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As the government of Israel commits abuses and openly threatens more atrocities, Israel’s key allies – including the US, UK, and Germany – keep providing military assistance and arms.
What’s been happening in Gaza for nearly a year now has been apocalyptic for people living there. Following the Hamas-led, atrocity-ridden assault on southern Israel on October 7 last year, the Israeli government has been acting as if the laws of war no longer apply at all.
Civilian protection is a cornerstone of these laws, but the Israeli military uses explosive weapons in densely populated areas, raising the risk of unlawfully indiscriminate attacks. They’ve damaged homes, schools, hospitals, and shopping malls, without advance warning, caused death, severe injuries, and permanent disabilities.
Hamas continues to unlawfully hold hostages and even kill them.
Flouting international humanitarian law and in direct defiance of an order from the World Court, the government of Israel is also starving Gaza as a weapon of war. Its blockade restricts humanitarian aid, not only severely limiting food but also medicine and medical supplies.
A new report documents the impact on children with disabilities in particular. And the longer the bombing and blockade go on, the more children with disabilities there are, both physical and psychological.
More than 41,000 Palestinians, including more than 16,750 children, have been killed since October 7, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, the most reliable source for such numbers. As much as 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced, the UN says.
Rather than taking serious steps to try to stem Israeli atrocities, however, many governments are instead nervously watching them expand to Lebanon, where indiscriminate pager attacks have killed civilians.
As in Gaza, civilians in Lebanon are paying the price for the escalation in hostilities. Since September 23, Israeli attacks have killed more than 1000 people in Lebanon, including more than 50 children. Hundreds of thousands people have been displaced in Lebanon, joining over 110,000 who have been forced to leave their homes since last October.
As with their year-long operations in Gaza, Israeli leaders have openly made calls and statements suggesting they are willing to commit more crimes in Lebanon. Hamas’ military wing has warned that if the Israeli military tries to rescue hostages, they’ll return to their families “in shrouds.” Yet, amid such threats, world leaders who might actually be able to rein in the parties are failing.
Any of the governments arming the parties could make a significant contribution to civilian protection by suspending military assistance – deciding to stop sending weapons to warring parties committing crimes and threatening more.
Israel’s key allies, including the US, the UK, and Germany, can and should immediately suspend all military assistance and arms sales to Israel, and Iran should stop arming Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They know the real risk that more arms will be used to commit more crimes.
