• Nearly 19,500 Palestinians slain since Oct 7; WHO slams targeting of hospitals
• US calls for better humanitarian assistance, UK deplores civilian casualties
• Prisoners’ families join calls to slow or stop hostilities after IDF kills ‘three of its own’

GAZA: Israel continues to face mounting international pressure over the rising civilian death toll and destruction of hospitals in Gaza, with even staunch allies such as the US, France, UK and Germany voicing disquiet with its brutal and indiscriminate bombing campaign in the besieged enclave.

On Monday, the health ministry said at least 19,453 people had been killed in the Palestinian territory since October 7, while 52,286 people have been wounded in more than two months of fighting.

Visiting Israel, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said: “We must get more humanitarian assistance in to the nearly two million displaced people in Gaza and we must distribute that aid better.”

With no let-up in the more than two-month-old bombardment and siege of the densely populated enclave, Mr Austin was the latest US official to head to Israel to press for a transition away from high-intensity warfare.

However, the official said that Washington would continue to provide “critical munitions, tactical vehicles and air defence systems”.

Pressure from UK

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday too many civilian lives had been lost in the Israel-Hamas conflict and he repeated his call for a “sustainable ceasefire” to allow the release of hostages.

Saying that Britain believed Israel had the right to defend, Mr Sunak said: “But it must do that in accordance with huma­n­i­tarian law… It’s clear that too many civilian lives have been lost,”he told reporters in Scotland.

Meanwhile, former UK def­e­nce secretary Ben Wallace noted in an op-ed that “Israel’s original legal authority of self-defence is being undermined by its own actions. It is making the mistake of losing its moral authority alongside its legal one.”

Writing in The Telegraph, the ex-UK cabinet minister de­­s­­c­ribed the actions of the Beja­min Netanyahu-led Israeli government as a “killing rage”, saying: “His methods will not solve this problem. In fact, I believe his tactics will fuel the conflict for another 50 years. His actions are radicalising Mus­lim youth across the globe”.

EU top diplomat Josep Bor­r­ell accused Israel of displaying an “appalling lack of distinction” in its campaign in Gaza.

Separately, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa charged that “what is unfolding in Gaza is a genocidal onslaught”, calling for a complete ceasefire.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna was in Israel on Sunday, where she called for an “immediate and durable” truce. France separately condemned an Israel bombardment that killed one of its foreign ministry officials in Gaza.

Qatar, which helped mediate a truce last month that saw 80 Israeli prisoners exchanged for 240 jailed Palestinians, said there were “ongoing diplomatic efforts to renew the humanitarian pause”.

Criticism from rights groups

WHO chief Tedros Adha­nom Ghebreyesus said the agency was “appalled by the effective destruction” of the Kamal Adwan hospital, where Israeli forces carried out a multi-day operation and bulldozed tents of those taking refuge outside the hospital.

The WHO also said Israeli bombing had reduced the emergency department at the Al-Shifa hospital to “a bloodbath”.

The Palestinian health ministry said that an Israeli strike on Sunday hit Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza’s main city of Khan Yunis, killing one person and injuring seven others.

Israeli forces also stormed Al Awda hospital in northern Gaza on Sunday and detained medical staff following several days of siege and bombing, the ministry said.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch has charged that Israel “is using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in the occupied Gaza Strip, which is a war crime”.

“World leaders should be speaking out against this abhorrent war crime,” HRW said.

Anger in Israel

Apart from the international community, Tel Aviv is also facing mounting pressure within Israel to either slow, suspend or stop hostilities.

This includes families of the remaining 129 prisoners who are believed to be held in Gaza, whose anger and fear intensified after Israeli forces mistakenly shot dead three hostages who had escaped their captors.

The trio waved white flags and used food leftovers to write a Hebrew-language message on a white sheet before they were shot, reports said.

The deaths prompted IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi to tell his troops that, if enemy fighters “lay down their arms and raise their hands, we capture them, we don’t shoot them”.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2023