https://arab.news/5stqu
Monday’s massacre of 20 Palestinians, including four journalists, in two successive and direct Israeli strikes on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis was the latest of hundreds, if not thousands, of war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza in the past 22 months. Aside from everything else, the time has come for the world to take action against Israel and not remain complacent. In the absence of a strong and unanimous UN Security Council resolution to invoke Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the only remaining option is for individual countries to impose sanctions on Israel in a bid to rein it in and stop its genocidal war in Gaza.
The world demands it. There was a wave of protests across the globe on Saturday and Sunday denouncing Israel and calling for sanctions to be imposed. A few days before, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification had officially declared famine in Gaza City and surrounding areas, attributing it to Israel’s dismantling of aid distribution systems and unlawful blockades on food, water, fuel and medical supplies. And yet Israel went ahead with an outrageous plan to occupy and destroy the city, forcing those who would miraculously survive the bombing and starvation to become displaced yet again.
Amid diplomatic paralysis and Israeli intransigence, the case for imposing sanctions on Tel Aviv in response to its conduct in Gaza currently rests on credible allegations and documented patterns that the UN, independent observers and human rights organizations classify as clear violations of international law, international treaties and the Geneva Conventions. This is separate, though relevant to, Israel’s unilateral actions in the West Bank that go back as far as 1967.
Israeli policies are directly and solely responsible for the death of hundreds of babies, children and the elderly
Osama Al Sharif
One of the most compelling reasons for imposing sanctions is Israel’s role in creating and sustaining a humanitarian crisis in Gaza that amounts to using famine as a weapon of war. By implementing a strict blockade on Gaza, controlling all borders, airspace and maritime access, Israel severely restricts the movement of goods, including essential food, medical supplies, fuel and construction materials. This blockade has led to widespread shortages and a near-collapse of basic services, effectively subjecting the civilian population to collective punishment.
Israeli policies are directly and solely responsible for the death of hundreds of babies, children and the elderly from starvation, malnutrition and disease. Many of these cases are well documented and testified to by local and foreign doctors working in Gaza’s remaining hospitals.
And since the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation became the only entity allowed to distribute aid in the Strip, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been gunned down by Israeli soldiers and American contractors as they scrambled to get their meager share of the handouts. Again, such cases are documented and testified to by eyewitnesses.
With the number of those killed by Israel already exceeding 62,000, a conservative figure since there are still thousands who remain missing and believed to be under the rubble, the pending takeover of Gaza City, home to between 500,000 and 1 million souls, will lead to a dramatic spike in the total. Israeli officials talk of razing the city and its adjacent camps just as the Israeli army did in the now-erased city of Rafah.
Just as Israel has normalized the killing of children in tent cities and UN shelters, sanctions could serve as a deterrent to further violations against journalists and reinforce the principle that attacks on the media are unacceptable under international norms. So far, Israel has killed more than 215 journalists in Gaza, a figure that no other conflict in modern times can come close to. It is important to note that Israel continues to deny international press agencies and journalists access to the beleaguered enclave to cover the war.
Gaza’s hospitals, frequently bombed or destroyed by Israeli airstrikes, highlight the disregard for civilian infrastructure that provides lifesaving care. Israel has ignored appeals from UN agencies, medical organizations and human rights entities, killing tens of doctors, medical staff, nurses and civil defense workers. The destruction of healthcare facilities violates the laws of war, which protect medical units and personnel. Sanctions could compel greater respect for these norms and protect humanitarian operations, ensuring aid reaches those in dire need.
Sanctions, including arms embargoes and financial restrictions, could limit Israel’s ability to conduct operations that result in such extensive civilian suffering and force compliance with international legal standards. Israel needs to wake up to the fact that it is subject to international law just like any other UN member.
Israel needs to wake up to the fact that it is subject to international law just like any other UN member
Osama Al Sharif
Since 1990, six Middle Eastern countries have come under UN and state sanctions for various activities that were deemed as violations of the UN Charter and international laws and conventions. Not one of these states’ crimes compares to what Israel is doing in Gaza. The sanctions imposed on the six regional countries varied in scope, from comprehensive economic embargoes to targeted measures against specific individuals, entities or sectors.
Now, Israel’s obstinacy, sense of impunity and disregard for international law are creating much-needed momentum in Western countries toward imposing sanctions, something that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Last month, more than 80 British members of Parliament and members of the House of Lords signed an open letter to UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy urging comprehensive sanctions on Israel over its alleged breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
And last week, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp resigned after failing to secure Cabinet support for imposing new sanctions against Israel over its military actions in Gaza. He had proposed measures including travel bans on far-right Israeli officials, canceling export permits linked to military equipment and banning imports from Israeli settlements. He expressed frustration with coalition partners who opposed these sanctions and criticized Israel’s actions as “diametrically opposed to international treaties.” His decision to step down triggered further resignations in his party, deepening the government crisis in the Netherlands.
Only one country stands firmly with Israel over its genocidal war and that is the US. Instead of putting pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to embrace a ceasefire that would secure the return of the hostages and end the war, Washington has doubled down in its military and diplomatic support, imposing sanctions against international jurists looking into Israel’s crimes in Gaza.
The world today stands at a critical crossroads: it can either step in to end the war and make Israel accountable for its actions like any normal state or stand as a witness to the crime of the century — the ethnic cleansing of more than 2 million Palestinians. The only available path is to impose sanctions on Israel.
It is time that the US distanced itself from a war criminal and a genocidal government, not only for the sake of the Palestinians, the region and the world, but for Israel’s sake as well.
- Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.
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