Israel Attacks 16 School Shelters in One Month

CrossFireArabia
Analyses
September 9, 2024

Israel has escalated its systematic policy of targeting—without warning—schools functioning as shelters for forcibly displaced civilians in the Gaza Strip, killing and wounding hundreds of them. This policy is part of the ongoing genocide that Israel has been waging against Palestinians in the Strip since 7 October 2023.

The Israeli military targeted the Halima al-Sadia School, which provides shelter to hundreds of internally displaced people in Jabalia al-Nazla, in the north of the Gaza Strip, at midnight on Saturday 7 September 2024. The school was bombed by Israeli aircraft, according to the Euro-Med Monitor field team. Four people were killed and several others were injured in the attack.

On Saturday afternoon, Israeli planes then bombed the Amr Ibn al-Aas School, north of Gaza City, which was also housing displaced people. Four Palestinians, including a child, were killed, and several others were injured.

Since the beginning of August, the Israeli occupation army has bombed 16 schools being used as shelters in the Gaza Strip, 15 of them located north of Gaza Valley. Two hundred and seventeen Palestinians have been killed in the reported attacks, while hundreds more have been injured, a large number of casualties being women and children.

According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Israel has bombed 16 shelter schools in the Gaza Strip since the start of August, 15 of them in northern Gaza.

These attacks resulted in the deaths of at least 217 displaced Palestinians and the injury of hundreds.

Euro-Med… pic.twitter.com/ps0ZWZey1w
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) September 8, 2024

In the past week, the Israeli army has increased its targeting of civilians in the Gaza City and North Gaza governorates by bombing residential buildings, civilian gatherings, and commercial stalls there, in addition to shelter centres and their surrounding areas.

There is no legitimate reason to target schools above the heads of displaced individuals, and this act is a blatant violation of the principles of distinction, military necessity, proportionality, and the obligation to exercise appropriate caution. Every time it launches an attack, the Israeli army attempts to justify its actions by claiming that it is attacking military targets, but it never offers any proof to support these assertions.

By killing and forcibly displacing as many Palestinians as possible from their land, these attacks are a part of the genocide being carried out by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

According to preliminary investigations conducted by the Euro-Med Monitor field team, the Israeli army has deliberately destroyed all of the remaining shelters in the north of the Gaza Strip, including schools and public facilities. This destruction has been committed with the goal of establishing a coercive environment, in order to compel the civilian population to leave their neighbourhoods and evacuate to the central and southern sections of the Strip.

Additional evidence of Israel’s clear intention to push Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip is the plan leaked by Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, which published an article claiming that the Israeli army is currently researching options to drive out and displace the remaining Palestinians in the northern Gaza Valley under what is known as the “Generals’ Plan”.

Yedioth Ahronoth pointed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conversation with the army about launching a fourth phase of his bloody war, centred on driving out residents of the northern Gaza Strip. This suggests that the plan for forced displacement, which has been in place since the beginning of this genocide—now in its 11th consecutive month—is still in effect, in the absence of any strong international opposition to Israel’s attempt to annihilate the Palestinian people.

The United States and numerous European nations’ complicity in Israel’s horrific crimes against the Palestinian people, particularly in the Gaza Strip, coupled with the international community’s near silence and lack of action to halt the genocide there, is enabling Israel to finalise its plan to exterminate the Palestinian people in large numbers, through forced displacement and direct and indirect killing.

Israel’s bombing strategy reveals a deliberate policy to target Palestinians civilians everywhere in the Gaza Strip; spread fear among them; deny them stability or shelter, even for brief periods of time; force them to evacuate repeatedly; 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.

As of the time of publication, the Israeli military has been attacking the Gaza Strip for 11 months. During this time, Israel has been carrying out military operations against civilian targets, killing large numbers of civilians in the process. These attacks have also targeting refugee centres, the majority of which were housed in UN buildings, and have killed large numbers of people there, all of which constitutes crimes against humanity, full-fledged war crimes, and genocide.

As part of their international obligations, all nations must put an end to Israel’s crimes of genocide and other serious offenses in the Gaza Strip; safeguard civilians there; ensure 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 licenses and military aid.

All nations that cooperate with Israel in committing crimes must be held accountable, especially those that provide Israel with any kind of direct support or assistance. This includes 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.

At the international, regional, and local levels, all possible avenues for accountability must be explored with urgency. This includes serious joint work to activate the path of universal jurisdiction, in order to hold accountable perpetrators of crimes against Palestinian civilians before the national courts of countries where such jurisdiction exists.

The International Criminal Court must act quickly to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant; broaden the scope of its investigation into individual criminal responsibility for crimes committed in the Gaza Strip, to include everyone involved; issue warrants for their arrest; hold them accountable; and categorically declare Israel’s ongoing crimes to be genocide.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

Analyses

Saudi Arabia Plays Host to Superpower Politics

CrossFireArabia
February 18, 2025

By Maksym Skrypchenko

Diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine War are once again in the spotlight, as US and Russian officials meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. In a sharp contrast to the previous administration’s strictly defined red-line policy, representatives from the newly formed US President Donald Trump-aligned diplomatic team—Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff—are set to engage with their Russian counterparts in discussions that many fear may sideline Ukraine’s own interests.

The stakes in this conflict extend far beyond territorial disputes. For Ukraine, the war is an existential struggle against an enemy with centuries of imperial ambition. Every defensive maneuver is a stand for sovereignty and self-determination. Yet recent diplomatic moves suggest that Ukraine’s central role in negotiations may be diminished. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s absence from the Saudi meeting underscores the deep-seated concern in Kyiv that their security concerns might be marginalized in a process dominated by transactional interests.

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Under the previous administration, Washington’s policy was driven by a clear set of red lines designed to deter any actions that could provoke a nuclear-armed adversary. That approach was predicated on a belief that excessive support for Ukraine might lead to a dangerous escalation. However, the new strategy, as signaled by Trump’s team, appears less encumbered by these constraints. Instead, the focus seems to have shifted toward a pragmatic resolution—a process that prioritizes ending the war at the expense of Ukraine’s moral imperatives underpinning their fight for survival. This shift represents not only a departure in tone but also in substance. While the previous policy imposed strict limitations to avoid provoking Moscow, the current approach appears more willing to concede Ukraine’s positions if it serves the broader goal of ending the fighting.

Trump’s affiliation with Saudis 

The decision to hold talks in Saudi Arabia is far from arbitrary. The Saudi Kingdom provides a neutral venue and a longstanding trusted mediator especially for figures like Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump, whose longstanding business and diplomatic ties in the region are well known. This credibility is further reinforced by Saudi Arabia’s recent announcement of a $600 billion package with the US, comprising investments and procurement agreements from both public and private sectors.

Moreover, Saudi Arabia’s position outside NATO shields it from the obligations that compel Western allies to enforce international legal mandates, including the ICC arrest warrants issued against top Russian officials, notably Putin. In such an environment, Saudi Arabia offers a secure venue for direct negotiations with Moscow, free from the pressures of external legal mandates.

Meanwhile, high-ranking European officials express growing concern over their exclusion from the process. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has even suggested the possibility of deploying British troops to enforce any resulting peace deal, a move that underscores the importance European leaders give to Ukraine’s future. The concerns are not merely about the cessation of hostilities, but about the long-term security guarantees that Ukraine desperately needs. European officials argue that a peace process that excludes Kyiv from the initial stages could lead to an agreement lacking the robust assurances necessary to prevent future Russian aggression.

Russian approach

Russia, for its part, is approaching the negotiations with its signature long-game strategy. Recent reports suggest that Kremlin officials are assembling a team of seasoned negotiators well-versed in securing maximum advantage. Their method is well known—ask for a shopping mall when all they need is a cup of coffee. Just one day before the talks, Russian diplomats are already staging a narrative of victory, asserting that the EU and the UK are entirely non-negotiable parties to any future agreements on Ukraine. According to the Russian representative at the UN, Ukraine has irretrievably lost key territories, and any new arrangement should force Kyiv into accepting a demilitarized, neutral state determined by future elections. This approach is designed to create the illusion of strength while ultimately settling for concessions that heavily favor Russian interests.

Meanwhile, for Ukraine, the principle that “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine” is more than just a slogan—it is a critical security principle. Ukrainian leaders are rightfully wary of any agreement negotiated without their active participation. With the current US strategy favoring swift and transactional outcomes rather than comprehensive negotiations, there is a real danger that Kyiv’s position could be compromised. The absence of Ukraine from these early discussions may result in a peace agreement that fails to address the existential risks the nation faces. Without strong security guarantees built into any deal, Ukraine remains vulnerable to renewed incursions and a potential destabilization of the entire region.

In this evolving diplomatic landscape, the contrast between the old and new approaches is stark. The previous risk-averse strategy sought to maintain clear boundaries to prevent escalation, whereas the current approach appears more willing to blur those lines in the hope of bringing an end to the bloodshed. Yet by doing so, there is an inherent risk: the very nation fighting for its survival might be reduced to a bargaining chip in a broader geopolitical deal.

It is imperative that Ukraine’s interests remain at the forefront of any negotiations. The war in Ukraine is not just a regional conflict—it is a struggle that speaks to the fundamental principles of sovereignty and self-determination. Any peace settlement that fails to incorporate Ukraine’s security concerns is likely to be unstable at best, and catastrophic at worst.

Maksym Skrypchenko is the president of the Transatlantic Dialogue Center

Analyses

Hebrew Media: Israel Fails to Achieve Goals of Gaza Onslaught

CrossFireArabia
February 17, 2025

Israeli media outlets discussed Tel Aviv’s failure to achieve the goals of the war now ongoing for more than a year on the Gaza Strip. Hebrew newspapers stressed that the army is unable to eliminate Hamas, while disagreements are increasing regarding the future of military operations and the ceasefire agreement.

Yitzhak Brik, former commander of the Southern Corps said Israel has not been able to eliminate Hamas despite the war, now in its 15th month. He asked, “If we have failed throughout this period, how can we achieve it now?”

Brik pointed out that Hamas possesses a huge arsenal of weapons, and has developed its combat methods with its fighters exiting the underground tunnels and returning to them easily, making it difficult for the Israeli army to eliminate them.

He added Hamas has regained its strength, and that the Israeli army has destroyed no more than 10% of the tunnels of the Islamist organization, according to Israeli military sources. He also acknowledged that the military operations have not achieved their goals, and that the war has drained the army more so than at the beginning.

The army is a tool of an extremist government

For her part, Yifat Gadot, from the “Families of Soldiers Cry Enough” organization said the Israeli army has become a tool in the hands of an extremist government that is working to prolong the war to achieve its political and ideological interests.

Gadot added that there is a growing conviction among the families of soldiers that the war has become a means of maintaining the government coalition, not achieving security.

As for attorney Yair Nahorai, an expert in religious Zionist movements, he confirmed that the ongoing conflict is not just a war against Hamas, but part of an extremist religious vision that seeks to occupy Gaza, noting that some parties in the Israeli government consider the “sanctity of the land” more important than human life, which complicates the Israeli position even more.

In the same context, political analyst Ben Caspit considered that the real reason behind the slowdown in implementing the second phase of military operations is the political considerations of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He explained that the pressure exerted by right-wing ministers, such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, is obstructing the making of decisive decisions regarding the war, as Netanyahu seeks to maintain the stability of his government coalition instead of focusing on recovering the prisoners.

A Joke in the Middle East

For his part, Ben Gvir attacked the government, describing it as lacking courage, and missing a historic opportunity to impose its conditions on Hamas, adding that Israel has become a “joke in the Middle East” due to what he described as weak and hesitant decisions in managing the war and negotiations.

In contrast, Gil Dickman (a relative of one of the Israeli female prisoners killed in Gaza) responded to Ben Gvir’s statements, accusing him of politicizing the issue of prisoners, and called on him to support Netanyahu in his efforts to return the kidnapped, criticizing his withdrawal from the government due to recent agreements.

In another context, political analyst Dana Weiss stated that the Israeli political crisis escalated after statements by US President Donald Trump, who pressured the government to expedite the release of prisoners, threatening decisive responses if Israel did not respond to his demands.

Weiss confirmed that the Israeli government found itself between internal pressures from the extreme right and American and international pressures pushing towards diplomatic solutions, which further complicates the internal Israeli scene in light of the ongoing military operations in Gaza.