TO IGNORE THE ACTIONS OF ISRAEL! 

        

UN Human Rights Office Condemns Israel's Use of 2,000-lb Bombs Against Gaza Civilians

A new OHCHR report details how Israeli "attacks of an apparent indiscriminate nature" fit a wider pattern for hundreds of such bombings that may violate international laws of war.

The United Nations Human Rights Office released a report Wednesday concluding that the Israeli military's repeated use of heavy weaponry—including 2,000-pound bombs supplied by the United States—in the Gaza Strip has likely violated international laws of war barring the targeting of civilians and disproportionate attacks.

The new report specifically examines six Israeli attacks that the U.N. Human Rights Offices says are "emblematic" of the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) broader assault on Gaza, which has killed more than 37,000 people, unleashed a hellish humanitarian crisis, and destroyed much of the Palestinian enclave's infrastructure—including education, healthcare, and water facilities.

The attacks analyzed by the U.N. took place between October 9 and December 2 of last year and involved the use of 2,000-pound, 1,000-pound, and 250-pound bombs on residential buildings, a market, refugee camps, and a school. At least 218 people were killed in the six Israeli attacks, the U.N. found, and evidence suggests the actual number of fatalities "could be much higher."

The report says Israeli forces used roughly nine 2,000-pound bombs in a December 2 attack on a neighborhood in Gaza City, causing destruction across a distance of 130 meters.

"These attacks of an apparent indiscriminate nature are among hundreds of a similar nature, giving rise to the appearance of a pattern of attacks over months," the report states. "The pattern of Israeli strikes exemplified by the six incidents above indicates that the IDF may have systematically violated the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack—fundamental principles of international humanitarian law on the conduct of hostilities—in the course of its attacks in Gaza since 7 October 2023."

"The requirement to select means and methods of warfare that avoid or at the very least minimize to every extent civilian harm appears to have been consistently violated in Israel's bombing campaign."

Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement Wednesday that "the requirement to select means and methods of warfare that avoid or at the very least minimize to every extent civilian harm appears to have been consistently violated in Israel's bombing campaign."

The human rights office's report is the latest of several recent U.N. analyses accusing Israeli forces of committing grave war crimes in Gaza—including torture, using starvation as a weapon of war, and genocide—as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demands more weaponry from the U.S. to continue its devastating assault.

Reuters reported Wednesday that "Israeli tanks backed by warplanes and drones advanced deeper into the western part of the Gaza Strip city of Rafah," killing at least eight people and forcing more residents to run for their lives. At least a million people have fled Rafah since Israel began invading the city last month.

"Residents said the tanks moved into five neighborhoods after midnight," Reuters noted Wednesday. "Heavy shelling and gunfire hit the tents of displaced families in the Al-Mawasi area, further to the west of the coastal enclave... Residents said Israeli army forces blew up several homes in western Rafah, which had sheltered over half of Gaza's 2.3 million people before last month, when Israel began its ground offensive and forced most of the population to head northwards."

A Palestinian boy sits as people search the rubble of a family destroyed in overnight Israeli strikes in the al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 18, 2024.

 (Photo: Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images)

COMMON DREAMS