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Tag: Gaza

  • Gaza: The blood price of Israel’s fury

    Gaza: The blood price of Israel’s fury

    • By Charles Onunaiju

    The surprise attack of the Israeli illegal settlements by the armed wing of the Palestinian nationalist and resistance movement, HAMAS on October 7 got the Benjamin Netanyahu regime into a frenzy of fury with the consequence of a savagery that is unknown in all human history. The settlements are illegal because in 2016, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2334 with 14 votes with only the U.S abstaining in reiterating its demand that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem. The resolution further underlined that it would not recognize any changes to the June 4, 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other those agreed by the two sides through negotiations.

    Without justifying the deaths of civilians in the attack, the settlements were illegal under international law and its Jewish inhabitants did so in breach of subsisting international convention

    However, had Netanyahu been killing the resistance  fighters of the Qassem Brigades, the armed wing of HAMAS, who orchestrated the attack on October 7, the orgy of horror and its harvest of deaths he has unleashed would have be more tolerable. 

    But the Israeli killing machine has been murdering children, women and the elderly and burying most of them under the rubbles. Homes, hospitals, churches, mosques, courts, sewage systems and other essential civilian infrastructure have been summarily flattened. 

    Benjamin Netanyahu and his clique in the so-called war cabinet claimed they are fighting a war but against which army or national state?

    HAMAS is no more than a nationalist movement and resistant forces whose motive and method is no less sanguine as Jewish Hagenah and Irgun, two extremist paramilitary Zionist movements whose path of terror, smeared with blood and destruction, led to the establishment of the Jewish state in Israel in 1948. On April 9, 1948, Irgun and its Stern Gang raiders carried out its most horrific massacres, when it swooped on the village of Deir Yassin on the west outskirts of Jerusalem and slaughtered nearly 200 Palestinian men, women and children and paraded those it captured through the old city of Jerusalem and thereafter executed them. The massacre at Deir Yassin formed part of the trajectories of Zionists terror that triggered the exodus of Palestinians.

    In place of the emptied Palestinian village whose residents had either been killed or expelled, the Jewish settlement Givart Shaul Bet was established. 

    The British in late 1947, worn out by a ferocious Jewish terror campaign led by people, who included future Israeli premiers, Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir, had wearily explained that it would end its 30-year occupation of Palestine. 

    Read Also: UN Security Council weighs Gaza ‘cessation of hostilities’ resolution

    After handing over the Palestine issue to the United Nations, the then newly formed international organization worked out a plan to partition the territory between Jews and Arabs. Under the plan, the Jews who made up, just over a third of Palestine’s population at that time was awarded 55 % of the land and this understandably enraged the Arabs, who were not even consulted. But even the heavily favourable distributions to the Jews did not assuage the Zionists who wanted the whole land for themselves.

    Thus, the foundation for what appeared to be intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflicts was laid. But the relevant point to be made here is that despite the British complicity in the conflict, London refrained from deploying the full weight of the formal state organized violence in response to the terror of the Zionist paramilitaries.  The state of Israel does the opposite today, deploying fighter jets in relentless bombing of defenceless Palestinian men, women and children with the declared intention to eradicate the largely invisible and shadowy Palestinian resistant fighters. The relentless and indiscriminate massacre of Palestinians in Gaza demonstrates clearly that Israel is not a state under international law or Convention but a brutal, genocidal and eccentric entity neither restrained by law nor constrained by enlightened public opinion. 

    The Zionist movement rejected the disproportionate 55% of the entire mandate Palestine awarded to them in 1947 and the current Israeli regime of Netanyahu makes no secret of its intention and desire to reclaim the entire Palestine. The current declared intention to defeat and eradicate HAMAS is a smokescreen and blatant alibi to drive away and expel the Palestinians in order to fulfil the Zionist historic agenda of owning the entire land of Palestine. 

    Since the start of the attack on October 7, what is certain is the scale of destruction of homes and other civilian infrastructure and the killing of children, women and elderly. Neither an ammunition dump nor identifiable bodies of Palestinian resistance fighters have been uncovered. 

    The world has seen only piles upon piles of civilians slaughtered. The Al Qassem Brigade, the military wing of HAMAS is estimated to have about 30,000 fighters organized in five brigades, made up of 24 battalions and 140 companies.

    The resilience and the fighting capacity a HAMAS military wing, which has seen nearly 150 Israeli soldiers killed since the Israeli ground operation and occasional missiles lobbed into Israel, means that the group is far from near extinction or eradication and that Netanyahu’s rhetoric in this direction is as empty as it is deceptive.

    Netanyahu’s frustration is understandable. Having been nicknamed “Mr. Security” for his posture of guaranteeing the Israelis eternal peace and security while their Palestinian neighbours live in perpetual turmoil of routine harassments and deaths, the event of October 7 up-ended the myth of Israel as an impregnable fortress beyond the reach of Palestinian resistance. 

    The famed Israeli internal and external intelligence and special services – both the Shin Bet and MOSSAD – which failed abysmally to anticipate let alone prevent the October attacks, struck at the very heart of Israel’s invincibility and shattered it once and for all. 

    Smarting from the destruction of her facade of eternal invisibility, the Netanyahu regime launched into a fury and rage and like a bull in China’s shop, is taking down everything along the way including the lives of babies, elderly and infirmed people. 

    Despite the eccentric rhetoric of Netanyahu and his close murderous associates, a lot of Israelis including those whose relatives are were taken captives by the Palestinian resistance fighters, believe that a permanent truce and a framework of durable solution consisting in the main, the two state framework is the most viable to bring peace between the two people in particular and the region in general. 

    The entire world views the two-state solution as the ultimate in resolving the conflict except for Washington which enables and sustains the Zionist regime’s killing machine. The US and the Israeli regime’s rhetoric of holding HAMAS accountable is a non-starter. Only a sovereign and independent Palestinian State can be held accountable, not only under the international law but even by the convention of bilateral and multilateral engagements. Only a responsible, accountable and sovereign Palestinian State can rein-in the excesses of militant groups that perpetrated the October 7 attack and therefore Israel’s security and enduring peace can only be guaranteed by a credible Palestinian state-partner, who can enact and implement laws capable of not only restraining the excesses of militant groups but punishing them according to their sovereign law. The Zionist vision of greater Israel at whose core is the expulsion and exclusion of the Palestinians is an ideological fantasy, bereft and deficient of simple pragmatic geo-political reality. The Israel that is at peace with her neighbours, including the Palestinians and trading with them and also, in an elaborate social, economic and political intercourse with them could still be the dominant and preeminent power in the region. 

    • Onunaiju is research director of an Abuja – based think tank.
  • Gaza’s innocent lives matter 

    Gaza’s innocent lives matter 

    The world has sung one tune after the other. In the New Year, there should be a change in tune, and that tune should be: We must protect the innocent in Gaza. 

    The senselessness in Gaza didn’t start like a joke. It did with a bang and, some twelve weeks later, no less than 20,000 people are dead, leaving their loved ones in trying times. 

    Reports show that no day goes by without children being killed, maimed and traumatised. 

    What makes it the more painful is that the action of a few misguided ones is being used to punish millions of Palestinians as if they all are the terrorists who lit the fire. 

    The figure of those displaced is staggering: Over two million. Men, women, boys and girls who used to live in luxury are now internally displaced. They now eat what they are offered and not what they want. They now live in shelters where no human should stay. They now spend their days unsure of what tomorrow will bring. It is wishful thinking for them to believe everything good will come. The human suffering is too much. 

    Many of my colleagues have also fallen victims of this madness. The Israeli bombardment of Gaza, according to reports, has claimed close to 100 journalists. Their parents are desolate, their spouses inconsolable, their children crying and their friends and well-wishers are wondering what has hit them. It is a jungle out there. Real jungle. 

    Unfortunately, the anger, the outspokenness and the zest required to bring the madness between Israel and Palestine to an end are missing. The world, especially the world powers, has not acted as though we are responsible for one another. What we have seen instead is tokenism. 

    The United Nations (UN) hasn’t been able to achieve much. I believe this is not unconnected to its current structure, a structure that gives a few powerful nations curious veto powers to ride roughshod over the majority. 

    In September 2022, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s immediate past President, spoke at the 77th UNGA in New York. He called for reforms in the UN. His plea was received and dumped in the thrash where previous pleas ended. 

    It is absolutely unfair that countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Russia have permanent seats on this important UN Security Council, yet, the whole of Africa, a continent with several countries, doesn’t even have a single permanent seat.

    Read Also: Gaza: Salah issues emotional Christmas message

    The Council is composed of 15 members. The five permanent members are China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The ten other members are non-permanent. They are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly. Over 50 Member-States have never been on the Security Council. So, they can only participate, “without a vote, in its discussions when the Council considers the country’s interests are affected”. 

    I don’t know any other name for unfairness if Africa’s exclusion from the permanent seats of the Council is not. This is a body that preaches democracy and its tenets but exclude a whole continent from its Security Council. This body also preaches equality. Where is equality in an arrangement that pushes out a whole continent when countries whose population are not more than just one African country (Nigeria, for instance) have seats?

    The UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for more aid and better access to Gaza, with the US and Russia abstaining. 

    The inability to get a ceasefire in Gaza is a further proof that the UN Security Council is due for reforms. The reforms should have taken place years ago. Member-States are demanding change, and the time to correct the wrong is immediately. Better structures are needed to meet the demands of the times. The world has outgrown the current system, which might have met the needs of the world in 1945. The world we have now is very different from the one the founding fathers lived in. 

    It is difficult for me to understand why a ceasefire is being shot down at the UN when innocent Palestinians are paying the ultimate price. 

    I have seen comments that suggest every Palestinian is affiliated to a terrorist group. That is the biggest lie ever told. The fraction of Palestinians with terrorism ties pales when compared with the innocent millions. There are millions of innocent Palestinians who just want a free country. They shouldn’t be punished because of the actions of a few misguided ones. Punishing them because of the bad ones is akin to killing a fly with a grenade. 

    Ordinary Israelis should also not be subjected to rape, kidnapping and death. 

    Hamas’s hostage taking and other acts aren’t justifiable under any guise. Israel’s acts against the innocent are reprehensible. Can two wrongs ever make a right? 

    A new year is here and the resolution we all should make is that we will speak for the oppressed in the Gaza region. We need to give these guys a New Year gift of peace. We can’t do it without the powers that be. The world powers need to resolve that warplanes aren’t speakers blaring out danceable tunes. Their tunes are sorrowful, their rhymes aren’t rhythmic and their voices aren’t desirable, and the time for them to go silent is now. It’s time to ceasefire to save both innocent Palestinians and Israelis. 

    My final take: We can’t deny that innocent Palestinians exist. We can’t. The global powers need to realise this and it is when this is fully realised and accepted that the journey to peace in that axis can begin. It is the terrorists that should be stopped. And in stopping the terrorists, the innocent on both sides of the war should not become collateral damage. 

  • Bookending 2023

    Bookending 2023

    Do they know it’s Christmas in Gaza?

    Whoever thought that Hamas’s sneak attack on Israel and Israel’s response would develop into one of the bloodiest conflicts of the past 50 years?

    The attack, on unarmed civilians,  was brutal through and through. As missiles rained on the Israeli homeland from Gaza, Hamas militants struck, leaving a scene of devastation that Israel had not seen in its wars with its neighbours since its creation in 1948.   Casualties, numbering more than 200 dead, included youths in their innocence gamboling in an open-air concert, and residents of several settlements relaxing in their homes.  The infiltrators hustled more than 100 persons of various nationalities into captivity in Gaza.

    The attack shattered the myth of Israel’s unsurpassed mastery of intelligence and surveillance, a mastery it had parlayed into a diplomatic asset and a protection racket for jittery regimes in Africa and the Third World.   It shook the nation’s confidence in its armed forces as never before.  It rendered hollow Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s posturing as the leader who could best guarantee Israel’s security.

    Israel’s immediate response was swift, massive, and justified.   At the risk  of being stamped with the anti-Semite label, the deadliest political crime in America and most odious in Israel’s lexicon, I ally myself with those who have been saying that the response has since become vengeful, unrelenting and indiscriminate, as even Israel’s staunchest ally, the United States, has had to acknowledge. 

    For weeks on end, Israel carried out more than 200 bombing raids on the Palestinian homeland.  It has pulverized more than 60 percent of the homes and the infrastructure in Gaza and forced the civilian population to embark on march after perilous march from one devastated location to another, marches with few parallels in their depredation.

    The global sympathy, support and solidarity that Israel enjoyed several weeks into the attack has for the most part evaporated as the Palestinian dead are scooped up by excavators are shoved into mass graves day after day.

    Some 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s carpet bombing.  Hundreds, perhaps thousands, lie buried under the rubble.  Contrary to Israel’s claims that its lethal ordinance is dropped with surgical precision on carefully chosen targets, a detailed analysis has found that no more than 60 percent of them is released with anything resembling precision.  The rest are about as precise as a blunderbuss.

    The goal, Israel vowed from the outset, is to exterminate Hamas and render it forever incapable of launching another attack.  From seeking to exterminate Hamas, however, it is but a short step to exterminating the Palestinian people, especially when the one is conflated with the other.

    Calling it the Hamas-Israel War or Israel-Hamas War is duplicitous.  Rarely in the history of armed conflict has there been such inequality, such asymmetry of resources, between belligerents.  One enjoys almost  unchallenged use of the skies, a monopoly of heavy armaments and munitions, to say nothing about sheer numbers, in every department of warfare.

    As if these factors did not in themselves confer on Israel a prohibitive advantage, Israel has reportedly resorted to the use of white phosphorus in battle –  a substance that, according to the best authorities, causes severe burns upon contact with the skin or eyes. The smoke alone causes  gastro-intestinal irritation.  The evidence for this incendiary charge was strong enough to move U. S. President Joseph Biden, Israel’s chief enabler, to urge Israel publicly to cease and desist.

    It has to be said, again, that Hamas brought this unspeakable calamity upon itself and upon the Palestinians. But the world was slow to remark the disproportionate response and the scale of the human misery Israel unleashed.  It is as if conscience, or what the philosopher Immanuel Kant called “the moral law within us, went on vacation. 

    Read Also: The Israel-Hamas war: Conflict of the year

    It is as if those on whom this dreadful punishment was being visited day after day – women and children, the aged and the infirm, for the most part – are less than human.   Country after country trumpeted Israel’s right to defend itself and its population but was silent, funereally silent, about the means and the scale.

    A ceasefire, a pause in the bombing – euphemistically called “air strikes” – they said, parroting Israel, would only enable a crippled Hamas to regroup and attack Israel all over.  When the community of nations finally found its voice and called for a ceasefire, the United States vetoed their resolve, and the  UK abstained. 

    They opted to allow Israel to finish the job – to allow it to apply a Final Solution of sorts to the Palestinian problem.

    Medicines Sans Frontiers was right to call the veto “a vote against humanity.” When a world body founded with the aim of “saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war” is blocked from moderating a war that has subjected unarmed women and children to horrific reprisals, one must ask:  Whatever happened to our humanity?

    Well might today‘s Palestinians ask, as Shylock the Jew did in Shakespearian England:

    If you cut us, do we not bleed?                                                                                                                                                          If you slap us, do we not swell up?                                                                                                                                                     If you spit on us, do we not get wet?

    As I was composing this piece, I found myself wondering how Henry Alfred Kissinger who, as United States National Security Adviser and Secretary of State and mediator in the so-called Six-Day War between  Israel and Egypt, would have fared in that role in the present conflict.

    Kissinger died some three weeks ago, aged 100 years. He was a manipulative figure.   In death as in life, he was admired and reviled in equal measure.  There are those who regard it as a historic injustice that he was not put on trial and convicted for war crimes in Vietnam. Kampuchea (formerly Cambodia), Chile, and many other theatres of conflict.  And there are those who regard him as one of the greatest statesmen of his era or any era.

    You could not but acknowledge his brilliance, his grasp of strategy, the sweep of his scholarship rooted in German history, especially the career of the Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich, and the Concert of Europe  From these and other sources, he drew profound insights on the use and abuse of power, which he applied to his world.

    He was amoral through and through.  Power was the only thing that counted in international relations. Values have no place there.

    For all his brilliance and scheming, it was in Nigeria that Kissinger came a cropper.  He sought to foist a leader on Angola, which had just expelled the colonial overlord Portugal from its territory in a titanic liberation struggle that lasted more than two decades  Three main liberation armies were battling to fill the vacuum left by the fleeing colonialists:  Agostinho Neto’s Marxist-orientated MPLA, Holden Roberto’s FNLA, and Jonah Savimbi’s American-backed UNITA.  The MPLA had the strategic advantage of controlling the capital, Luanda, and the instrumentalities of state power.

    The country’s future hung on the outcome of a special summit of the OAU, convened to determine which of the warring factions would win the OAU’s recognition as the sole legitimate representative of the sovereign state of Angola.  The climate of opinion in Nigeria, driven by students and the labour unions, favoured the MPLA, and so did the government of Murtala Muhammed.  His foreign minister, the dynamic and articulate Joe Garba stood resolutely by Angola.

    Sensing a foreign policy defeat, the United States, which wanted to foist Savimbi, a former operative of the brutal Portugues secret service PIDE on Angola, put it about that an unnamed West African country had been given $100 million by the Soviet Union to champion the MPLA’s cause.

    Newsweek magazine upped the ante, asserting that the country the State Department had in mind was Nigeria.  Kissinger was setting out to cajole, bully, or blackmail it into toeing America’s line.

    At a time when most countries would have given just about anything to rate a visit by Kissinger, Nigeria told him angrily to stay at home. Murtala Muhammed went on to lead Nigeria’s delegation in place of his previously scheduled deputy, General Olusegun Obasanjo and delivered a fiery speech that mobilized African support for the MPLA.

    It has been said that Kissinger and the United States never forgave Murtala Muhammed, and that they engineered the coup attempt that claimed his life several months later.  The evidence I have seen is fragmentary.

  • UN Security Council weighs Gaza ‘cessation of hostilities’ resolution

    UN Security Council weighs Gaza ‘cessation of hostilities’ resolution

    The UN Security Council will today vote on a new resolution calling for an “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities” in Gaza as civilian casualties mount.

    The vote comes days after the U.S. blocked a previous resolution that would have called for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in the Palestinian enclave, where Israel continues its bombardment in retaliation for an attack by Hamas on October 7.

    The new resolution, drafted by the UAE, was introduced by Arab countries after a recent vote in the General Assembly, in which the UN’s 193 members called overwhelmingly for a ceasefire, with 153 in favour, 10 against and 23 abstentions.

    The latest text’s fate, however, remains uncertain.

    The text calls for an “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access in the Gaza Strip for those in need”.

    It requests that Israel and Hamas allow aid access to the Gaza Strip – via land, sea and air routes – and set up a UN monitoring mechanism in the Gaza Strip to delver humanitarian aid.

    The document also affirms support for a two-state solution and “stresses the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority”.

    “Every single day, innocent people in Gaza are struggling desperately for want of food, water, medicine and fuel. Members of the UN Security Council have seen the consequences of this humanitarian catastrophe first-hand and the need for more aid could not be clearer,” Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s ambassador to the UN, told The National.

    “This council resolution responds to that need by opening border crossings, the transport of aid by land, sea and air, and a UN-led mechanism that would streamline inspection, monitoring and approvals.”

    Ms Nusseibeh added that it underlines the critical importance of stopping hostilities to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid and that the UAE will continue to aggressively pursue that goal.

    The Security Council has passed only one resolution on Gaza since the war began, which called for “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting, after failing to approve five others, two of which were vetoed by the US.

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    According to UN diplomats, negotiations are still ongoing as delegates are working to avoid another impasse. The US seems to be opposed to the term “cessation of hostilities” in the text and are pushing for “humanitarian pauses” instead.

    Security Council resolutions are legally binding for all member states, yet the countries concerned often choose not to comply with them.

    Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and chairwoman of The Elders – a group of independent global leaders working together for peace, justice and human rights – said in a statement that the US cannot afford to be further isolated by vetoing this resolution.

    “President [Joe] Biden’s continuing support for Israel’s actions is also making the world less safe, the Security Council less effective, and US leadership less respected. It is time to stop the killing,” she said.

  • Israeli military accidentally kills  Israeli hostages in Gaza

    Israeli military accidentally kills  Israeli hostages in Gaza

    Three Israelis being  held hostage in by Hamas in Gaza were yesterday killed in what the  Israeli military called a mistake.

    The accident occurred during  a ground operation in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military.

    The army’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said Israeli troops found the hostages and erroneously identified them as a threat. He said it was not clear if they had escaped their captors or been abandoned.

    Read Also: National Assembly commends Tinubu’s 4D Foreign Affairs Policy

    The deaths occurred in the Gaza City area of Shijaiyah, where troops have engaged in fierce battles against Hamas militants in recent days.

    He said the army expressed “deep sorrow” and was investigating.

    The deaths were announced as a U.S. envoy said the U.S. and Israel were discussing a timetable for scaling back intense combat operations in the war against Hamas, even though they agree the overall fight will take months.

  • Islamic countries urge U.S. to pressure Israel on Gaza ceasefire

    Islamic countries urge U.S. to pressure Israel on Gaza ceasefire

    Several Arab and Islamic countries have called on the United States to play a “broader role” in pressuring Israel into accepting a ceasefire in the Gaza war, according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

    In a statement, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said the call was made at a meeting in Washington between Qatari, Egyptian, Jordanian, Saudi, Palestinian, and Turkish foreign ministers with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

    They are members of a ministerial committee formed by an emergency Arab-Islamic summit, hosted by Saudi Arabia last month to discuss the Gaza situation.

     During their talks with Blinken, the statement indicated, officials expressed disappointment at the UN Security Council’s failure to pass a resolution for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip for humanitarian reasons after the U.S. used its veto power.

    While 13 of the 15 members of the world body voted in favour last Friday, the U.S., Israel’s key ally, vetoed the draft submitted by the United Arab Emirates. Britain abstained.

    Members of the Arab-Islamic committee also renewed their “unified rejection” of the ongoing Israeli military campaign in Gaza, an impoverished enclave of around 2.3 million people, and called for an “immediate and complete” ceasefire to protect civilians.

    Read Also: Now that the draft UNSC resolution on Gaza has collapsed

    In the past 24 hours, Israeli attacks on Gaza claimed another 133 lives, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry on Saturday.

    No fewer than 71 dead and 160 injured were brought to the al-Aqsa Hospital, on top of 62 dead and around 100 injured taken to the Nasser Hospital, the authority announced on Saturday.

    Most of the attacks took place in the central and southern part of the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian reports.

     Israeli ground troops are mainly deployed in the north and south of the coastal strip, supported by the air force.

    On Saturday, an Israeli army spokesman issued an appeal in Arabic to residents of homes in the northern Gaza Strip to flee from the fighting to a safer area in the western part of Gaza city.

    A westward evacuation will also be permitted from Khan Younis, the announcement said.

    In the city of Rafah on the border with Egypt, a four-hour ceasefire will allow the supply of humanitarian aid from the morning onwards.

    Fierce fighting has been reported in the southern city of Khan Younis, considered a stronghold of the Islamist terrorist organisation Hamas.

    So far, Israel’s National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi said the Israeli armed forces have killed around 7,000 Hamas terrorists in the war on Gaza.

    Israeli units have also moved very close to Hamas command centres in Jabalia and Shejaiya in the north of the Gaza Strip, Hanegbi told Channel 12 on Saturday evening.

    The Israeli leadership’s plan is to kill Hamas leader Yehya al-Sinwar, he said.

    “If we kill him, and that is the plan, then the leadership that succeeds him may understand that if they want to escape his fate, they will have to leave Gaza, as losers,” said Hangebi.

    A total defeat of Hamas would also clear the way for the liberation of 138 hostages still held by the Islamists, he said.

    Meanwhile, as Israeli soldiers continue their attempts to rescue the hostages held in Gaza, a 25-year-old Israeli man who was abducted on Oct. 7 has died, according to statements released on Saturday.

    “It is with deep sorrow and a broken heart that we announce the murder of Sahar Baruch (25) who was kidnapped from his home by Hamas terrorists on October 7th,” Kibbutz Be’eri, where Baruch lived, and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters said in a joint statement.

    Renewed fighting also took place on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, after militants reportedly launched rockets from southern Lebanon into Israeli territory.

    The Israeli military said retaliatory strikes were carried out.

    There were initially no reports of casualties on either side.

    Lebanese security sources told dpa that the border village of Aita al-Shaab was hit by heavy air strikes during the night.

    The sources believed that mainly Hezbollah members were there at the time.

    The Hezbollah-affiliated broadcaster Al Mayadeen reported that several houses in the village were destroyed.

    The Lebanese TV station Al-Manar, which is run by the political wing of Hezbollah, reported that other villages in the border area had also been hit by Israeli fire.

    Hezbollah itself did not immediately comment on the strikes.

    Israel’s military spoke of “terror targets,” including Hezbollah command and control centres.

    Since the start of the current war in Gaza, there have been repeated confrontations between Israel’s army and militant groups including Hezbollah in the Israeli-Lebanese border region.

    It is the most serious escalation since the 2006 war in Lebanon.

    The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, carried out by terrorists from the Islamist Hamas and other extremist groups on Oct. 7 near Israel’s border with Gaza.

    More than 1,200 people were killed on the Israeli side, including at least 850 civilians, according to the Israeli government.

    According to the latest figures from the Health Ministry in Gaza, almost 17,700 people have been killed in Israel’s counter-attacks.

    A further 48,780 people were injured, said Ashraf al-Kudra, spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

  • Now that the draft UNSC resolution on Gaza has collapsed

    Now that the draft UNSC resolution on Gaza has collapsed

    • By Femi Mimiko

    With the United States veto of the United Arab Emirate (UAE) draft resolution on humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, it has become clear that the solution to the current conflict in the territory may not lie with the UN. This is not a surprise, though, as it had become evident soon after the world body was created in 1945 that it would only be effective in resolving conflict situations when the five veto-holding member-states – US, USSR (now Russia), UK, France, and China – were in agreement. The implication of the US veto of the UAE draft resolution is that the carnage in Gaza, which started October 7, may continue unabated. 

    Lest we forget, the primary objective of the Israeli government in invading Gaza is the complete annihilation of Hamas. But the truth is that Hamas is not just a mere organisation, which can be so easily isolated and taken out by force of arms. It is also an idea, which has context. It draws life from the reality on ground in the Middle East – i.e., denial of the aspiration of the Palestinian people for a homeland of their own, on parts of the territories occupied, either wholly or partially, by the State of Israel. It is thus obvious why the objective of stamping out Hamas, desirable as it may seem or sound, will not happen. It will, at best, remain a mere façade to justify the continued destruction of innocent life and infrastructure in Gaza by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).

    The foregoing has made it imperative for the world to find alternative pathways to stopping the expanding scope of this war, the humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip, and the disruptions and killings underway in the occupied West Bank.

    In the circumstances, recourse to some form of ‘eyeball-to-eyeball diplomacy,’ the type of which was employed to end the 1956 Suez Canal Crisis, and the 1973 Yom Kippur War, may have become inevitable. On each occasion, the now defunct Soviet Union, under Premier Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev in 1956 and 1973 respectively, forged the pathway to peace by simply issuing, each, a firm ultimatum, to end the conflict. Khrushchev’s ultimatum was on the tripartite alliance of Britain, France and Israel, to halt their joint invasion of Egypt, designed to seize the Canal and depose Egyptian leader, Gamal Abdel Nassar; failing which Moscow would consider a nuclear attack on Western Europe! The three parties complied almost immediately. US failure to fully back the tripartite expedition, it must be noted, was also quite helpful in this regard. 

    Embarrassed by the possibility of Israeli liquidation of columns of Egyptian troops in the Sinai, the Soviet leader, Brezhnev, on October 24, 1973, wrote to his US counterpart, President Richard Nixon, threatening unilateral intervention in the war – ostensibly to stop the fighting forces – if the IDF failed to immediately end its encirclement and planned destruction of the Egyptian troops, and further advancement into Egypt. By the second day, the war, which had started on October 6, 1973, came to a screeching halt!

    Read Also: Deadly strikes reported at crowded South Gaza border

    The USSR was able to act as a countervailing force in 1956 and 1973 because it had the power and influence requisite for commanding compliance. It is doubtful if Russia, the main rump, and successor nation to the former Soviet Union, is appropriately positioned to do as the predecessor nation did in 1956 and 1973.  What is more; Russia is currently comprehensively engaged, nay, bogged down, in its war in Ukraine. China, another power with a veto vote in the UN that could credibly fill the void, is obviously not inclined to gamble on Gaza, where it presently has no direct interest at stake. No core member of the Western alliance, including veto-vote holders, Britain and France, is going to go this route either. That leaves Turkiye as a possible candidate for redeeming the increasingly desperate situation in Gaza. 

    Turkiye does not have a nuclear weapon, as yet; or at least nothing contrary has been announced. But the country has enough clout and credentials in the Middle East, for decisive action; as it was the core of the defunct Ottoman Empire, which held suzerainty over the entire region up until the First World War. In addition, Turkiye, like most Palestinians, is wholly Islamic; and has the second largest military in NATO, after the US. Ankara has also really never stopped being militarily engaged in the region. Besides, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, head of the Turkish state, is a very strong leader, a maverick, not known to fret about making tough, even if risky and unpopular decisions. 

    Though this may sound a little farfetched, if not awkward, but obtaining the acquiescence of nuclear holding North Korea, may actually serve the purpose of making such a Turkish ultimatum on Israel to stop the killings in Gaza, quite credible. The US, and indeed, Israel – in spite of its bravado – may not want to gamble on a possible escalation of the Gaza conflict; especially, such as may be ignited, for the US, by a fellow NATO member-state. 

    An unorthodox and definitely delicate ‘eyeball-to-eyeball diplomacy’ of this nature may actually hold the key to halting the carnage in Gaza and, ultimately, becoming a starting point in the solution to the Palestinian question.

    I had broached this idea in my presentation at a webinar, organized by the Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA), on November 21, 2023. It may be time now for the regional actors, with the requisite agency, to examine these possibilities, as the world figures out how to bring ongoing destruction of Gaza, including of children and women, to an end. 

    The October 7, invasion of Israel; massacre of 1,200 innocent Israelis; and taking into captive of more than 300 others by Hamas, were horrific and stand condemned. But even these can hardly continue to provide justification for the killing of 17,000 Gazans, and still counting! Yet, Hamas – which extermination Israel seeks – does not look like anywhere near liquidation. The world cannot continue to sit idly by, or helplessly watch. All options must be on the table to stop the Gaza carnage.

    • Mimiko mni writes via femi.mimiko@gmail.com
  • Deadly strikes reported at crowded South Gaza border

    Deadly strikes reported at crowded South Gaza border

    Palestinians said yesterday that supposed safe zones in Gaza are being attacked and deprived of aid, as the death toll mounts and a humanitarian crisis worsens in the besieged enclave.

    Israel has designated the coastal town of al-Mawasi as a safe area, airdropped thousands of leaflets urging residents to flee south to the city of Rafah, and created a grid system that it says is being used to inform civilians of safe areas and evacuation routes.

    But a series of deadly air strikes on Rafah were reported yesterday. One strike in Shaboura refugee camp killed 20 Palestinians and injured dozens more, according to local correspondents.

    Around 80 per cent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have been displaced during the war, according to the UN, with most clustered in the south, where makeshift camps have been installed.

    Khalil Abu Shammala, a media consultant displaced to south Gaza from the north, said Rafah has become overcrowded, increasing the danger from air strikes.

     “They say it is a safe zone but they target specific places where they suspect Hamas members,” he said. “During these bombings, civilians are victims. There is not a single safe place in Gaza.”

    Read Also: Israeli forces encircle main southern Gaza City

    Mr. Abu Shammala also said that communication outages are limiting residents’ ability to make calls or use the internet – including Israel’s online advice on reaching safe areas.

    Amal, an employee of the Medical Aid for Palestinians charity displaced to the south, said: “At night, the Israelis start bombing residential buildings in Rafah, and during the day, they allow the humanitarian aid … we have no idea where it goes. All stores are empty and people are starving.”

    Maha Husseini, who was displaced with her familiy from north to central Gaza, said they would not follow evacuation orders after hearing of attacks on supposed safe areas.

    “We were told it is better to evacuate to Rafah as the Israeli military said it would be safe, but we haven’t evacuated,” she said. “Based on our previous experience for the past two months, we cannot follow the instructions of the Israeli army, every area that they designed as safe was severely bombed and hundreds of people there were killed.

    “There is no safe place in Gaza and we have decided not to be displaced twice.”

    The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry reported 350 deaths yesterday, taking the total to a reported 17,177 since Israel’s assault on the strip began on 7 October, when deadly Hamas raids killed around 1,200 Israelis. The ministry’s figures are deemed reliable by the UN.

  • UN chief Guterres invokes Article 99 of charter over Gaza crisis

    UN chief Guterres invokes Article 99 of charter over Gaza crisis

    United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres yesterday invoked Article 99 of the UN charter for the first time, citing a “severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza,” as the war rages on between Israel and militant group Hamas.

     In a letter to José Javier De la Gasca Lopez Domínguez, the current UN Security Council President, Gutteres said he expects “public order to completely break down due to desperate conditions, rendering even limited humanitarian assistance impossible.”

    The invocation of Article 99 allows the UN secretary-general to bring the attention of the security council to “any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security,” per the UN.

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    Guterres warned of an “even worse” situation unfolding in the besieged territory, including epidemic diseases and an increase in pressure to send displaced civilians to surrounding countries. The letter marks a rare and significant move by the UN chief, who has repeatedly called for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas amidst the rising death toll and destruction of Gaza, which has been ruled by Hamas since 2007.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) has voiced strong support for Guterres, over his unprecedented step.

    WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, “I support Secretary-General Guterres’ letter to the UN. Security Council, invoking Article 99 and appealing for a ceasefire. Gaza’s health system is on its knees and near total collapse. We need peace for health.”

    “Gaza cannot afford to lose any more hospitals… and yet another one is on verge of closing. Kamal Adwan Hospital, in northern Gaza, has reportedly come to a virtual halt, with only 20 patients still getting care,” Ghebreyesus added.

  • Sanders, others urge Israel to limit civilian deaths in Gaza

    Sanders, others urge Israel to limit civilian deaths in Gaza

    As a cease-fire ticked down last week and Israel prepared to resume its round-the-clock airstrikes, Sen. Bernie Sanders and a robust group of Democratic senators had a message for their president: they were done “asking nicely” for Israel to do more to reduce civilian casualties in Gaza.

     The lawmakers warned President Joe Biden’s national security team that planned U.S. aid to Israel must be met with assurances of concrete steps from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government.

     “The truth is that if asking nicely worked, we wouldn’t be in the position we are today,” Sanders said in a floor speech. It was time for the United States to use its “substantial leverage” with its ally, the Vermont senator said.

     “And we all know what that leverage is,” he said, adding, “the blank-check approach must end.”

     With Biden’s request for a nearly $106 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other national security needs hanging in the balance, the senators’ tougher line on Israel has gotten the White House’s attention, and that of Israel.

     Lawmakers of both major political parties for decades have embraced the U.S. role as Israel’s top protector, and it’s all but inconceivable that they would vote down the wartime aid.

     The Democratic lawmakers are adamant that’s not their intent, as strong supporters of Israel’s right of self-defence against Hamas.

    Read Also: Israel widens evacuation orders in Southern Gaza after heavy attack

     But just the fact that Democratic lawmakers are making that link signals the fractures in Congress amid the daily scenes of suffering among besieged Palestinian civilians.

     Sanders and the Democratic senators involved say they are firm in their stand that Israel’s military must adopt substantive measures to lessen civilian deaths in Gaza as part of receiving the supplemental’s $14.3 billion in U.S. aid for Israel’s war.

    The United States military has blamed the Houthis, “fully enabled by Iran,” for the attacks on ships in the Red Sea, saying they “represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security.”

    Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claimed they targetted “two Israeli ships” in the Red Sea, part of a series of attacks against commercial vessels in international waters on Sunday during which the U.S. said one of its destroyers shot down three drones.