Israel Waging War on Gaza Without Declaring It
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
Under international law, blockades are acts of war – waged by Israel on Gaza, suffocating its two million people, destroying the strip’s economy, creating humanitarian crisis conditions.
Gazans are held hostage to Israeli viciousness, solely for political reasons. Hamas poses no security risk to the state. Claims otherwise are bald-faced lies, the world community supporting what demands condemnation.
Its criticism of Israeli violence against peaceful Palestinian demonstrators is largely muted. Former UN special rapporteur for human rights in Occupied Palestine Richard Falk considers unlawful Israeli blockade of Gaza a crime against humanity.
So do numerous other human rights supporters. In his book, titled “Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom,” Norman Finkelstein discussed the “human suffering” of an entrapped people, explaining that “virtually all the incidents between Israel and Gaza (are) initiated by Israel, and it’s well documented.”
Israel is the aggressor every time, Gazans and other Palestinians the victims. Most often, world leaders ignore Israeli high crimes against a defenseless people, Palestinian suffering of no consequence in Gaza or elsewhere in the Territories.
Washington supports and encourages Israeli high crimes, both countries partnering in each other’s wars of aggression.
Pre-dawn Wednesday, a locally produced rocket fired from Gaza by an unknown party landed in Beersheba, Israel, causing no injuries or damage. A second rocket fell harmlessly into the Mediterranean Sea.
Hamas denied responsibility for the incident. So did Gazan resistance groups, a joint statement saying:
“The representatives of the resistance in Gaza salute and thank the Egyptian effort to achieve our national goals, and reject all irresponsible attempts to thwart these efforts – including these rockets fired last night.”
“The resistance does not hide behind any veil. We are always willing to claim responsibility for our actions. But we did not fire these rockets.”
Spokesperson of the National Resistance Committees in Gaza, said Israel “is coming up with excuses to attack and bomb Gaza. The resistance will always be ready to retaliate (against) any Israeli offensive.”
Hamas and Islamic Jihad issued similar statements, saying rockets fired overnight from Gaza aim to sabotage constructive talks.
Hamas and resistance groups fired no rockets on Israel since peaceful weekly Great March of Return demonstrations began on March 30.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for everything occurring in the Strip, the world community failing to denounce its unacceptable actions.
In response to the overnight incident, the IDF terror-bombed multiple Gazan sites, at least one death reported, 14 Palestinians wounded, including six children.
Gaza’s health ministry said 27-year-old Saddam Abu Shallash died on Tuesday after being seriously wounded by Israeli live fire.
On Monday, Israeli forces shot 32 Palestinians with live fire, dozens more affected by toxic tear gas, protesting against blockade conditions – two more Gazans shot on Tuesday.
The Netanyahu regime closed all border area checkpoints, along with restricting fishing areas more than already. Days earlier, Qatar donated fuel to Gaza was blocked.
Hamas is falsely accused of Israeli state-sponsored terrorism, the Netanyahu regime entirely responsible for violence in Gaza.
Haaretz lied about the overnight incident, claiming a rocket from Gaza “hit a house in the southern Israeli city of Be’er Sheva in the early morning hours of Wednesday, damaging it heavily.”
The rocket landed harmlessly near a house, causing no damage or injuries.
On Tuesday, Israeli war minister Avigdor Lieberman suggested Israel may wage another war on Gaza, saying the Netanyahu regime’s security cabinet should confront Hamas militarily “even at a price of moving to a wide-scale confrontation,” adding:
“My opinion is very clear. We must land a strong blow against Hamas. That’s the only way to lower the level of violence to zero or close to zero.”
Israel initiates all violence, terrorizing Palestinians throughout the Occupied Territories. There’s no ambiguity about it.
Netanyahu’s security cabinet is meeting on Wednesday, according to a statement from his office.
Security cabinet member Yuval Steinitz said “(w)e must aggressively respond with force to the rocket strike on Beersheba, but there is a difference between that and being drawn into a full campaign in Gaza,” adding:
“If we go to war in the Strip, we will call it ‘Abbas’s war,’ because he is the architect of this flareup.”
Israel is the “architect” and perpetrator of violence throughout Occupied Palestine – defenseless Palestinians always blamed for its high crimes.
My newest book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
