Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
Nearly 90 Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli strikes in the northern Gaza Strip over the night of November 20 and 21, after the United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire.
Paramedics and media officials in Gaza said that at least 66 were killed, including women and children, when several houses sheltering displaced people were hit near Kamal Adwan hospital in the town of Beit Lahia. Many of the victims were reported asleep when they were killed.
Another 22 people were killed in a strike on a house in the northern Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, according to the Civil Defence agency.
Additional victims were reported later in southern Gaza. A hospital in the city of Khan Younis said that it had received the bodies of 24 people killed in Israeli military action there and in nearby the area of Rafah, which lies on the Strip’s border with Egypt.
It’s worth noting that the UN warned on November 19 that parts of northern Gaza were under Israeli siege and virtually no humanitarian aid has been delivered in 40 days.
The latest casualties brought the death toll from the Israeli war on Gaza, which began more than 13 months ago, to over 44,000. Women and children reportedly make up the majority of the victimes. More than 104,000 others have been reportedly wounded in the Strip, so far.
The latest strikes on Gaza came just a few hours after a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Strip and the release of the Israeli captives failed to pass when the U.S. casted a lone No vote in the 15-member body. This was the fourth time that U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has vetoed such a resolution since the start of the war.
Despite the strong support of the U.S., the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued on November 21 arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
The three judges of the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I issued the warrants unanimously on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes that the court’s prosecutor Karim Khan alleges were committed during the prosecution of the current war on Gaza.
Both Netanyahu and Gallant will be liable for arrest if they travel to any of the more than 120 countries that are party to the ICC.
The court also issued a warrant for Mohammed Deif, the military commander of the Gaza-ruling Hamas Movement, over the October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war last year. Israel claims that it killed Deif, but Hamas has never formally acknowledged his death.
The ICC decision will increase pressure on the Netanyahu government. However, the war in Gaza will not likely end without a shift in the stance of the U.S.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
