How much more evidence do we need?

This combination of handout satellite images released by Maxar Technology showing an overview of the Jabalia refugee camp on Oct 31 and the destruction in the same camp after it was hit by an Israeli strike. — AFP

THE genocide in Gaza has continued for more than 100 days with almost 24,000 civilians killed, according to the Gaza health ministry – surpassing the death toll of any other Arab conflict with Israel since 1948. While the Israeli government, and their allies in the United States, have insisted that they’re not “targeting civilians,” a recent investigation by CNN has found that during the first month of war, Israel dropped hundreds of massive 2,000-pound bombs – US-made MK-84 ordnance – capable of killing or wounding people more than 1,000 miles (1,609.3km) away, in the densely populated 360-sq-km Gaza Strip. Indiscriminate bombing of civilians is strictly against international law.

Experts interviewed by CNN have noted that such bombs are used sparingly by the US and other Western militaries due to their deadly potential impact on densely populated areas like Gaza.

Another investigation by The New York Times confirmed that Israel used one of its most destructive bombs over 200 times in areas in southern Gaza that the IDF designated as safe zones for the Palestinian people. An analysis by The Financial Times found that only after six weeks, northern Gaza was reduced to rubble on a scale comparable only to the carpet-bombing of German cities in World War II. Another investigation by The Washington Post found that there was no command centre in Gaza’s largest Al-Shifa hospital, which the IDF indiscriminately attacked. To add to that, an investigation by Forensic Architecture confirmed systematic and despicable targeting of hospitals. If it weren’t clear to us before – that this was not just another “terrible war” but an exceptionally ferocious genocidal campaign – the recent investigations lay it bare. We, therefore, ask: how much more evidence do we need to slam the brakes on Israel?

Nothing can justify Israel’s immunity to pursue this inhuman ethnic cleansing plan to annihilate the people of Palestine. It is incumbent upon all nations to act on the overwhelming evidence confirming war crimes.

US President Joe Biden – who has vetoed ceasefires three times now – has recently said Israel is losing support from the international community for “indiscriminately bombing.” We, therefore, urge the United States to stop vetoing ceasefires and save lives. The International Criminal Court must take action on Israel’s war crimes. The International Court of Justice needs to urgently take provisional or short-term measures ordering Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza. The killings must stop now. — The Daily Star/ANN