THE Palestinian Civil Defence Society (PCDS) reported on Tuesday that it has received numerous appeals regarding people trapped alive under rubble from homes and residential buildings destroyed by the Israeli army in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.
‘We are receiving urgent pleas about the presence of survivors under the debris of some homes and residential buildings that were demolished by the Israeli occupation (forces) in the Beit Lahia project area in northern Gaza,’ said PCDS in a statement.
It also warned of the continued ‘international silence regarding the Israeli aggression and arrogance, which could lead to the execution of living citizens trapped under the rubble of their destroyed homes,’ which it called a ‘flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.’
The Civil Defence Society added: ‘Citizens in northern Gaza are facing death and Israeli extermination in silence, while the occupation has entirely disrupted our teams’ operations, confiscated their vehicles and equipment, displaced them, and arrested some.’
The agency noted that for the 14th consecutive day, the Israeli army has prevented teams from conducting their operations in northern Gaza.
For his part, World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director in Palestine, Matthew Hollingworth raised concerns about food security and famine in the Gaza Strip. He further warned that 90% of the Northern Gaza population is without food.
‘We work with UNRWA to provide assistance in Gaza City,’ he said, adding that all humanitarians are concerned about what is happening with UNRWA.
At least 54 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across various areas of the Gaza Strip since dawn Tuesday. Of those, 39 were in northern Gaza, where Israel launched a major air and ground assault about a month ago.
Meanwhile, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has defended his pursuit of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others, emphasising the need for timely action in investigating war crimes in Gaza.
‘Should I wait until everybody’s dead?’ Karim Khan said in an interview with German weekly Der Spiegel, dismissing claims of hasty decision-making regarding arrest warrants for Israeli politicians and three Hamas leaders.
‘If your father, your mother, your grandfather was a hostage, would you really want me to wait? If this was your child or your sister blown to bits, would you want me to wait?’ he said, stressing the importance of immediate legal intervention in ongoing conflicts.
‘We shouldn’t indulge ourselves into thinking that the suffering of people is something to comment on in the future. The law must be felt in real time. If you are a firefighter, you don’t wait until the house is burned down and the neighbourhood is in flames,’ he said.
The ICC, established in 2002, investigates and prosecutes individuals for international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
In May, Khan issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his war minister Yoav Gallant following a months-long investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza genocide.
These have not been served and the deadly onslaughts against the Palestinian people continues on a daily basis.
Presumably the trade union leaders in the UK, who take part in the demonstrations against the Israeli genocide, think that they are doing enough, or are not prepared to interfere with the profits of the capitalists by calling a general strike over Palestine and mobilising millions of workers.
These trade unions leaders must be made to call a Special Congress of the TUC to call an indefinite general strike, to mobilise millions of workers world wide to take strike action to bring down the already weakened Israeli regime, and to bring in a single Palestinain state and a workers government, that will put an end to Zionist Israel, and create the conditions where Jewish and Palestinian workers can live side by side in unity.
There is not a moment to lose. Demand that the TUC recall its Congress to organise a general strike to support the Palestinian masses and establish the state of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital, where Jews and Arabs will live side by side!