US defends Israel’s war in Gaza and blames Hamas for all civilian casualties

US defends Israel’s war in Gaza and blames Hamas for all civilian casualties
A Palestinian boy mourns his father who was killed by an Israeli strike. (Reuters)
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Updated 10 November 2023
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US defends Israel’s war in Gaza and blames Hamas for all civilian casualties

US defends Israel’s war in Gaza and blames Hamas for all civilian casualties
  • David Satterfield, Washington’s special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues, says amount of aid entering the territory falls well short of the bare minimum needed for survival
  • ‘We are standing strongly with Israel (but) how the campaign is conducted matters. And it must be conducted in a way that minimizes, to the maximum extent possible, civilian casualties,’ he adds

CHICAGO: David Satterfield, the recently appointed US special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues, on Thursday blamed Hamas for all civilian casualties during the current conflict in Gaza.

He also acknowledged that humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in the territory is currently far below “the bare minimum” needed for survival.

During a briefing attended by Arab News, Satterfield said about 100 aid trucks are now entering Gaza each day but this falls well short of the 150 a day that would constitute the minimum required to address the growing humanitarian crisis there.

He declined to answer questions about reports of escalating violence by Israeli forces in the West Bank, but reiterated that Washington supports Israel’s military campaign to root out Hamas in Gaza.

“Our focus has been on moving humanitarian assistance to meet, as much as we can under the present circumstances, the needs of Palestinian civilians in south and central Gaza on as sustained and sustainable a basis as possible,” Satterfield said.

“I want to note here that we started just two-and-one-half, three weeks ago at zero. We have moved the level of assistance up now to around 100 trucks a day. We are looking at a higher level of assistance to move the proper, according to UN agencies, needed basic humanitarian assistance into south Gaza.

“Three weeks ago we had no fuel accessible to the UN implementers in the south. Fuel is now available from within Gaza for their use for desalination plants, for provision to hospitals in the south and center, and for the movements of the UN implementers themselves.

“And we are working to make certain that there will be further fuel available for the UN, UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross), World Food Program, as this moves ahead.

Describing the current humanitarian assistance provided to Palestinians as “just a start,” Satterfield added: “We understand even 150 trucks a day just meets the bare minimum to provide basic survival humanitarian assistance. Much more is needed beyond that.”

Asked about the growing number of Palestinians killed during more than four weeks of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, Satterfield said that civilian deaths are the result of 15 years of Hamas militancy in the territory and declined to address the specific issue of Israeli military operations.

More than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in the past month by the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, including as many as 4,000 children, according to health authorities in Gaza, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said this week that the territory “is becoming a graveyard for children.”

Satterfield said US President Joe Biden is working closely with Israeli authorities “to impress the need to conduct the campaign in a manner which minimizes civilian casualties to the maximum extent possible, which allows clearly recognized deconflicted humanitarian sites to be spared from attack. “But, I have to say, for 15, for 16 years, Hamas has deliberately embedded itself in, around and under many of those humanitarian sites. It increases the complexity of any campaign of this kind enormously.”

He added: “We wish to see Israel able to achieve a goal which is not just its right but is its responsibility: to end the threat which this terrorist group (Hamas) poses to Israelis, to end the threat that they have posed to the civilians of Gaza, for whose welfare they care not a whit.

“But how it is done makes all the difference in the world. And humanitarian assistance is a vital, vital requirement throughout.”

Satterfield said the US aid effort is focused on providing support to civilians in central and southern Gaza who have fled the Israeli military operations in the north. Washington does not support Palestinians being forced to leave Gaza, he added.

“The future of Gazans is in Gaza and not in any other place,” he said. “We do not, as a matter of fundamental principle, support or wish to see displacement of Gaza’s population.

“Those now in the south must have every opportunity to return to the north when it is safe to do.”

Satterfield said the US envisions that the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank will ultimately assume authority over Gaza, and that the Biden administration continues to support a two-state solution, the details and process for which “will have to be worked out.”

He reiterated Biden’s support for Israel and said the country “has a responsibility to its own people to end the threat posed by Hamas.”

He added: “We are standing strongly with Israel as it works to achieve that goal. But we have been equally clear … that how the campaign is conducted matters. And it must be conducted in a way that minimizes, to the maximum extent possible, civilian casualties.

“We believe as well, and have made clear, the maximum degree of humanitarian assistance needs to be made available, in as safe and as secure a fashion as can be done, to as many people in Gaza as is possible.

“These are difficult things to achieve, given the nature of what Hamas has done in Gaza over the past 15 years. But they have to be dealt with together, the campaign done in a manner that minimizes civilian casualties and maximum provision of humanitarian assistance."

Reports suggest that more than 1.5 million Palestinians have fled their homes in the face of the Israeli military barrage. Satterfield acknowledged a four-to-five-hour daily humanitarian pause in hostilities that was announced by the US and Israel earlier on Thursday and said he hoped it would allow more humanitarian aid to enter the territory and reach Palestinians in south and central Gaza who have fled the violence in the north.

He declined to comment on the threat of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalating along the border between the countries, other than to say that Hezbollah and Tehran “understand the president’s very blunt message, which was, for those in the region contemplating a potential spread of this conflict: don’t, don’t, don’t.”


Turkiye’s foreign minister visits Athens to help mend ties between the regional rivals

Turkiye’s foreign minister visits Athens to help mend ties between the regional rivals
Updated 22 sec ago
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Turkiye’s foreign minister visits Athens to help mend ties between the regional rivals

Turkiye’s foreign minister visits Athens to help mend ties between the regional rivals
ATHENS, Greece: Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrived Friday in Athens for meetings with his Greek counterpart as part of efforts to ease tension between the two neighbors and regional rivals.
Both NATO members, Greece and Turkiye have been at loggerheads for decades over a long series of issues, including volatile maritime boundary disputes that have twice led them to the brink of war. The two have renewed a diplomatic push for over a year to improve ties.
“Step by step, we have achieved a level of trust so that we can discuss issues with sincerity and prevent crises,” Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said in an interview with Turkiye’s Hurriyet newspaper published Thursday.
The meeting between the two foreign ministers follows a series of high-profile talks between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as part of a relation-mending initiative launched in 2023.
Officials in Athens are expected to raise concerns about rising illegal migration, as Greece has seen an uptick in arrivals. And, despite deep disagreements on Israel and fighting in the Middle East, both foreign ministers are also expected to explore ways to improve regional stability.
The talks will help set the stage for a Greece-Turkiye high-level cooperation council planned for early 2025 in Ankara, Turkiye.

Turkiye’s Erdogan hopes Trump will tell Israel to “stop,” NTV reports

Turkiye’s Erdogan hopes Trump will tell Israel to “stop,” NTV reports
Updated 10 min 12 sec ago
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Turkiye’s Erdogan hopes Trump will tell Israel to “stop,” NTV reports

Turkiye’s Erdogan hopes Trump will tell Israel to “stop,” NTV reports

ANKARA: Turkiye’s President Tayyip Erdogan said that he hoped US President-elect Donald Trump will tell Israel to “stop” the attacks and halting arms support to Israel could be a good start, broadcaster NTV reported on Friday.
Trump’s presidency will seriously affect political and military balances in the Middle East region, Erdogan was quoted as telling reporters on his flight back to Turkiye from Budapest, where he attended a European Political Community summit. 


Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says

Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says
Updated 16 min 10 sec ago
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Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says

Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says
  • UN Human Rights Office: Systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law
  • The youngest victim whose death was verified by UN monitors was a one-day-old boy, and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman

GENEVA: The UN Human Rights Office said on Friday nearly 70 percent of the fatalities it has verified in the Gaza war were women and children, and condemned what it called a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.
The UN count covers the first seven months of the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip that began more than a year ago.
The 8,119 victims verified by the UN Rights Office in that seven-month period is considerably lower than the toll of over 43,000 provided by Palestinian health authorities for the full 13 months of conflict.
But the UN breakdown of the victims’ age and gender backs the Palestinian assertion that women and children represent a large portion of those killed in the war.
This finding indicates “a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality,” the UN rights office said in a statement accompanying the 32-page report.
“It is essential that there is due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved,” United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said.
Israel did not immediately comment on the report’s findings.
Israel’s military, which began its offensive in response to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack in which Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and seized more than 250 hostages, says it takes care to avoid harming civilians in Gaza.
It has said approximately one civilian has been killed for every fighter, a ratio it blames on Hamas, saying the Palestinian militant group uses civilian facilities. Hamas has denied using civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as human shields.
YOUNGEST VICTIM AGED ONE DAY
The youngest victim whose death was verified by UN monitors was a one-day-old boy, and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman, the report said.
Overall, children represented 44 percent of the victims, with children aged five-nine representing the single biggest age category, followed by those aged 10-14, and then those aged up to and including four.
This broadly reflects the enclave’s demographics, which the report said reflected an apparent failure to take precautions to avoid civilian losses.
It showed that in 88 percent of cases, five or more people were killed in the same attack, pointing to the Israeli military’s use of weapons with an effect across a wide area, although it said some fatalities may have been the result of errant projectiles from Palestinian armed groups.


Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack

Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack
Updated 54 min 42 sec ago
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Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack

Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack
  • Israel is engaged in conflicts with the Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon
  • Israeli warplanes struck military sites in Iran on October 26 in retaliation for a large Iranian missile attack

TEHRAN: An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned against launching an “instinctive” response to Israeli air strikes on the Islamic republic last month.
Israel, Iran’s sworn enemy, is engaged in conflicts with the Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israeli warplanes struck military sites in Iran on October 26 in retaliation for a large Iranian missile attack on Israel at the start of the month.
“Israel aims to bring the conflict to Iran. We must act wisely to avoid its trap and not react instinctively,” the adviser, Ali Larijani, told state television late Thursday.
Iran said it fired 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike on Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Tehran.
After Israel hit back, it warned Iran against any counterattack, but the Islamic republic has vowed to respond.
“Our actions and reactions are strategically defined, so we must avoid instinctive or emotional responses and remain entirely rational,” Larijani added.
The former parliament speaker also praised Nasrallah for accepting a ceasefire during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war rather than making an “emotional decision.”
On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a potential ceasefire between Tehran’s allies and Israel could affect Iran’s response to the Israeli strikes.


Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours

Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours
Updated 08 November 2024
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Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours

Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours
  • The group had on Thursday claimed another attack on the same area
  • Israel has been at war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah since late September

BEIRUT: Hezbollah said it targeted a naval base near the Israeli city of Haifa with missiles Friday, the second such attack in less than 24 hours.
The Iran-backed Lebanese group said it targeted the “Stella Maris” naval base northwest of Haifa with a missile barrage, “in response to the attacks and massacres committed by the Israeli enemy.”
The group had on Thursday claimed another attack on the same area.
In a separate statement, the group claimed that it had also targeted the Ramat David air base, southeast of Haifa, with missiles.
Israel has been at war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah since late September when it broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border.
It escalated its air campaign and later sent in ground forces into the country’s south.
This came after a year of cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah, which has said it was acting in support of Hamas Palestinian militants fighting Israel in Gaza.
The war has killed more than 2,600 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to the Lebanese health ministry.