The recent invasion of Jenin in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces, which killed 12 Palestinians, including five children, injured more than 140, forced over 4,000 people to flee, damaged and destroyed hundreds of homes, vehicles, shops, schools, and hospitals, and disrupted water and electricity networks, was widely condemned, yet as expected, there was no talk of anything resembling action against Israel.
Such was the flagrant disregard for international law that it led to unprecedented condemnation by the UN Secretary-General. António Guterres condemned Israeli forces for using “excessive force” and urged Israel to “abide by its obligations under international law,” exercise restraint, and use only proportional force.
He also reminded Israel that the use of airstrikes in the densely populated refugee camp was “inconsistent with the conduct of law enforcement operations.” He also told Israel that “as the occupying power, it has a responsibility to ensure that the civilian population is protected against all acts of violence.”
Earlier, UN Palestinian rights experts ruled that Israel’s military raids may constitute a war crime. In a joint statement, the expert panel, comprised of Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territory; Paula Gaviria Betancur, Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons; and Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, stated that Israeli forces’ operations in the occupied West Bank, “killing and seriously injuring the occupied population, destroying their homes and infrastructure, and arbitrarily displacing thousands, amount to egregious violations of international law and standards on the use of force and may constitute a war crime.”
The attacks were the fiercest in the West Bank since the Jenin camp destruction of 2002.
“It is heartbreaking to see thousands of Palestinian refugees, originally displaced since 1947–1949, forced to march out of the camp in abject fear in the dead of night,” they added.
They also condemned Israeli forces’ so-called “counterterrorism” actions as having “no legal justification under international law.”
However, as expected, the US and the UK regurgitated Israeli propaganda that the attacks in Jenin were in self-defence against terrorists. Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, the EU representative to the Palestinian Authority, told a press conference held at the camp that what happened there was a “violation of international law.”
Muslim countries led by the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Conference) also condemned Israel’s attack on Jenin.
Israel, however, has yet to face sanctions by any vocal government or Guterres. It has been the practice of successive Israeli governments, each more warmongering than its predecessor, to persecute Palestinians, knowing that at worst, they will be greeted with empty words of caution for their frequent violations of international law in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Worse still, the US, Israel’s biggest benefactor and apologist, has vetoed over 53 UN Security Council resolutions critical of Israel over the last five decades as a sign of Western complicity.
Less than a fortnight after Israel’s latest pummelling of Jenin, the US Congress overwhelmingly passed a resolution pledging unwavering support for Israel, and despite the conclusive findings of international human rights NGOs to the contrary, it declared that the country is neither racist nor apartheid, in an implicit rebuke to Democrats who have criticised the country.
Two miles away in the White House, President Joe Biden assured his Israeli counterpart, President Isaac Herzog, that their countries’ alliance is “just simply unbreakable,” even amid Washington’s concerns over events in Israel, including the leadership’s push to amend the judicial system and recent settler violence in the West Bank.
And it is that unconditional support that has heartened Israel to continue to occupy Palestinian lands since 1967 and continue to build around 164 illegal settlements and 116 outposts with 700,000 illegal Jewish settlers, a sizable number of whom are militants in the occupied West Bank, with that set to expand as Tel Aviv frequently approves thousands of more illegal settlement units.
Punitive action against Israel’s perpetual breach of international law is five decades overdue. The UK has continued to fail in its legal, moral, and historic obligations to the Palestinian people by squandering its July UN Security Council presidency during Israel’s unlawful attack on Jenin.
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