Bowen: Ceasefire demands will grow without proof of Hamas HQ at Al-Shifa
Smotrich demands Netanyahu change make up of war cabinet: âThe decision to let fuel into the strip is illegalâ
Bezalel Smotrich, finance minister and minister in the Defense Ministry, is demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu change the composition of the war cabinet to include the heads of all coalition parties.
This demand follows the war cabinetâs earlier decision to allow the introduction of fuel into the Gaza Strip, which according to Smotrich was agreed contrary to the conclusion of the political-security cabinet, and therefore he said was illegal.
Smotrich called the decision puzzling, and demanded that Netanyahu âstop this scandal immediately and prevent the introduction of fuel.â According to Smotrich, he has agreed to the reduced war cabinet with Netanyahuâs commitment that âit does not replace the security cabinet in determining policy and making strategic decisions of the war.â
Speaking of assholesâŚ
Law prohibiting U.S. military assistance to foreign forces that violate human rights not properly applied to Israel, former senator says
Patrick Leahy, the former U.S. senator who crafted the law prohibiting U.S. military assistance to foreign security forces that violate human rights, acknowledged that the law has not properly applied to Israel.
Leahy noted that in Israelâs current war, âit appears to me that shooting civilians and targeting civilian infrastructure, when you canât prove it is being used by Hamas, would be a violation of human rights.â
âThe United States is urging the Israelis to protect civilians, and, of course, the Israelis faced a terrible terrorist attack by Hamas, who murdered children in front of the parents then murdered the parents, which is in violation of every norm of international law," he continued.
âWhat is being done to apply the Leahy law now? I donât know. I know past administrations have been too concerned to do it. It should apply to the Israeli Defense Forces, unless the administration, as many have, has waived it," Leahy added.
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I recall the relentless planning and violence that accompanied the last decades of white South Africaâs attempts to make apartheid work. I remember the fears that grew among white South Africans as they put their trust in a sophisticated military capability, a conscription army, a nuclear weapons capacity and steadfast friends in the West, particularly the United States, Britain and France.
Oddly he doesnât mention that one of apartheid South Africaâs âsteadfast friendsâ was Israel.
From the Guardian liveblog:
UN official urges Israel to stop using water as a âweapon of warâ
A UN human rights official has urged Israel to stop using water as a âweapon of warâ and allow clean water and fuel into Gaza to restart the water supply network.
Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, UN special rapporteur on water and sanitation, said in statement on Friday:
Every hour that passes with Israel preventing the provision of safe drinking water in the Gaza strip, in brazen breach of international law, puts Gazans at risk of dying of thirst and diseases related to the lack of safe drinking water.
He reminded Israel that consciously preventing supplies needed to safe water from entering Gaza âviolates both international humanitarian and human rights lawâ, adding:
The impact on public health and hygiene will be unimaginable and could result in more civilian deaths than the already colossal death toll from the bombardment of Gaza.
He added that children â particularly those under the age of five â will be the first affected by the water and sanitation crisis, and women.
These frequently invisible casualties of war are preventable, and Israel must prevent them. Israel must stop using water as a weapon of war.
If thatâs true (about those wanting to assassinate Netanyahu), that would be an ironic way for him to go, given his role in Rabinâs death⌠but also, I canât see how that wonât lead to a civil war within Israel itself⌠
