War As Seen From My Living Room – Israel’s Crimes Against Humanity

I said War but this is not war. It is the naked slaughter of civilians, over 16,000 Palestinians killed, among them over 6,600 children. We must not forget that over 60 Journalists were killed, most of them Palestinians. Some journalists were singled out for death almost immediately after reporting on Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

One journalist Ayat Khaddura said, “This may be the last video for me. Today the occupation dropped phosphorous bombs on the Beit Lahia project area . . . The situation is very terrifying. What is happening is very difficult. May God have mercy on us.” It was indeed her last video! The Committee to Protect Journalists noted that most US Journalists were based in Israel and whenever they went to Gaza it was with the Israeli invaders. The frequent communication blackouts also affected the media flow from Gaza. What appears to be the targeting of information flows from Palestinian journalists when compared with the deaths of so many journalists has brought into question the responsibility under International law of not using lethal force against journalists and media workers. Israel wants its narrative to be the one that is taken to the rest of the world. This of course, is not possible in today’s world of technology.

Will Israel win the battle but lose the war? There is no doubt that the images seen of the devastation in Gaza have forced protests around the world, including that of Jews, many of whom have been calling for a Ceasefire and an end to the brutality. We will remember in mid-November the protests in Washington by Rabbis and other spiritual leaders demanding a Ceasefire. As one of the speakers said, “We are rabbis. We are pastors . . . And we are bound by our faith to demand a ceasefire now, to demand an end to the violence now, to demand that love and peace and justice and humanity reigns and are at the centre of all our work. Ceasefire now! Ceasefire now! Ceasefire now!”

Of course, there was No Ceasefire. Only an extended truce, something which the US even had difficulty agreeing to. The US’s position was that a Ceasefire would help Hamas. It did not matter to them that Israel had committed itself to continuing the bombing and attacks on Gaza. They have been doing so in an even more devastating manner despite US pleas to protect civilians. I keep asking, when would this end? Israel is not prepared to even contemplate an end until Hamas is destroyed. The question is, how are they going to do this? As I have stated before, in order to achieve that they would have to kill even more civilians and children than they had done before. The French Prime Minister Macron wonders if the destruction of Hamas is possible, and if so, might require war for a decade. And up to now the deliberate attacks on children and civilians surpasses anything that has been seen before. Jan Egeland, the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council with headquarters in Oslo said that “The pulverising of Gaza now ranks amongst the worst assaults on any population in our time and age. Each day we see more dead children and new depths of suffering for the innocent people enduring this hell . . . “The Norwegian Refugee Council is a humanitarian, non-governmental organisation that protects the rights of people affected by displacement.

The US might end up holding the shitty end of the stick. Their call on Israel to protect children and civilians has had no positive response from Netanyahu and his right-wing colleagues. In fact, the Prime Minister is trying to postpone what lies in store for him. He is still fighting bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges and remains in conflict with the judiciary and independent media. He is blamed for lapses in the defence that occurred on October 7 and faces daily protests by persons demanding the return of hostages. His political future is very much in doubt once the war ends.

In all of this there is some humour. Putin is on a trip to the Middle East to meet with the UAE and Saudi leaders. He who has occupied parts of Ukraine and is bombing that country although not in any way similar to Gaza, for at least the Ukrainians are fighting back. Russia is of course a permanent member of the Security Council with the power of the veto, so it cannot be sidelined. What barefacedness!

I go to bed with images of the carnage in Gaza. Let me rework Shake Keane! “Within minutes, children and parents who had always been leaving nowhere began going nowhere, entire lives covered by debris from bombed buildings, siblings alive, buried under collapsed buildings, with no means of getting them out. They were warned by mysterious leaflets to go further south but nowhere in the South was safe, so they continued to go nowhere! Israel split Gaza in many pieces. Many talked but Israel was not listening! But innocent people were dying!”

• Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian