A leaders article in the Economist asserts that to accuse Israel of genocide requires that Israel is killing people in Gaza simply for being Palestinian. As Melanie Lidman reported for AP News on May 5, 2024, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he remains committed to an invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite widespread international opposition because of the more than 1 million civilians huddled there.
“I say to the leaders of the world: No amount of pressure, no decision by any international forum will stop Israel from defending itself,” he said, speaking in English. “Never again is now.” (Lidman, n.d.)
Yom Hashoah, the day Israel observes as a memorial for the 6 million Jews killed by Nazi Germany and its allies in the Holocaust, is one of the most solemn dates on the country’s calendar. The ceremony ushered in Israel’s first Holocaust remembrance day since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war, imbuing the already somber day with additional meaning.
Hamas militants killed some 1,200 people in the attack, making it the deadliest violence against Jews since the Holocaust.
On Sunday, Netanyahu attacked those accusing Israel of carrying out a genocide against the Palestinians, claiming that Israel was doing everything possible to ensure the entry of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Mouhamad Rachini with CBC Radio reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would carry out a ground incursion of Rafah, with or without a hostage deal. The U.S. government, which provides military and diplomatic support to Israel, has said it opposes a military offensive in Rafah without a humanitarian plan.
Nyka Alexander, a communications officer with the UN's World Health Organization, has been in Rafah for two weeks. She spoke to Tom Galloway, CBC the Current, about what Palestinians are facing in Rafah and the state of health care in the city. Galloway asked for a sense as to how people in Rafah are feeling right now, given the idea of this escalation of a ground incursion hanging over their heads.
They're surrounded by garbage. They're surrounded by dirty water. They're surrounded by, essentially, open air toilets. And they're just tired and scared and don't want the next bad thing to happen on top of the other bad things that have already happened to them and their families.
Imagine all the sidewalks covered in tents and in these makeshift shelters. Imagine the streets flowing with greeny, bluey, black water that is feces mixed with garbage. Imagine there's no garbage cans, there's no garbage collection. There's just piles of garbage.
People have tried their best. You can see that they've set aside areas where that community wants to put their garbage. But there's not a lot of organized garbage collection.
The flies are everywhere as well, and they're very aggressive. They want to go in your eyes, they want to go in your mouth. From a public health point of view, it's a really disastrous situation. (Rachini, 2024)
The Economist article raises questions of war crimes that may be committed by Israel in areas of discrimination between civilians and combatants and the proportionate use of force.
Those appalled by the suffering in Gaza may argue that genocide was the only charge that could be brought, because the ICJ has no jurisdiction over other war crimes. Yet the focus on an implausible crime diverts attention from the possibility that Israel is breaching the laws of war. These require Israel to distinguish between civilians and combatants and to minimise civilian casualties by being proportionate in the use of force.
The death toll of women and children raises grave doubts over whether Israel is meeting these obligations. It may also be failing to meet its duty under the Geneva Convention to provide medicine and food to civilians in the areas it occupies. As Gaza nears famine, its people do not need grandstanding, they need food. Israel’s leaders need to realise that if they block supplies, they will be held accountable by the court of public opinion—the only court available. (Charging Israel With Genocide Makes a Mockery of the ICJ, 2024)
The motives and actions of Israel are being assessed daily by student protests in the United States and in other western allies. The court of public opinion may decide, in a US election year, that when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects international pressure to halt the war in Gaza, he may live with his words: “If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.” (Lidman, n.d.)
References
Charging Israel with genocide makes a mockery of the ICJ. (2024, January 18). The Economist. Retrieved May 6, 2024, from https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/01/18/charging-israel-with-genocide-makes-a-mockery-of-the-icj
Lidman, M. (n.d.). Netanyahu uses Holocaust ceremony to brush off international pressure against Gaza offensive. AP News. Retrieved May 6, 2024, from https://apnews.com/article/israel-holocaust-gaza-war-hamas-netanyahua
Rachini, M. (2024, May 3). Under threat of military incursion, Palestinians in Rafah face feces-infested waters, illness: WHO official. CBC. Retrieved May 6, 2024, from https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/q-a-rafah-health-care-1.7193380
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