War of Legitimacy – How the ICJ, UNGA Challenged Decades of Israeli, US Arrogance 

Ramzy Baroud

 October 1, 2024
Facebook

TwitterRedditEmail

Image courtesy United Nations.

Two historical events regarding the Israeli occupation of Palestine have taken place on July 19 and September 18.

The first was a most comprehensive ‘advisory opinion’ by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which reiterated that the Israeli occupation of Palestine is illegal and must come to an immediate end.

The second, by the United Nations General Assembly, two months later, set, for the first time in history, an exact time frame of when the Israeli occupation of Palestine must end.

Many Palestinians welcomed the international consensus that essentially declared, as null and void, any Israeli attempt at making what is meant to be a temporary military occupation a permanent one.

However, many understandably were not impressed, simply because the international community has proven ineffectual in bringing the catastrophic Israeli war on Gaza to an end, or in enforcing its previous resolutions on the matter.

Israeli media largely ignored both events, while mainstream western media repeatedly emphasized that both the advisory opinion and the resolution are ‘non-binding’.

Though it is true that international law without enforcement is largely useless, one must not be rash to conclude that the latest actions by the ICJ and the UNGA deserve no pause.

To appreciate the importance of both dates, we must place them within proper context.

First, the ICJ’s legal opinion. Unlike the ICJ’s advisory opinion of 2004, the latest opinion does not focus on a specific issue, for example, the illegality of the Israeli so-called Separation Wall in the West Bank.

Indeed, the latest decision by the world’s highest Court was the outcome of a specific request by the UNGA on January 20, 2023 to opine “on Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”

Second, the ICJ reached its conclusions after listening to the testimonies of representatives of 52 countries and three international organizations, which fully sided with the Palestinians in their historic quest for freedom, justice and respect for international law.

Third, the ICJ’s opinion touched on numerous issues, leaving no space for any misinterpretation on the part of Israel and the United States.

For example, it called on Israel to end its “unlawful presence” in occupied Palestine,  and for it to “withdraw its military forces; halt the expansion of settlements and evacuate all settlers from occupied land; and demolish parts of a separation wall constructed inside the occupied West Bank.”

Fourth, the ICJ’s opinion follows years of supposed Israeli achievements in marginalizing the Palestinian cause, and exacting American support, which effectively recognized Israeli sovereignty over occupied Palestinian and Arab land.

If the ICJ pressed the reset button on the illegality of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the UNGA pressed the political button.

Indeed, UN Resolution A/ES-10/L.31/Rev.1 on September 18 has ended any Israeli illusions that it will be able, through pressure, threats or the passage of time, to end the conversation on its military occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

The resolution “calls for Israel to comply with international law and withdraw its military forces, immediately cease all new settlement activity, evacuate all settlers from occupied land, and dismantle parts of the separation wall it constructed inside the occupied West Bank.”

124 countries voted in favor of the resolution, while 14 voted against it, thus, once again, separating between those who believe in the primacy of international law in conflict resolution and those who don’t.

Also significant is that the UN has, for the first time, set a time frame of when the Israeli occupation must come to an end: “no later than 12 months from the adoption of the resolution”.

In international law, military occupations are meant to be a temporary process, regulated through numerous treaties and legal understandings including the Fourth Geneva Conventions, among others.

Israel, however, has turned that temporary process into a permanent one.

If the Israeli military occupation does not end within the resolution’s specified time frame, Israel would then be in violation of two sets of laws: previous UN resolutions on the matter, including the ICJ’s advisory opinions, and the latest resolution as well.

The emphasis by western media on the ‘non-binding’ element of these resolutions does not, in any way, alter the illegality of the Israeli occupation, or undermine the unanimity of the international community regarding the righteousness of the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation and all other injustices.

Ultimately, Palestine will not be liberated by a UN resolution. UN resolutions are merely an expression of the balances of power that exist on the international stage. Therefore, Palestinians and their supporters should not expect that a UN resolution, binding or otherwise, will drive the Israeli military out of the West Bank and Gaza.

Indeed, the Palestinians will liberate themselves. But the position of the international community remains significant as it re-emphasizes the legitimacy of the Palestinian struggle, creates space for solidarity and helps further marginalize Israel for its continued violations of international law and the rights of the Palestinian people.

Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His latest is “These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons” (Clarity Press, Atlanta). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul Zaim University (IZU). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net

 

Israel Now Using The Gaza Genocide Playbook In Lebanon – OpEd

 October 2, 2024 

By Ramzy Baroud

The official Israeli army version of why it has targeted civilian areas during its intense and deadly bombardments in southern Lebanon is that the Lebanese are hiding long-range missile launchers in their own homes. This explanation was used to justify the killing of 492 people and the wounding of 1,645 in a single day of strikes.

This ready-to-serve explanation will accompany us throughout the Israeli war in Lebanon, however long it takes. The Israeli media is now heavily citing these claims and US and Western media outlets are following suit.

Keep this in mind as you reflect on the statement made by Israeli President Isaac Herzog in October last year, when he argued that there are no civilians in Gaza and “there is an entire nation out there that is responsible.”

Israel does this in every war it launches against an Arab nation. Instead of removing civilians and civilian infrastructure from its bank of targets, it immediately turns the civilian population into the main targets of its war. A quick glance at the number of civilians killed in the ongoing war and genocide in Gaza should be enough to demonstrate that Israel targets ordinary people as a matter of course.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, children and women constitute the largest percentage of the war’s victims at 69 percent. If we factor in the number of adult males who have been killed — a number that includes doctors, medics, civil defense workers and numerous other categories — it will become obvious that the vast majority of all of Gaza’s victims are civilians.

Only the Israeli media and their allies in the West continue to find justifications as to why Palestinian civilians, and now Lebanese, are being killed in large numbers.

Compare the following two statements on Gaza and Lebanon by Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari, both of which received much attention in the media. “Hamas systematically uses hospitals to wage war and consistently uses the people of Gaza as human shields,” Hagari said in March. Then, “Hezbollah’s terror headquarters was intentionally built under residential buildings in the heart of Beirut, as part of Hezbollah’s strategy of using human shields,” he said on Friday.

For those who are giving Hagari the benefit of the doubt, just review what has taken place in Gaza in the last year. For example, Israel claimed that last year’s Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital massacre was not its doing and that it was a Palestinian rocket that killed nearly 500 displaced refugees and wounded hundreds more. All evidence, including investigations by well-respected rights groups, concluded the opposite. However, the false Israeli claims received much media coverage.

This episode was repeated numerous times. In fact, the lies started almost immediately following the Oct. 7 attacks, with Israel making claims about decapitated babies and mass rape. Even though much of this was conclusively proven to be wrong, some in the media and some pro-Israel officials continue to speak of it as fact.

Another example was Israel’s claim that a Hamas headquarters was located at Al-Shifa Hospital. Even though no command center was found there, the unsubstantiated Israeli claim continues to be repeated as if it was the truth.

The same logic is now being applied to Lebanon, where Israel claims that it does not target civilians. But when civilians are inevitably killed, it is Hezbollah that should be blamed for supposedly using them as human shields.

The Gaza playbook is now the Lebanon playbook. Of course, many in the media continue to play along. They do so not because they are irrational or unable to reach proper conclusions based on the evidence, but because they are part of the Israeli narrative and not neutral storytellers or honest reporters.

Even the likes of the BBC are part of that narrative, as it uses Israeli claims as the starting point of any conversation on Palestine or Lebanon. For example, “Israel has said it carried out a wave of preemptive strikes across southern Lebanon to thwart a large-scale rocket and drone attack by Hezbollah,” the BBC reported last month.

Israel gets away with its lies pertaining to the mass killings in Gaza, and now sadly in Lebanon, because Israeli propaganda is embraced by Western officials and journalists.

Thus, when US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan described a Sept. 20 airstrike on Lebanon as “justice served,” he was indicating to the mainstream media that its coverage should remain committed to that official assessment.

Imagine the outrage if the tables were turned and thousands of Israeli civilians were slaughtered in their own homes by Lebanese bombs. There would be no need to elaborate on the reactions of the US or Western media, as this should be obvious to anyone who is paying attention.

Lebanon is a sovereign Arab state. Gaza is an occupied territory and its people are protected under the Geneva Conventions. Lebanese and Palestinian lives are not without worth and their mass murder should not be allowed to take place for any reason, especially one that is based on utter lies communicated by an Israeli military spokesman.

Perpetuating Israeli lies is dangerous, not only because truth-telling is a virtue but also because words kill and dishonest reporting can, in fact, succeed in justifying genocide.

Ramzy Baroud

Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an internationally-syndicated columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story (Pluto Press, London), now available on Amazon.com

US sanctions illegal settlers, Palestinians sceptic about impact

Palestinians have reported killings, destruction of property, verbal and physical harassment, restriction of movement, and daily intimidation by settlers.


Violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has exploded since the start of Israel's war on Gaza. / Photo: AP


The US has imposed sanctions on Hilltop Youth, a group of extremist illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank but Palestinians say the sanctions have often been ineffective.

The State Department placed diplomatic sanctions on two men—Illegal Israeli settler Eitan Yardeni, for his connection to violence targeting West Bank civilians and Avichai Suissa, the leader of Hashomer Yosh, a sanctioned group that brings young volunteers to settler farms across the territory, including small farming outposts that rights groups say are the primary drivers of settler violence across the territory.

The sanctions, which expose people to asset freezes and travel and visa bans, come as violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has exploded since the start of Israel's war on Gaza.

Palestinians report verbal and physical harassment, restriction of movement, and face intimidation by settlers circling their properties on motorbikes, cars or horses and spying via drones.

Difficult to sanction

The Treasury Department said Hilltop Youth has carried out killings and mass arson, while rights groups and Palestinians say the group is behind “price tag” attacks – attacks on Palestinian villages in retaliation for perceived efforts to hamper settlement construction.

The group may prove difficult to effectively sanction, as it is loosely organised and decentralized. In addition, Israel’s finance minister has previously vowed to intervene on sanctioned settlers’ behalf.

"These sanctions have no impact on those who attack us, kill us and burn our property", a Palestinian resident in the occupied West Bank says.\

In the past, sanctioned settlers have told the AP that the measures have had little impact on their finances.

Hilltop Youth has already faced sanctions from the EU and UK.

The Biden administration has been criticised for imposing relatively few sanctions on Israeli extremists.

Beating the odds: Child amputees from Gaza show what resilience looks like

After receiving life-changing medical care abroad, some Palestinian children have said they are determined to rebuild their lives and inspire others.

Indlieb Farazi Saber  TRT/AA


Others

Mohammed Abou Samour at an occupational therapy session in Houston, Texas where he's being treated for his war amputations. (Courtesy of Fiona Tagari)

Over a game of cards, 12-year-old Hadi Zaqout once again beats Randah Zalatimo in a straight-faced game of Trump, where the player holding the highest card in the suit wins the round.

"Raqzi khalto, raqzi," Hadi quips in Arabic while smiling at Zalatimo, which means "focus aunty, focus," insisting if she only paid more attention, she may pick up some skills and win the card game.

"He always cheats, but with a giggle and a smile he gets away with it," says Zalatimo from her home in St Louis, Missouri, where Hadi now spends his weekends, playing with his aunt, a volunteer for Heal Palestine and her 13-year-old son Haider.

Hadi is from Mawasi, just west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. He arrived in the United States with his mother Camille Zaqout in May for medical treatment, after he lost his right leg in an Israeli air strike last November.

"Doctors in the US complimented my amputation saying it was done perfectly, and I said of course, in Gaza the doctors have had to become experts in this," the boy told TRT World.


Limited assistance abroad


Hadi is part of a group of 22 children evacuated from Gaza to Egypt before arriving in the United States over the course of the year.


Hadi Zaqout centre, and friends enjoy ice-creams during a trip to the zoo in St Louis, Missouri. (Courtesy of Randah Zalatimo)

Due to border closures and rigid documentation checks, most amputees from this war cannot leave Gaza for medical treatment abroad.

As of September 12, the United Nations states Israeli authorities have only allowed 219 patients to exit Gaza since the closure of the Rafah border crossing in May 2024.

Prior to that, of the 14,000 patients for whom medical evacuation has been requested since October 2023, just over 5,000 have been evacuated. Host countries include Türkiye, Qatar and South Africa.

In the US, Heal Palestine has been able to grant medical evacuation visas to the children, on the condition they cannot apply for asylum, and must leave the country once their treatment is complete.

The day it all changed

The only son in a family of five sisters, Hadi has always had a sense of duty for his family, which only became heightened during the war.

He was the one who would go in search of daily water when it became in scarce supply early on in the conflict.


Like other 12-year-olds Hadi Zaqout wants to be many things when he grows up, including a computer programmer. (Courtesy of Randah Zalatimo)

Queuing in line for hours to make sure his parents and sisters would have clean water to drink became his daily mission, until one morning on November 11, when he discovered a way to access a different water source from a pipe within his apartment block.

The Zaqouts lived on the fourth floor, and as he walked in through the front door to proudly show his family his hack for getting water, there was a loud explosion and everything turned dark.

"I opened my eyes and there was just rubble everywhere. I didn't feel anything. I didn't feel pain. I was still in shock, looking around me, I couldn't see anything. There was just a lot of dust and rubble," Hadi said.

His family survived the blast, but apart from his mother who found him in the hospital days after his amputation, he hasn't seen his father or sisters since that day.

Hadi was found by rescue workers trapped under the rubble hours after the explosion and put into a vehicle to be taken to the local hospital. Beside him, he recognised the lifeless bodies of two friends from his block, Mohammed and Tayyab.

"I'm never going to forget that scene. I didn't think of what's happening with me. I didn't feel anything. I just knew that there was a lot of blood everywhere and I'm just looking at these two boys thinking, 'what happened?' We were just standing there getting water."

At the Nasser Medical Centre in Khan Younis, where Hadi received medical care and where his mother would later find him, doctors treated his right arm and his left leg which were both severely injured in the strike. But within two days, his leg became at risk of infection and he was told it would have to be amputated.


Hadi (left) and his friend Haider Abu Jaber, Randah Zalatimo's son, work together creating Palestinian symbols of resistance. (Courtesy Randah Zalatimo)

"The hospital said the injuries that they are seeing from the bombs the Israelis are using have some kind of chemical that causes an infection that spreads across the body," Hadi's aunt explained.

Early in the war, Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza stated Israel was using “unusual weapons” that cause severe burns to the bodies of victims. It was a claim later backed up by visiting international doctors.

A brave Hadi said the first thing that crossed his mind was his family, who are now displaced in a tent in Khan Younis.

"I was thinking that I'm the man of the family after my dad and they need me to be there throughout my life and I need to be there. So I need to stand up and do this. Everyone needs me."

Doctors amputated his leg, but his arm required further medical treatment that they weren't able to provide, due to limited supplies of medicine and dealing with many other patients' complex injuries.

One of thousands

Hadi is one of the "lucky" ones as he was operated on with anaesthesia. But due to dwindling medical supplies and a decimated health system caused by Israel's assault, thousands more have been operated on without it.

In June, head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini estimated more than 2,000 child amputees had been created from this war, described by Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a leading British-Palestinian surgeon, as the largest cohort of child amputees in history.

But that figure could be much higher a year into the war, with thousands more children missing and unaccounted for.

🚨In #Gaza, over 10,000 children like Saleh have had their limbs amputated and their families displaced due to the Israeli genocide.

With no access to prosthetics or rehabilitation, these young survivors are forced to work to support their families amid the ongoing genocide‼️ pic.twitter.com/NxU04ndqlM— Nour Naim| نُور (@NourNaim88) August 19, 2024

Dr Abu-Sittah, also author of The War Injured Child, spent 43 days in Gaza earlier in the war, conducting emergency surgeries with Doctors Without Borders (MSF), at one point performing as many as six amputations a day.

Speaking to TRT World, he said child amputees in particular need lifelong care, as he works to keep a record of all the children he's treated through his consultancy work at the Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London and the Global Health Institute at the American University of Beirut.

"Because a child is still growing, they will need a new prosthetic or at least have their prosthesis adjusted, every six months. Depending on their age, they may need between eight to 12 surgeries by the time they're adults," he said.

He added that an MSF study in Gaza found 40 percent of amputees couldn't wear prosthesis at some point because of complications with the stump site.

From a medical perspective, amputees often also experience post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety as they try to recover from their injury. But the children interviewed for this piece displayed an unmatched resolve which ties into the resilience shown by Palestinians who continue to defy their attempted destruction.

"I don't think it actually dawned on him what's happened to him," says Zalatimo. "Deep inside, you feel that there's pain and there is frustration and there's anger. You know he's just 12 years old. An adult can't deal with this, let alone a 12-year-old."


Mohammed Abou Samour with a medical worker in Houston Texas, where his amputations are being treated. (Courtesy Fiona Tagari)

'We get more'

"Whatever they get out of this, we get back even more," says Dr Fiona Tagari, another volunteer from Heal Palestine, a non-profit organisation run by volunteers that's offered safe spaces for children to rehabilitate physically, mentally and socially.

They are also provided with an education to make up for the paused academic learning Palestinian children are facing since the start of the massacre.

Tagari and her family have been hosting 14-year-old Mohammed Abou Samour and his mother Sabrine at their home in Houston, Texas since August.

The youngest of eight children, born into a family of farmers, Mohammed spent much of his day outdoors, often playing football.

It was in May while he was displaced with his family on the outskirts of Khan Younis that he discovered a metal object just outside the tent. The object, likely an IED, detonated while he was holding it, causing him to lose his left hand and part of his left arm, three fingers on his right hand and both his legs.

After three surgeries and an eight-week stay at Gaza's European Hospital, Mohammed’s case was considered critical and he too was taken to Egypt for further treatment.

"When he arrived to us here in Texas in August, Mohammed didn't want to look at his hand with only two remaining fingers, but now he's using that hand to paint, and even feed himself. Knowing he'll get his prosthetics once the graft site on his leg has healed has lifted his spirits," Tagari said.

He has also started to transfer himself from his bed to the wheelchair, and the wheelchair to the car seat, because he's motivated to help himself, she added.


Mohammed playing in the park with Akram Al Waraa, a member of his host family in Houston, Texas. (Courtesy Fiona Tagari)

Mohammed says what he wants most is to "return home to Gaza, to play football and to one day become an artist," but he is still in the early days of his treatment, which will last for months more.

Meanwhile, Hadi’s medical care in the US is coming to an end. Now able to walk with one crutch and use his right hand, he'll soon be getting a third prosthesis fitted on his leg, then travelling to Cairo where he'll have the chance to continue his education.

The affable boy had once wanted to become a footballer, like his favourite player Liverpool's Mohammed Salah, but that all changed after meeting fellow amputee Dr Darren Rottman while being treated at the Shriner's Children's hospital in St Louis. Hadi now said he's hoping to also become a doctor.

"I need to go back one day and help the kids to show them there is hope. I was the fortunate one to get help, but there are still thousands more," he explained.

SOURCE: TRT World

Indlieb Farazi Saber is a freelance writer, editor and producer, who has worked for international news organisations including Al Jazeera English and BBC World Service.

Why Is South Asia So Involved in the Israel-Palestine Conflict?

Caracal
October 1, 2024

Photo Credit: Nikkei Asia

There are countless problems to be fixed in the poor South Asian countries, including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, and Nepal. Even though they have different positions and perspectives, they all struggle with poor living conditions, lack of employment, corruption, political dynasties, and more. While these issues dominate the daily lives of their populations, they are increasingly focused on a different concern: the Israel-Palestine conflict, which they seem to adopt as their own. In India, society is divided between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine supporters, and it has become a heated topic in Pakistan, where pro-Israel sentiment is almost unthinkable, but people have taken to the streets in support of Palestine. On September 29, pro-Hezbollah protesters clashed with police in the streets of Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, after demonstrators attempted to reach the U.S. Consulate. The police fired tear gas as protesters threw stones and attempted to breach barriers. A similar wave of unrest is also rising in Bangladesh. Why? Why are these countries so deeply involved in this conflict?

The answer is clear and specific: religion. South Asia is deeply intertwined with religion. Both the population and administration are heavily influenced by religious beliefs. The region, which is the birthplace of prominent religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, is also home to around 600 million Muslims. Clashes between followers of Indian religions and Islam, as well as intra-Islamic conflicts, are common in these countries. Since Palestine is an emotional issue for Muslims globally, it has always featured prominently in South Asian society and politics. The Islamic countries in the region—Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Maldives – harbor strong animosity toward Israel. Every incident in Gaza and the West Bank brings people to the streets, sparking anti-Israel protests. Calls for tougher actions by their governments against Israel, as well as protests against Western embassies and consulates, are common in these nations. Fundamentalist and terrorist groups unite in their anti-Israel stance, advocating for the boycott of Israeli products. Politicians in these countries are often reluctant to engage with Israeli officials because, regardless of their achievements, they risk being labeled as anti-religious or anti-national. The ongoing events in Gaza and Lebanon have further fueled hatred towards Israel among the population. Many Pakistanis believe that, as a nuclear power, Pakistan could do more to support groups fighting the holy war against Israel by supplying weapons, and they are willing to join the fight. A similar sentiment prevails in Bangladesh. Many believe that if the current conflict escalates into regional wars, people from Pakistan and Bangladesh, who are largely poor, unemployed, but deeply religious, could be recruited by these groups.

In India, the situation is more complex. The socialist, communist, and Islamist parties, which rely on the votes of the more than 15 million-strong Muslim population, have consistently raised the Israel-Palestine issue in the public sphere. The Indian National Congress (INC), the grand old socialist party that led the government for most of independent India’s history, supported the two-state solution, recognizing both Israel and Palestine. However, the party and its government gave a clear preference to Palestine and its leaders, who were often celebrated as revolutionaries, with the Indian media also contributing to India’s pro-Palestine stance.

However, when Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist party, came to power in 2014, the situation changed dramatically. While the government did not abandon the two-state solution, it shifted away from its pro-Palestine stance and gave more support to Israel. Modi, who developed a personal friendship with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, strengthened the relationship on a national level as well. Consequently, the Indian government became more aggressive in countering pro-Palestine narratives, promoting India’s historical ties with Jews, and pushing a more pro-Israel perspective.

Cities in India that once saw massive rallies in solidarity with Palestine now witness almost no demonstrations for the cause. As the public became more educated about the Israel-Palestine conflict from its roots, many began to see Palestine as primarily an Islamist issue. As a result, Islamist organizations in India no longer receive the widespread public support they once did, causing significant disappointment among the country’s Muslim population

This evolving landscape of distrust and fundamentalism has become another major concern in the region. South Asia has no direct connection to the Israel-Palestine conflict beyond religious ties, but it is now causing further divisions within societies, most visibly in India. India’s shifting stance towards Israel has generated significant discontent among its Islamic neighbors, causing their hatred for Israel to also evolve into hostility towards India. This is clearly evident in social media spaces, where Indian groups and those from neighboring Islamic countries are often in conflict. As always, this deepens the divisions within societies that are already fractured by religious views. Therefore, we can say that, aside from Israel and its immediate neighbors, South Asia is also heating up under the mounting tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

EXPLAINER

Why did Israel attack Lebanon’s biggest Palestinian refugee camp?

500,000 Palestinians live in Lebanon across 12 camps.

The attack on Ein el-Hilweh was the first on Palestinian refugee camps since Israel escalated its operations in Lebanon.

Residents and rescue teams inspect the damage following an overnight Israeli air strike on the Ein el-Hilweh camp for Palestinian refugees on the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon [Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP]

By Urooba Jamal

AL JAZEERA
Published On 1 Oct 2024

Israel has bombed the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh in Lebanon as it has escalated its attacks inside its northern neighbour, ostensibly to target Hezbollah and armed Palestinian factions after almost a year of cross-border exchanges.

In the narrow alleys of the densely populated Palestinian camp near the coastal city of Sidon, people wailed frantically in the aftermath of the Israeli bombing overnight on Tuesday, a video verified by Al Jazeera shows. In the video, a man rushes towards the whirring red lights of an ambulance, carrying the frail body of what appears to be an injured child.

This is the first attack on the Palestinian refugee camp since Israel military launched attacks on Lebanon last on Monday last week, killing top Hezbollah leaders, including its longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in two weeks of Israeli strikes, and a purported ground operation launched overnight on Tuesday has raised fears of a wider regional war.

Here’s more about the attack and the camp itself:

What happened in the camp?

An Israeli air strike hit the camp overnight on Tuesday, reportedly killing five people. It was the first time the camp was attacked during the current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. The strike reportedly targeted the home of Munir al-Maqdah, a brigadier general in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a coalition of Palestinian armed groups aligned with the Fatah movement.

Al-Maqdah survived the attack, the Al Mayadeen news outlet reported, citing a Palestinian source. His son, Hassan al-Maqdah, however, is reported to have been killed in the bombing.

At least four buildings collapsed as a result, according to Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, who reported from the Lebanese capital, Beirut



What is the significance of this attack?

The attack on the camp is significant due to its history, as well as its strategic location, with Israel viewing it as a place linked to armed groups and security threats, according to an expert.

“Ein el-Hilweh has been frequently cited by Israel as a hub for potential cross-border attacks or as a base for armed groups sympathetic to Hezbollah or other anti-Israeli forces,” Jasmin Lilian Diab, director of the Institute for Migration Studies at the Lebanese American University, told Al Jazeera.

“In this instance, Israel’s stated objective is likely to neutralise militant factions within the camp that they claim pose a direct security threat. However today, as in the past, such attacks have served as justifications for broader attacks on Palestinian livelihoods, ultimately leading to widespread destruction and civilian casualties,” she added.
Has the camp been targeted by Israel in the past?

As early as 1974, Israeli fighter jets bombed the camp alongside other Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, in attacks billed as a response to blasts linked to the armed groups.

At that time, the attacks were considered the heaviest ever air attacks carried out in Lebanon, with several killed and dozens wounded among the population of the camp, then 20,000 people.

In 1982, during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the Israeli army once again heavily bombed the camp, reducing buildings to rubble. The camp was nearly destroyed, but the number of those killed or wounded among the camp’s 25,000 residents at the time remains unclear.

Dozens more Israeli air strikes were recorded in the decade that followed, including after Israel’s retreat from Beirut in 1985.

“Past attacks and this recent one, can further be interpreted as part of Israel’s long-term strategy to destabilise Palestinian communities in Lebanon, making the refugee situation and Palestinian cause even more untenable,” said Diab.

Residents and rescue teams inspect the damage following an overnight Israeli air strike on the Ain el-Helweh camp for Palestinian refugees on the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon [Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP]

What is the history of the camp?

Ein el-Hilweh is described as the “capital” of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, as it is the largest of 12 Palestinian camps in the country. It’s now a bustling, if impoverished, area near Sidon.

“This is a refugee camp with a lot of narrow alleyways, very populated, [with] more than 130,000 people living there,” said Al Jazeera’s Hashem.

Like many other Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and neighbouring countries, Ein el-Hilweh was established in the aftermath of the Nakba or the “catastrophe” in 1948, when at least 750,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed from their homes by Zionist militias during the establishment of the Israeli state.

Ein el-Hilweh was originally established by the International Committee of the Red Cross to cater to the newly arrived Palestinian refugees from what is now Israel.

Under an agreement, the Lebanese army does not enter the camp, leaving its internal security to the many Palestinian factions inside.[Al Jazeera]
Who lives in the camps?

Most of the camp’s early residents had been people displaced from northern Palestinian coastal towns, which now form part of Israel.

Now its inhabitants are largely Palestinian refugees who were displaced from other parts of Lebanon during the country’s civil war and in the aftermath of the Nahr el-Bared conflict in 2007 when fighting broke out between Fatah al-Islam, an armed group, and the Lebanese army.

The camp’s population was affected by Syria’s war as many Palestinians living there sought refuge in Lebanon and resettled in the camp.

The population is mostly Sunni Muslim Palestinians, but there are also a small number of other Muslim and Christian families, according to Diab from the Lebanese American University.

What is the condition of the camp?

Conditions in Ein el-Hilweh are dire, said Diab, with refugees living in “cramped, overcrowded, and poorly serviced conditions”.

“Many buildings are unstable, and essential services like healthcare, electricity, and water are severely lacking,” she said.

The camp is surrounded by a large wall, and access is limited. Materials used for building and construction within the camp are regulated by the Lebanese army, which also manages several checkpoints that lead to the camp.

Additionally, the camp is characterised by an unpredictable security situation due to the presence of multiple armed actors and the widespread availability of weapons, according to the Palestinians Refugee Agency (UNWRA).

Fighting there between various Palestinian factions between July and September 2023 left at least 30 people dead and hundreds injured, and caused widespread damage to shelters and infrastructure, UNRWA, which manages Palestinian refugees in several Arab countries, reported.

Meanwhile, poverty rates among Palestinian refugees in the camp as well as in other areas is high, with 80 percent reported to be living below the national poverty line as of March 2023, according to UNWRA.




Have other Palestinian areas in Lebanon been targeted by Israel in recent weeks?

Early on Monday, an Israeli strike hit the Kola bridge area of central Beirut.

The assault killed at least three people, with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an armed Marxist-Leninist group active in Lebanon and Gaza, claiming that the trio were its members.

A separate attack on Monday in the el-Buss refugee camp in the southern city of Tyre, killed the Hamas commander in Lebanon, Fateh Sharif, the armed group said in a statement. His family members were also reported killed.

Additionally, the air attacks which killed Hezbollah chief Nasrallah on Friday night in Beirut were so forceful, they damaged the Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp nearby.

According to Al Jazeera correspondents on the ground, the attack led to glass shattering, doors blown off from their hinges, cars crashing and people fleeing for their safety, with the camp now largely deserted.

Diab said that a full-scale Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon would likely exacerbate the already critical situation for Palestinian refugees in camps like Ein el-Hilweh. More than 500,000 Palestinians live in Lebanon across 12 camps.

“The camp could face increased military pressure, with potential ground operations or further air strikes directly targeting it. This could lead to further mass displacement of Palestinian refugees both within Lebanon and potentially across borders if conditions worsen,” she said.

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon already face severe restrictions on their movement, employment, and rights in Lebanon, which could deepen with another round of hostilities, the academic added.

Source: Al Jazeera