War on Palestine - How the World Can Make Israel Behave
By
Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam
24 April
2024
Palestine
is a land that is currently under Israeli occupation and is not recognized as
an independent state. During the first Nakba in 1947-48, Israel forced Arabs
from the mainland into the small Gaza Strip.
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Also Read: Israeli Aggression
Against Palestine: Connecting The Dots
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Representational Photo from the Files
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Furthermore,
the West Bank is being gradually taken over by illegal settlements. Because of
the occupation, Israel has a responsibility to protect the people living in
these territories. As an occupier, it has no right to wage war against the
occupied people. Even if the international community cannot prevent the illegal
war that Israel is waging against its own people, it can make it incumbent on
them to take reasonable measures to safeguard civilian lives. Here are some
possible measures that could be implemented:
1. If
Israel wanted to wage war against Hamas alone without harming the civilians,
the most straightforward solution was to shift the civilian population into
temporary accommodation in Israel. They could have done it in three phases –
evacuate North Gaza first, clear it of Hamas and their tunnels, then Central
Gaza, followed by South Gaza. This way, not a single innocent life would have
been lost. South Africa can move the ICJ to give such a ruling, making it
incumbent on Israel to follow such a plan. The UN Security Council can pass a
resolution compelling Israel to follow such a procedure. Israel and the US
would be hard-pressed to resist such a demand, and even if they resisted, they
would be forced to minimise civilian killings, failing which the demand can be
made afresh and repeatedly until it becomes impossible for Israel not to heed.
Even today, it is not too late, with Israel committed to destroying Rafah or
South Gaza. They can be forced to accommodate the Civilian population in Israel
until they have a safe home in Gaza to return to. Such a measure prevents the
wanton destruction of civil infrastructure because Israel cannot send back its
refugees unless there are safe homes in Gaza to send them back. However, the
objective of both Israel and the US was to use the war on Hamas as an excuse to
carry out genocide, which is why they did what they did. The rest of the world
may yet act and prevent the slaughter of more civilians and the greater
destruction of homes and other civil infrastructure.
2. Among
the rulings South Africa sought from the ICJ, it can make it incumbent on
Israel to publish a daily report of its attacks, the number killed by category,
and the military objective served by the attack and a similar report from Hamas
and a neutral UN observer team in Gaza validating the reports. Every day, we
hear reports of at least 20 people killed, 12 of them children, with apparently
no military purpose served. Israel openly says that they are punishing the
population to force them to rise against Hamas and compel it to release the
hostages. This violates the International Human Rights of the innocent civilian
population.
3. South
Africa can ask the ICJ to make it incumbent on Israel to allow foreign
accredited reporters so that the truth is not buried and the war crimes are
exposed in real-time for immediate corrective action.
4. Rather
than monthly reports on which little action is taken, the ICJ can ask Israel to
publish daily reports on its official website giving details of aid allowed
into Gaza so that immediate action on any shortfall is possible.
5. Today,
Gaza is without hospitals and medicines, and the injured are amputated without
anaesthesia or left to die without medical attention. Considering the size of
the population of Gaza and the number of people killed and wounded, the ICJ can
make it incumbent on Israel to ceasefire the moment the emergency healthcare
needs of the population fall below a predetermined threshold. Doctors without
Borders can be entrusted with determining when this threshold is breached. This
will force Israel to ensure that the hospitals are protected to avoid a
ceasefire being forced on them by default.
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Also
Read: The Emotional
Message from the Palestinian Delegate at a UN Session Following the US Veto
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It is
imperative that the world take assertive actions to implement the reasonable
measures outlined above to hold Israel accountable and avert an even greater
catastrophe.
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A frequent contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Naseer
Ahmed is an Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur and is an independent IT
consultant after having served in both the Public and Private sector in
responsible positions for over three decades. He has spent years studying Quran
in-depth and made seminal contributions to its interpretation.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-politics/war-palestine-world-israel-behave/d/132190