Image Source: NDTV
West Bank – Nearly 50 innocent Palestinian civilians in Rafah have been killed due to an Israeli airstrike on a camp filled with displaced people, including many women and children. Despite orders from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to cease attacks on Rafah, Israeli airstrikes continued, targeting Palestinians who had moved away from danger zones.
Social media was flooded with graphic images and videos showing the impact and aftermath of the attacks. Lines of tents were engulfed in flames, and eyewitnesses reported that many people, including women and children, were burned alive, leaving bodies charred and unidentifiable.
One particularly heart-wrenching video showed a Palestinian man holding the lifeless, dirt-stained corpse of a decapitated Palestinian child. The devastation is evidence that the Israeli military is targeting innocent civilians and killing Palestinian children in the most brutal ways imaginable.
Palestinian journalist Usama Nazzal stated that Israel’s actions have shown the world their deceit in denying the targeting and killing of Palestinian civilians. He further commented that along with Israel’s genocidal methods in ethnically cleansing the Gaza Strip, burning innocent people in tents while they slept is one of the worst means they have used since the start of the genocide in the enclave.
“Attacking people not in concrete homes this time, but attacking displaced Palestinians who thought that the place would be safe for them upon the orders of the Israeli occupation military forces. However, the Israeli warplanes targeted them with missiles and incendiary bombs in their tents, burning them alive. We also saw the horrific, terrible, and inhumane scenes last night—how the Palestinian children and women were burned alive.”
“Their only guilt was that they listened to the military orders to go and look for a safe area. They thought that the area in Rafah was safe. They pitched their tents and were preparing for sleep before the Israeli occupation warplanes bombarded them, showing the Israeli deception and deceit. Israel orders Palestinian civilians to move from one place to another just to make their killing easier for the Israeli military forces.”
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Israel’s Disregard for International Institutions
Despite halting their attacks on the civilian population in Gaza, they escalated their violence further as the world watched. The attack drew immense criticism not only from the international community but also from Israel’s staunchest allies and supporters.
Israel’s disregard for the ICJ order highlights their defiance and undermining of international law, institutions, and bodies meant to uphold them. Nazzal criticised the international community for not holding Israel accountable for their blatant disregard, allowing them to act above the law and with impunity.
“The United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations issued hundreds of resolutions to end Israel’s occupation of Palestine, but Israel did not heed any of these resolutions because it does not understand the language of power. As long as the international community doesn’t impose a boycott and sanctions on Israel, it will never abide by any resolution. It will continue its massacres, this time aggravating them by burning people, not shooting people, but burning people to death, like what happened in Rafa last night.”
Nazzal stressed that the next time Israel orders displaced Palestinians to move, there is no true refuge in Gaza or the occupied territories. As the genocide in Gaza continues, so does the killing of Palestinians by the Israeli occupation and settlers in the West Bank.
