Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, has stated emphatically that the only thing that could possibly justify Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza is “pure madness.”
In a post on social media backed by harrowing video footage of grievously wounded and deceased Palestinian infants and children receiving medical treatment on the floor of a hospital in Gaza, Albanese stressed, “This massacre of civilians must be stopped.”
Albanese said, “There is nothing, absolutely nothing (other than pure madness) that can justify THIS.”
“No more functioning hospitals. No more medications. No more words,” she added.
Interestingly, it was reported that former Israeli captives told Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu that they feared being killed by Israeli attacks on Hamas tunnels.
This came during a meeting with Israel’s war cabinet.
One recently released captive disclosed at the meeting, “Every day in captivity was extremely challenging. We were in tunnels, terrified that it would not be Hamas, but Israel, that would kill us.”
Another freed captive whose husband is still being held by Hamas added, “You are bombing tunnel routes exactly where [the captives] are located.”
The State of Palestine’s mission to the UN has written to the president of the UN Security Council (UNSC), urging it to act on Israel’s “non-compliance” with international law.
The letter was addressed to Jose de la Gasca of Ecuador, which holds the presidency for the month of December.
“The international community can not allow Israel to continue to make a mockery of the law,” the letter read.
It added, “How can the Security Council accept that its resolutions are spat on by Israel?”
The UNSC adopted a resolution on November 15, 2023, calling for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses” in Gaza but it has yet to use its powers to call for a legally-binding ceasefire.
Meanwhile, in the U.S, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib questioned why very few members of Congress support a ceasefire in comparison with the American public.
Tlaib, who was censured by the U.S House on November 7, 2023, has been calling for a ceasefire alongside 39 other lawmakers in the House and the Senate.
In a post on social media, Tlaib cited new polling data from Data for Progress which showed that 61 percent of Americans support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
The U.S Congresswoman then noted that only 11 percent of Congress has called for a ceasefire.
Israeli Army States Damage To Hamas
The military disclosed in a post on X that four battalion Commanders of Hamas’s largest brigade in the Gaza Strip were among the senior leaders of the Palestinian group killed in recent Israeli strikes.
It also said it “significantly damaged” other Hamas units, including those in central Gaza.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Palestinian fighters are continuing to use more sophisticated tactics as they battle Israel’s military throughout the Gaza Strip, while Israeli forces have entered urban areas of Khan Younis in the south and Jabalia in the north of the enclave.
Nonetheless, Hamas fighters are not the only combatants being killed in the war.
Early Wednesday, Israel announced the deaths of two more soldiers.
In a statement posted on social media, the Israeli military said that a 23-year-old reservist from Be’er Sheva was killed during a battle in the Gaza Strip. The soldier belonged to the 82nd Battalion of the Israeli army.
Israel also said that a 52-year-old reservist was killed in a “military car accident” in southern Israel.
At least 85 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ground invasion of Gaza began, according to the latest UN report on the situation in the Palestinian enclave.
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