CrossFireArarbia

Israel Holds Bodies of 35 Kids Killed Since 2016

CrossFireArabia
August 16, 2024

Israeli occupation forces continue to hold on to the bodies of 35 Palestinian children killed in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem and refuses to hand them over to their parents and relatives for burial reports the Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP).

These bodies have been kept by Israeli forces since 2016. Grieving Palestinian families see this act as a collective punishment according the Quds News Network.

The number of confiscated bodies was previously 40 but five were since released to their families after much pleading to be buried stated the DCIP.

Israeli occupation forces confiscated and continue to withhold the bodies of 35 Palestinian children killed in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem since 2016, a practice “amounts to collective punishment.”

More details: https://t.co/oRi3g2kzMt pic.twitter.com/buQPjSmxgK
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) August 16, 2024

“Palestinian children cannot rest even in death as Israeli authorities continue to confiscate their bodies and withhold them from their families indefinitely,” says Ayed Abu Eqtaish, DCIP accountability program director.

The Israeli army and settlers killed 64 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2024, including two United States citizens, according to documentation collected by DCIP.

Since 7 October 2023, 145 Palestinian children were killed in the occupied West Bank according to the DCIP, when the Israeli military began a full-scale military offensive on the Gaza Strip.

In 2023, Israeli forces and settlers killed at least 121 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces and settlers shot and killed 103 Palestinian children with live ammunition, 13 Palestinian children were killed in drone strikes, four Palestinian children were killed by missiles fired from a US-provided Apache attack helicopter, and one child was killed in an Israeli warplane airstrike.

The Israeli occupation practice of confiscating and withholding the bodies of Palestinian that are killed is a violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, which include absolute prohibitions on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, as well as stipulating that parties of an armed conflict must bury the deceased in an honorable way, DCIP said.

News

Gaza: A Children’s Graveyard

CrossFireArabia
August 16, 2024

In a recent statement, the UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini revealed that the number of children killed by Israel in Gaza in just over four months surpasses the total number of children killed worldwide in four years.

Eight months ago, just two months into the ongoing Israeli genocide that started soon after 7 October 2023 when Israel waged a full-scale war on the Gaza Strip, a World Health Organization official reported that an average of one Palestinian child was killed every 10 minutes in Gaza.

He described the war as “humanity’s darkest hour.”

Today the number of Palestinians killed, many of which are women and children, stand at over 40,000 through non-stop Israeli bombardment. This is while the number of Palestinians that have been killed has passed the 92,000-mark.

News

Why Won’t Saudi MBS Normalize With Israel?

CrossFireArabia
August 16, 2024

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has been telling US lawmakers that he is at risk of assassination due to his pursuit of a normalization agreement with the occupation state of Israel and the United States, drawing parallels to Egypt’s Anwar Sadat, who was assassinated after normalizing ties with Israel, according to the Politico.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has reportedly told visiting US Congress members that he fears being assassinated if he agrees to normalisation with Israel.

Politico reported that Bin Salman has recently expressed many concerns and doubts about agreeing to normalisation… pic.twitter.com/qQR9d3bV8u
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) August 15, 2024

MBS has reportedly emphasized that any agreement must include a credible path to Palestinian statehood, a demand he argues is crucial for regional stability and his own survival. He has pointed out that without addressing the Palestinian issue, the proposed benefits of the deal—such as security guarantees and economic investments—would be compromised according to the Quds News Network.

The ongoing genocide in Gaza has heightened Arab outrage against Israel, making the Palestinian cause even more central to MBS’s concerns.

MBS is Talking About An Assassination. His Own. ‘The Saudi royal has mentioned to members of Congress that he’s putting his life in danger by pursuing a grand bargain with the U.S. and Israel that includes normalizing Saudi-Israeli ties’. https://t.co/ywVTmMuP3i
— Maryam Aldossari (@maryam_dh) August 15, 2024

Despite this, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right government remain opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state, complicating the path to a deal.

Uncategorized

‘World Complicit With Israel’

CrossFireArabia
August 16, 2024

“The world is complicit with Israel; If this happened in any European country, how would other countries react?”

This is how a Palestinian from Gaza reacted in an interview to the grim milestone of Israel’s kill count surpassing 40,000, most of whom are women and children.

"The world is complicit with Israel; If this happened in any European country, how would other countries react?" This is how a Palestinian from Gaza reacted in an interview to the grim milestone of Israel's kill count surpassing 40,000, most of whom are women and children. pic.twitter.com/GePkUbAeAb
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) August 15, 2024

The United Nations says the world is entering a dark period after the number of those killed in Gaza topped the 40,000 mark.

News

Netanyahu, Gallant Cry Foul of ICC Arrest Warrants

CrossFireArabia
August 16, 2024

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant continue to feel the heat as arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) are on the verge of being issued against them.

Netanyahu and Gallant held consultations, Thursday, with Israeli Attorney-General Gali Baharav Miara to see what can be done before such warrants are issued against them.

The ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for the arrest warrants to be issued against Netanyahu and Gallant back in 21 May, having accused them of “crimes against humanity and war crimes,” in Gaza.

Since May the applications have been under review by an ICC panel of judges who must look at the evidence presented to them by Mr Khan and then sanction the issuance of the arrest warrants.

“Israel has every right and it is an obligation to get hostages back. But you must do so by complying with the law.” My world exclusive conversation with International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor @KarimKhanQC on ICC arrest warrants for Hamas and Israeli leaders. pic.twitter.com/F52sSfZVWA
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) May 20, 2024

To circumvent this, the Israeli government wants to establish its own a commission of inquiry over its conduct of the war on Gaza. However, the Israeli Attorney-General is not certain whether such a commission would lead to the withdrawal of the arrest warrants.

On May 20, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announced that the court is seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on charges of committing war crimes.

Khan said at the time that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity” committed in Palestinian territories in Gaza starting from at least Oct. 8 according to Anadolu.

If the arrest warrants are issues, which it seems certain they would, Netanyahu and Gallant would not be able to travel to any of the 124 countries which are members of the ICC without being taken into custody and face criminal prosecution.

While Israel doesn’t recognize the ICC that was established in 2002, nevertheless, the Israeli meeting on Thursday, shows that it is duly concerned because of the international ramifications of the arrest warrants and the criminal stain it would have on Israel and its politicians.