Scrutiny of Israel's Military Response in Gaza Intensifies Amid Attack on Palestinian Refugee Camp
Strike on Jabalya could be a war crime committed by Israeli forces
Signs appear to be that scrutiny — and even the beginnings of condemnation — are growing over Israel's military retaliation in Gaza for the October 7 attacks by Hamas.
Specifically, the outcry has begun to grow after Israeli forces attacked a refugee camp in Gaza for the second time, and barely could acknowledge the impact those attacks had on Palestinian civilians.
The Israeli military has been carrying out increasingly intense operations across Gaza since the surprise Hamas terrorist attacks last month, and most American officials have been in lockstep support for Israel.
Cracks, however, are beginning to emerge in that support since the death toll among Palestinians has surpassed 8,000 — mostly women and minors, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It’s a toll without precedent in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence, and it is expected to climb even more rapidly as Israel presses its ground offensive.
Over 1,400 people have died on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during the initial Hamas onslaught.
An attack on Tuesday evening on the Jabalya refugee camp demolished several apartment buildings, leaving craters in their place. Footage from the scene showed women and children being helped down half-destroyed buildings as rescuers and local residents dug through the rubble to find survivors.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said more than 50 people were killed in the attack and 150 were wounded. The Indonesian Hospital, where most of the victims were taken, confirmed that more than 50 people were killed.
At least one American journalist reported that the attack on Jabalya could well amount to a war crime by Israel, while a top Israeli official barely acknowledged the effect that attack had on Palestinian civilians.
CNN host Kaitlan Collins had a contentious exchange with Mark Regev, a senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over civilian casualties after Jabalia.
Regev repeatedly refused to specify any estimate of the number of Palestinians left dead, and claimed that Israel doesn't want to hurt civilians.
Yet Collins ended the interview saying, “Yeah. I will say, ambassador, a lot of them feel like they don’t have places to go, certainly it’s not safe places.”
Reporting on the second attack on Jabalya, CNN’s Ben Wedeman said that he was told that most of the casualties in that strike were women and children.
“And the U.N. Human Rights Office is saying that the strikes on Jabalya — the most crowded of the eight refugee camps in Gaza — could amount to a war crime,” Wedeman said.
A congressman who also is a US military veteran, said that he wants more protection for Palestinian civilians.
“I've been calling for a humanitarian pause here, because I think we need time to assess the right way to destroy Hamas, that I think we should establish humanitarian corridors,” said Rep Jason Crow (D-Colo). “I think we should allow for the flow of refugees from North Gaza into South Gaza, and there should be a more sustained counter-terrorist operation that will destroy Hamas, but make a priority the protection of innocent civilians — over 2 million Palestinians who are also victims of Hamas and the situation.
“So, I think we need more time to figure out how we do this the right way that actually can accomplish the goals of destroying Hamas without making the situation worse,” added Crow, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
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