Israel accused of committing a SHOCKING NEW war crime!

Right, so if you’d been thinking that Israel surely must have run out of war crimes to commit by now after 11 months of razing Gaza to the ground, you might be surprised to learn that they now stand accused of an all new one, although it does actually relate to razing Gaza to the ground, because it’s how they’ve been doing that, where they’ve been doing that in particular that has exposed them. Forget the excuses to be destroying structures in Gaza from housing, to hospitals to churches and mosques to schools because these buildings are being used as Hamas weapons caches and bases, that excuse, which has worn tediously thin by now has been blown apart, because this hasn’t been random destruction in the name of eliminating Hamas, what they’ve done instead is indulge in wanton destruction in Gaza and there has been a specific pattern to it.
Right, so wanton destruction, a form of collective punishment against Palestinian civilians, has been identified as a new war crime being committed by Israel thanks to an investigation that has been ongoing by Amnesty International, who have examined the destruction meted out by Israel as it has progressed down the length of the Gaza Strip since last October, through to May of this year and the results have been startling.
Here's a map of the pattern identified, showing the significant clearing not just of buildings but of agricultural land as well all along the border of Gaza and Israel with the red indicating structures and the yellow indicating land, all of which has been razed to the point 90% of all structures in that area have been destroyed and isn’t it wonderfully uniform?
What Israel have done is create a wider buffer zone between the Israeli border and anything that in the very loosest sense of the term, remains standing and potentially habitable. A strip within the strip, that is anywhere between 1km and 1.8km wide and covering a total area of some 58 sq km, which equates to something like 16% of the total land area of Gaza. Here’s an excerpt from Amnesty International’s report:
‘The Israeli military’s campaign to significantly expand a “buffer zone” along the eastern perimeter of the occupied Gaza Strip should be investigated as the war crimes of wanton destruction and of collective punishment, Amnesty International said in a new investigation.
Using bulldozers and manually laid explosives, the Israeli military has unlawfully destroyed agricultural land and civilian buildings, razing entire neighbourhoods, including homes, schools and mosques.
By analysing satellite imagery and videos posted by Israeli soldiers on social media between October 2023 and May 2024, Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab identified newly cleared land along Gaza’s eastern boundary, ranging from approximately 1km to 1.8km wide. In some videos, Israeli soldiers are seen posing for pictures or toasting in celebration as buildings are demolished in the background.
“The Israeli military’s relentless campaign of ruin in Gaza is one of wanton destruction. Our research has shown how Israeli forces have obliterated residential buildings, forced thousands of families from their homes and rendered their land uninhabitable,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns.
“Our analysis reveals a pattern along the eastern perimeter of Gaza that is consistent with the systematic destruction of an entire area. These homes were not destroyed as the result of intense fighting. Rather, the Israeli military deliberately razed the land after they had taken control of the area.
“The creation of any ‘buffer zone’ must not amount to the collective punishment of the Palestinian civilians who lived in these neighbourhoods. Israel’s measures to protect Israelis from attacks from Gaza must be carried out in conformity with its obligations under international law, including the prohibition of wanton destruction and of collective punishment.”’
Israel’s excuse? It’s a security measure It’s to protect Israel from further attacks, but that simply won’t be the case. Gaza isn’t exactly big to begin with, attacks with the right ordnance can come from anywhere, was that nott he excuse given by Israel to level all manner of neighbourhoods in Gaza City when they first moved into the north of the Gaza Strip following October 7th? This buffer zone that Israel has created now surely can only be described as just an excuse to destroy buildings for the sake of destroying buildings? Are they going to argue that these buildings were all legitimate targets because they are prime real estate for Hamas to hole up in and attack Israeli communities over the border wall? Well that won’t stand up in court here will it? Why destroy the agricultural land as well? I realise Israel insist that Hamas build all these tunnels, but in the middle of a field? They aren’t moles! Besides, even levelling the buildings in this instance doesn’t wash either because Amnesty have proved than these buildings were destroyed after Israel took control of a given area, thanks to satellite imagery and the videos posted by IDF soldiers, which all get conveniently time-stamped. They’ve also collected images, interviewed affected residents, tracked statements issued by Israeli sources and the same for Hamas in determining whether the wanton destruction was lawful and all evidence has concluded that it was not.
You’ll note from that image I showed previously that only one side of the Gaza Strip has not been razed as such, and that is because there was no need to. That southern edge is of course the Gaza border with Egypt, the Philadelphi Corridor, which Israel currently controls, yet peace accords with Egypt state it cannot legally do. The fact Netanyahu refuses to leave not only reinforces the fact that Israel want an even wider area of control around Gaza than it’s border wall, but that it also wants to retain control along that border with Egypt. Where Israel claim that this security buffer zone is for the protection of it’s people, that clearly doesn’t extend to the Philadelphi Corridor which doesn’t border Israel so all in all it strikes me – and I struggle to see how anyone but the most ardent Zionist cannot see it otherwise – as just surrounding Gaza all the more. Will this buffer zone be left empty after all? Well the Philadelphi Corridor won’t be, so are we really to believe Israel will leave Gaza and not leave their people in these buffer zones surrounding what remains of Gaza? Of course not and of course Netanyahu is still refusing to countenance leaving Gaza at all.
On top of that of course there is the corridor Israel have constructed across the middle of the Gaza Strip, the Netzarim Corridor, which Netanyahu also insists will remain manned, creating a checkpoint between the north and south of the strip, something that cannot possibly be allowed to stand. But actually it gets even worse.
Some observers believe Israel’s plans go even further and not without evidence either. Here’s another image. This was shared by Itay Epshtain, the special advisor to the Norwegian Refugee Council and this was an image that had been circulated as early as last January, by the Israeli diaspora minister Amichai Chikli.
What this shows is the Gaza Strip carved up.
At the top you have Gaza City, shaded in yellow, with a greenish are to its north. Below that, the green strip is the Netzarim Corridor. In the middle in Grey is Deir al Balah and Khan Younis. Below that, another green band is the Sufa Corridor which currently leads to the not so safe humanitarian hub of al-Mawasi and then at the bottom you have Rafah. But those descriptions in and of themselves say nothing of Israel’s intent, but which Itay Epshtain explains:
‘This is the Israeli 'Partition Plan' for Gaza: Gaza City (in yellow) will be left in ruins and uninhibited, to its north permanently acquired territory settled by Israel, to its south the Netzarim Corridor, an impassable barrier and "humanitarian hub."
Central Gaza (including Deir al Balah and Khan Yunis will remain under Israeli control with a permanent military presence (with a possible "local civil administration"). To its south, the Sufa Corridor leads to Al Mawasi, another "humanitarian hub," eventually replaced by re-established Israeli settlements.
Rafah in the southern Gaza will be put under permanent Israeli military presence, separated from central Gaza and Egypt by a kilometres-deep parameter all along the Gaza Strip.’
Think about everything Netanyahu refuses to budge on, leaving Gaza, illegally occupied as it is, look at that perimeter all around. The corridors across Gaza that will be maintained and manned. Recolonisation of parts of Gaza by Israel. The peace accords with Egypt, 46 years old, being binned off for the sake of remaining in control of the Philadelphi Corridor. Everything we’re seeing Israel do is bringing that image of a future Gaza into reality whist the world keeps wringing its hands over it.
The US telling us that a ceasefire deal is 90% of the way there, only to have Netanyahu pop up on TV and say it isn’t true. Who is the West trying to kid here? Netanyahu is a man who functionally cannot go into retreat here, he’ll end up out of power. At what point Western leaders far too in hock to the Israel Lobby finally realise they are getting nowhere with this power at all costs obsessed madman I really don’t know, but without sanctions, without enforcement of international humanitarian law, this is what will happen and I really can’t see how anyone anymore can be deluding themselves otherwise. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I cannot see how this situation in the Middle East can possibly be resolved, whilst this Israeli government remains in power.
Meanwhile of course, the increasing tensions along that Gaza Egyptian border due to Israeli occupation in violation of those Peace Accords that have been in place since 1979, the Camp David Accords could end up seeing Israel on a war footing with Egypt once again. Get more details of the crisis specific to that border in this video recommendation here for your next watch and I’ll hopefully catch you on the next vid. Cheers folks.