After this there will be silence

[notsoready4school]

Are we really just going to just let this happen. I was upset about the protest ban in France but at least he has finally spoken up. When is the UK going to finally say something and stop letting this happen in our name.

This is the moment we have been warning the whole world the Gaza Deputy Health Minister Dr. Youssef Abu Alreesh, currently inside al-Shifa Hospital as it is takes heavy fire from Israeli forces.
Here are his translated comments:

• This is the moment we have been warning the whole world of, all generators are off, all power sources are out.
• We have 39 newborns in the incubators, those babies are fighting against death.
• No one is able to move around the compound, snipers are stationed all over the place in addition to the drones that target and kill any moving person.
• A few minutes ago one of the engineering team was hit by a sniper, he was hit in the neck and was paralysed and he’s now about to die.
• Part of the hospital was shelled and part of the building caught fire, we fear it will engulf the whole compound.
• A few families tried to leave but they were targeted; now they are lying dead outside the hospital. We cannot get to them.
• We are totally stranded, we are cut off from the outside world, and above all, we are left without any medical resources. We cannot even bury the dead.
• Ferocious gunfire can be heard within the vicinity of the hospital, the intensive care unit received a mortar shell a few minutes ago.
• Blood is everywhere, on the floor, we cannot even clean it.
• In the past, the Israeli killing machine was killing and this was conveyed on TV screens. Now they are perpetrating the same killing but no one is listening, no one is watching, the whole world is standing by.
• We are speaking with whatever is left of my phone battery, after that, we will be silent.

I've no idea. I'm not an expert in international law or the rules of conflict. But there are supposed to be rules to prevent such devastating loss of civilian life, and they haven't worked in this situation.

God himself can come down and say there are no hamas bases under hospitals, but someone on mumsnet will still insist that Israel is the most moral army who did this rightfully.

This is just a land grab for Israel. Palestinian lives are meaningless for them. This is nothing to do with October 7th, it's been going on for 75 years. The state is built on occupation and terrorism.

Apologies you did say doctors and patients

When Al Shifa was given orders to evacuate about 2 weeks ago the director of the hospital went back to IDF and said how can we do this. The director reported back that IDF had 'no plan' and weren't going to be providing any assistance

Which is the same thing that happened with evacuating the prem babies of which there are only 37 - there are at least 100 critically ill children and adults

I'm not sure of the value of reviewing the rules which currently aren't being followed with impunity

This is not just an attack on Al shifa hospital but rather an attack on Gaza's healthcare infrastructure. From attacks on multiple hospitals, ambulances, medical professionals and patients. In a war zone where for many this is a lifeline. The US and UN and France and everyone else keep repeating the same things, about how concerned they are but nobody is actively trying to stop it. What is the point of their empty words? Just so in future they can say well we did try and tell Israel but its not our fault they didn't listen?

Again today the US have expressed their 'concern' and how is their concern making a difference??

The White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the US was “deeply concerned that Jordanian medical personnel in Gaza were wounded in an attack near their field hospital”.
“Their essential role in conflict must be protected,” Sullivan wrote in a post on X, calling Jordan “a critical ally”. Jordan said seven staffers were wounded in shelling on Wednesday, according to reports.

Okay. The widely accepted understanding of existing international war rules are that civilian objects such as hospitals are prohibited from being targets in war unless they have changed to being military objects. That is, for example if there is shooting or firing from the enemy from these places.

There has been no evidence (not even made up evidence interestingly) and repeated reports and statements from local and international medical professionals that there is no evidence that the hospital is a military object.

besides that there are multiple lines of questioning around the scale of civilian death in this conflict that is unheard of in recent conflicts. The decision itself to starve and cut off water supply to civilians in order to get at Hamas is against international law and will also lead to a unimaginable deaths by deliberate dehydration and starvation that we have not seen in our lifetimes. This is because these are inhumane tactics that are not allowed in modern war fare.

the rules I think would work if they just abided by them. Ie targeting the hospital if there is evidence of Hamas being there, not targeting cutting supplies to a civilian hospital just to CHECK if Hamas is there.

Human Rights Watch have said the evidence the IDF have shown is not sufficient for Al Shifa to have lost its protected status. Is it any wonder that people are so angry. The IDF have really got themselves into a mess with this one

Hospitals have special protections under international humanitarian law. Doctors, nurses, ambulances and other hospital staff must be permitted to do their work and patients must be protected.
Hospitals only lose those protections if it can be shown that harmful acts have been carried out from the premises. The Israeli government hasn’t provided any evidence of that.

I listened to the World at One today where one of the colonels involved in the hospital storming was interviewed.
He totally gaslit the presenter. She tried to challenge him and he was belligerent. Apparently, it is going to be weeks before we, the world, will know if Hamas had their headquarter under the hospital. Weeks?

Hmm a cynical person might suggest weeks is enough time to build a headquarters!?

Funny you would say. I think you are on to something there.

Well, Biden is being sued by some human rights lawyers, hopefully more cases will be brought against other leaders. The law is so slow, though, and UNWRA have said there will be no aid deliveries into Gaza from tomorrow, due to no communications. Something needs to be done quicker. I don't know why IDF are going on about tunnels when we all know there are tunnels under the hospital anyway.

The silence has arrived

@notsoready4school Is there any journalism or information coming out of Gaza? It's so ominous to hear nothing.

It’s utterly shameful we shall hear the same countries expressing concern

Have lost faith in Starmer he is spineless

I have been checking but I can’t find anything recent. Please if anyone comes across anything please post it.

Starmer is so disappointing. The Tories are awful, but that's less of a surprise. There's more public objection in the US now, which may shift Biden to do something. I feel very bleak about the situation now - since parliament voted yesterday, now there will be no aid going in and the Israeli military is attacking more in the south, it looks very bad. There's a rumour of finding the hostages' bodies at Al Shifa which is tragic and will make things even worse.

Do you think having a Jewish wife affects Starmers position ?

And up pops the antisemitism again.

The Committee for Protection of Journalists is demanding Israel and Egypt allow fuel in.

No I think Starmer it too interested in what he thinks is the middle ground views

Labour lost a lot of support after the Iraq War generational world views differ younger people no longer view the world as being the west and the rest of the world, news we have access too is not just a western view of the world

Labour should learn from before parroting the US will be their downfall

How is that antisemitism? I genuinely don’t know, it seems like a relevant line of questioning just like having family linked to Gaza affects the position of Scottish first minister.

He is human and given they bring up their kids as Jewish would it not be a relevant question to ask ?

Because being Jewish does not automatically mean you support the Israeli government (not just this government)

Does anyone know if the rest of the 40 babies died, I read only 31 have been transferred by WHO.

Because you're suggesting his political position is only down to his wife being Jewish. Not Israeli btw, Jewish.

So was it Islamophobic to suggest the position of the First Minister is because his family are Muslim?