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.
