Israel’s attack on the last ‘safe zone’ in Gaza sparks global outcry

Israeli spokespersons have reiterated that the IDF is careful to ‘prevent harm to uninvolved civilians’.

But as the number of Palestinian casualties and the tally of ‘mistakes’ continue to rise, the world is refusing to turn a blind eye to what is quite a contrary picture.

The attack on the Rafah refugee camp marks yet another atrocious event since the start of Israel’s complete and utter bombardment of Gaza, which has seen more than 36,096 Palestinians killed and 81,136 severely wounded.

The fallout of these unrelenting offenses has been made worse by more than 400 attacks on Gaza’s hospitals and healthcare facilities, which have killed 723 health workers and injured 924 more, according to figures from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The UN agency has stated that not a single one of Gaza’s hospitals are operating at full capacity.

 

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Although Israeli leaders continue to meet any ounce of criticism of its tactics with abhorrently blasé excuses, their reputation hasn’t gone completely unscathed.

Israel has continued to face widespread legal and public accusations that it is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

South Africa officially presented this accusation to the ICJ in January, backed by numerous other states, including members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which have been heavily criticised for their half-hearted solidarity with Palestinians.

While this was considered a huge moment at the time, virtually nothing has changed six months on from those hearings.

It’s unsurprising, then, that Israel’s compliance with the ICJ’s order to avoid attacking Rafah was deemed unlikely.

Unlikely, despite the fact that Rafah was declared a ‘humanitarian zone’ by Israel itself.

THE ICJ ORDERED THEM TO STOP ATTACKING RAFAH

THEY BOMBED RAFAH 60 times IN 48 hrs

Burned 50 people alive

https://t.co/b4esTka3YS

— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) May 27, 2024

Just as they have throughout the war – many western media outlets are either refusing to cover these realities or are downplaying the seriousness of the attacks.

Those keeping a close eye on what’s happening in Gaza, however, have been gathering updates from social media accounts of Palestinians on the ground. Generally, these reports are the most accurate, as popular news outlets have taken politically biased and morally questionable stances on the war.

The New York Times has attempted to maintain balance by featuring Palestinian accounts of the war and occupation, but has continued to publish other articles which firmly deny that what is taking place in Gaza is genocide, including a piece which calls this sentiment ‘one of the greatest mass delusions of the 21st century.’

Reporters at the New York Times were told to avoid using language that humanized the Palestinians

They was told to avoid using the word “Palestine” and calling Israel’s actions genocidal

Zionists have hijacked our media and destroyed the free press

pic.twitter.com/Vy9dFemlhm

— Revolutionary Blackout Network🥋 (@SocialistMMA) April 16, 2024

Israelis have also been shielded from what is going on in Gaza, thanks to their government banning several Arab news outlets.

Not only did Israel ban Al Jazeera from broadcasting within Israel, but it seized broadcasting equipment belonging to the Associated Press on the basis that it suspected it belonged to Al Jazeera. The equipment has since been returned to AP.

Media censorship is a problem these days, even without a serious war going on.

But you know things are getting bad when an Israel-coddling White House expresses concerns over media censorship, calling the ban ‘a series of chilling steps by the Israeli government to stifle the media.’

✍️ “It is possible to kill children legally”

– Graeme Wood (@gcaw) in @TheAtlantic pic.twitter.com/UzlxZdiQBo

— Stop Arab Hate (@StopArabHate) May 26, 2024

What no government can censor, though, are the voices of Palestinians in Gaza.

The images and videos pouring out of Gaza daily – filmed and shared online in real time – depict a horrific, cruel, and unnecessary use of force, with women, children, and uninvolved civilians bearing the vast majority of the blows.

With Palestinians not giving up on revealing the truth of their 8-month plight, the world is finally waking up to the atrocities being committed against them.

As political leaders grow more wary of Israel’s true intentions in Gaza, a growing number of nations are now moving to recognise Palestine as a state – including Spain, Ireland, Sweden, Cyprus, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria.

This is a huge move, as it will enable Palestine to pursue legal rights over its territorial waters and air space as a sovereign state recognised by the UN.

Ever further, it allows the Palestinian people ‘the right to sue for sovereignty over their territory in the International Court of Justice’ which means it will be able to ‘bring “crimes against humanity” and war-crimes charges – including that of unlawfully occupying the territory of State of Palestine – against Israel in the International Criminal Court.’

With these kinds of positive developments taking place so suddenly, we can only wait and hope that a permanent ceasefire is imminent.