CrossFireArabia
Four years ago, a 98-year-old man from Málaga in Spain converted to Islam.
He then made headlines. Today people are still talking about him. His conversion was inside the mosque of Fuengirola in the province of Málaga in southern Spain.
CrossFireArabia
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yariv Levin have reportedly made an extraordinary request to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to open a fake criminal investigation into state leaders.
According to reports from Israeli Channel 12, the aim of this sham investigation is to block the issuing of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) by invoking the “principle of complementarity.” This principle allows countries to avoid ICC prosecutions if they are deemed to be conducting their own legitimate investigations into crimes.
The plan outlined by Netanyahu and Levin involves starting an investigation and then quickly closing it, claiming to the ICC that Israel has handled the matter internally. However, Baharav-Miara rejected the request, stating there was “no justification” for launching such an investigation.
The request comes in response to ICC prosecutor Karim Khan’s push to accelerate the issuance of arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. These warrants are being pursued in light of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and war crimes by Israeli officials. Khan had urged the ICC to fast-track the proceedings in the face of the worsening situation.
The refusal of Baharav-Miara has led to accusations from Netanyahu’s camp, with claims that the Attorney General is “sabotaging efforts.” Despite this, legal experts and government officials argue that political motivations are behind Netanyahu’s request rather than a genuine concern for state justice according to the Quds News Network.
CrossFireArabia
The Israeli army’s horrific massacre of displaced families living in ramshackle tents in a so-called “humanitarian zone” in the southern Gaza Strip is further proof that the international community’s silence during the 11-month genocide is encouraging Israel to carry out its crimes.
The latest mass killing fuelled by the international community’s refusal to act occurred in the Strip’s al-Mawasi Khan Yunis area, which the Israeli army had designated a “safe zone”. Initial investigations conducted by Euro-Med Monitor reveal that on Tuesday 10 September, after midnight, Israeli warplanes dropped three American-made MK-84 bombs on a group of displaced people sleeping in their tents in the Mawasi area. The explosions created three holes several metres deep and in diameter, burying about 20 tents with the families still inside.
Israel’s use of multiple highly destructive bombs on a densely populated area full of displaced people—and its consequent killing of sleeping civilians—is unjustifiable, whether or not its claims of the presence of armed factions in the area are accurate.
Since the displaced people’s tents were situated in a region with sandy dunes, many of them—including tents with entire families inside—were buried beneath the sand. The initial casualty toll, counting both the dead and the wounded, is over 60.
The Israeli army’s intention to kill the greatest number of Palestinian civilians possible is evident in its use of American bombs with a wide destructive capacity in an area full of tents housing displaced people. It should be noted that no evacuation warnings were issued prior to the bombing.
This massacre comes only one month after Israeli forces bombed Gaza City’s Al-Tabi’in School, killing over a hundred Palestinians.
Israel remains bound by the regulations of international humanitarian law, particularly the requirements to protect civilians and adhere to the principles of distinction, proportionality, and military necessity, i.e. to take necessary precautions. This involves deciding how military operations are to be conducted and what kind of weaponry is to be employed in order to reduce the number of civilian casualties.
The shameful silence and indifference surrounding these unprecedented massacres, which blatantly and repeatedly target civilians with the clear intention of exterminating Palestinians in large numbers, serves as a green light for Israel to continue committing such atrocities.
The United States is complicit in this individual crime, as well as in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, because it continues to supply Israel with weapons, despite knowing that the Israeli army uses these massively destructive weapons to regularly kill hundreds of civilians.
Israel’s bombing strategy reveals a deliberate policy to target Palestinian civilians across the entire Gaza Strip; spread fear among them; deny them stability or shelter, even for brief periods of time; force them to repeatedly relocate to new shelters; subject them to life-threatening conditions; and ultimately destroy them. The bombing continues throughout the entire Strip, with Israel targeting places designated as humanitarian areas, mainly shelter centres, including those set up in UNRWA-run schools.
Civilians in the Gaza Strip are paying the price every day for Israeli military attacks that seriously violate the rules of international humanitarian law, especially the principles of distinction, proportionality and military necessity.
As part of their international obligations, all nations must put an end to Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip; safeguard civilians there; ensure that Israel abides by international law and the rulings of the International Court of Justice; and impose effective sanctions on Israel by halting all forms of military, financial, and political cooperation and support. This includes an immediate stop to all arms sales, exports, and transfers to Israel, including export licences and military aid.
All nations that cooperate with Israel in committing crimes by providing it with any kind of direct support or assistance must be held accountable, most notably the United States. Giving aid and engaging in contractual agreements with Israel relating to the military, intelligence, politics, law, finance, and the media, among other domains that might help its crimes continue, is enabling Israel to commit its atrocities against Palestinians.
CrossFireArabia
Military expert Maj-Gen Fayez Al-Duwairi said the Israeli army’s talk about needing another year to eliminate the capabilities of Hamas is inaccurate.
He pointed out there is a need to differentiate between the political entity of the Islamic Resistance Movement and its military wing represented by the Al-Qassam Brigades.
Al-Duwairi added on Al Jazeera when the occupation army speaks, it means the military wing of Hamas, stressing that even these brigades cannot be eliminated in the said period.
The military expert described the occupation army’s talk is at best “optimistic.” He pointed to previous Israeli military reports that stated it would take years to achieve this goal.
He emphasized eliminating Al-Qassam will not be an easy task because it has already succeeded in rebuilding its forces and rotating its power in the last months through the Israeli missiles that were fired on Gaza but didn’t explode, the number of which equal 10 percent and estimated at about 9 tons so far according to Al-Duwairi.
He concluded stopping the firing of missiles from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli cities “will remain out of reach even if the occupation army says otherwise.”
Regarding the occupation army’s talk that the Black Hawk helicopter crashed (reported Wednesday) in Rafah due to technical and/or human malfunction, Al-Duwairi said this does not rule out the military factor.
This is because it crashed at night while transporting a wounded person from a combat zone. He said that the helicopter may have been exposed to gunfire from the resistance, which forced the pilot to act in a way that brought down the plane even if it was not hit.
