June, 08 2016, 03:00pm EDT
TODAY: Elected Officials, Community Members and Civil Rights Groups Demand Racial Equity in New York's Response to the Heroin and Opioid Crisis
Advocates Insist that Repairing the Harms of Failed Drug Policies Must be Central to Policy-Making
ALBANY, NY
Today, elected officials, community members, civil rights and legal advocates, and drug policy reformers joined together to call for the inclusion of communities of color in Albany's response to heroin and opioids. In the midst of the opioid crisis, lawmakers and the media have increasingly highlighted strategies that treat drug use as a public health issue. But despite the rhetoric, the overwhelming emphasis of New York drug policy remains on criminalization, which is disproportionately focused on people of color.
"Heroin abuse and its devastating effects is not a new phenomenon - we have seen how it has decimated poor communities and communities of color for decades," said Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Jeffrion Aubry. "For years we have been calling for meaningful reform to address the issue - Rockefeller drug law reform was the first step. But now we must continue to march forward and pass additional policy reforms that focuses less on criminalization and more on a public health solution - a solution for ALL."
New York, like much of the rest of the country, has begun to move away from criminal justice approaches to drugs amid a perception that more people who use drugs are now from white, suburban, and middle class communities. Despite this trend there has been little effort at the state level to repair the harms of the failed drug policies of the last 45 years that have devastated communities of color. New York's draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws were a significant driver of mass incarceration, gross racial disparities, and disruption of New York families and communities.
While advocates and elected officials are encouraged by the renewed focus on issues around drugs and treatment, they warned that current proposals lack a comprehensive public health approach to drugs.
"We have learned through trial and error - and much unnecessary pain and suffering - that a public health model is the only smart and compassionate approach to addressing substance abuse and addiction," said Robert Perry, Legislative Director with the NYCLU. "And yet legislation pending in Albany adopts several misguided compulsory treatment provisions. Let's not make the same mistakes we made with the War on Drugs - drug policy must be based on upon evidence-based medical science."
"I'm angry! I'm angry because harm reduction saved my life, yet the Senate Republicans have refused even the most basic reforms to expand syringe access," said Terrell Jones, leader of VOCAL-NY, referring to the Senate's last minute refusal to support legislation to reform the Expanded Syringe Access Program (ESAP). "And I'm angry that as a black man, when I was homeless and drug addicted, I was offered 4-9 years for my first offense and denied drug treatment while white boys awaiting sentencing with me were offered programs in place of prison."
"There are visible racial disparities in drug charges. Unfortunately, individuals of color are more likely to be stopped, arrested and prosecuted for violating drug laws," said Assemblywoman Diana Richardson. "It is essential that we continue to advocate for fair criminal justice reform."
Elected officials and advocates called on the legislature to not only focus on increasing access to services but also work together to deal with the years of "lock them up" policies that have devastated communities throughout New York State.
"I applaud the Drug Policy Alliance and VOCAL-NY for standing up for marginalized communities that have for decades now been plagued and devastated by drug addiction and overdose. Understanding that drug abuse in any community is a public health crisis is key, and ensuring equitable access to resources to fight this blight is vital and long overdue," said Senator Kevin Parker. "When communities of color were initially overtaken by drugs and its negative externalities, the answer that was presented was a War on Drugs. Today, I hope we learn from our predecessors failed policies and enact legislation that provides evenhanded relief to all communities impacted. I remain eager to work with my colleagues in the Legislature to right this wrong."
"As New York battles an increase in heroin and prescription opioid addiction, we must ensure that equal support and treatment is provided to everyone who needs it, regardless of race or economic status. For far too long, we have seen people of color, particularly young black men, serving unnecessarily long prison sentences, perpetuated by draconian drug laws," said Senator James Sanders Jr. "We have an opportunity to affect change by introducing positive reforms across the state including improvements to public health policy and the criminal justice system. I look forward to joining with my colleagues in government to make these changes possible.
"The evidence becomes clearer every day that the old war on drugs is not working, is hurting communities and is destroying families," said Juan Cartagena, President and General Counsel, LatinoJustice PRLDEF. ""We can't incarcerate addiction out of people. It's inhumane and ineffective. It is time for a sane policy, one that helps people and doesn't ostracize them from society."
Elected officials presented several legislative proposals that they believe will not only increase services to communities throughout New York but would also begin to reduce the harms associated with criminalization and the failing drug war.
"Instead of demonizing and punishing the communities of color affected by this epidemic, we need to treat addiction with drug treatment. Research has shown drug treatment is proven to be more effective at reducing crime and recidivism. Moreover, we need to provide pathway for former addicts to be reintegrated into society, said Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson. "Formerly jailed individuals are routinely denied access to jobs, housing, educational loans, welfare benefits, political participation, and other key social goods solely on the basis of their drug convictions. It is an alarmist attitude of a few who refuse to accept the notion that many of these former addicts have served their time and proven themselves worthy of a second chance."
"Communities of color have been devastated by bad drug policies and hyper-criminalization for the last 40 years. It is an approach that has never worked and has caused significantly more harm than good to our communities and to our families. If we are going to be centering public health in our drug policy, then we need to do so now and we need to do it for all communities," said Assemblymember Crystal People-Stokes. "We need to increase access to treatment but also alleviate the burden bad policies have had on people of color across the state, including the thousands of New Yorkers who are inhibited daily from accessing employment, housing and an education all due to a conviction on their record for simple possession of marijuana."
"A public health crisis requires an inclusive public health response," said Senator Daniel Squadron. "I'm proud to carry the Fairness & Equity Act that would introduce racial and ethnic impact statements. I thank DPA, VOCAL, the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Caucus, and my colleagues."
"It is important for public health to protect possession of clean needles and possession of naloxone so that people don't have to fear that they're going to come under police scrutiny because they have naloxone in their pocket," said Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard N. Gottfried. "Heroin and opiate addiction have devastating effects and we must treat these as critical public health issues, addressed with harm reduction strategies, instead of criminalizing individuals and communities."
"Decriminalizing syringe possession will give the most vulnerable New Yorkers access to the harm reduction services they need in order to avoid contracting HIV or Hepatitis C, said Senator Gustavo Rivera. "We can no longer stand by while ineffective and failed drug polices continue to unnecessarily put the health of New Yorkers at risk."
Together advocates and elected called on the New York State legislature and Governor Cuomo to center repairing the harms associated with the drug war, in addition to ensuring an equitable distribution of public health resources to help all people in need.
"For too long communities of color have been plagued by the consequences of a broken legal system that has unfairly targeted certain neighborhoods, and created a drug policy that has done little to decrease drug use, said Assembly member Robert Rodriguez. "New York needs a compassionate approach to opioid policy reform that works with individuals and communities to both heal and prevent the damage of widespread drug use, and continue to promote progressive police practices."
"Not only must we learn from the mistakes of the past, we must take action to reverse the harms caused by racially motivated drug policy that for years prioritized incarceration and punitive measures over treatment and recovery," said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. "It is crucial that we create policies to ensure that all people in every community that have been affected by addiction have access to comprehensive treatment and recovery supports and that we implement policies that confer justice and equality upon communities who for years have been deprived of it."
"People in communities of color in New York are watching as new resources come to white communities to solve the heroin and opioid problem. Meanwhile, we continue to respond to drug use by increasing law enforcement presence and incarcerating huge numbers of Black and Brown New Yorkers, destroying whole communities and families," said Kassandra Frederique, New York State Director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "Without a doubt, the tragedy of anyone's struggle with drug abuse should be met with a compassionate and humane response. What we are asking for today are two things: first that the resources and compassion being extended to white communities is extended to communities of color and second that lawmakers acknowledge and redress the harms done to communities of color by the 45 year failed war on drugs."
Legislative policy proposals include:
- Racial and Ethnic Impact Statements to determine legislation's effects on communities of color before it is enacted
- Statewide clemency package to seal and vacate all marijuana-related convictions
- Reform criminal drug possession statutes to decriminalize or de-felonize certain offenses
- Bolster and expand Rockefeller drug law reforms
- Reduce recidivism and save money by establishing Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) programs
- Create a Statewide Nonfatal Overdose Response System
- Increase funding for harm reduction services and continue their integration with the broader healthcare system
- Repeal the criminal law on syringe possession and increase access syringes through pharmacies
- Rewrite New York's syringe exchange law to increase the number of providers and reduce barriers to access
- Institute supervised injection facilities (SIFs) wherever needed in the state
- Increase access to the medication-assisted treatment, especially by expanding buprenorphine access in low income communities of color
- Allow access to methadone and buprenorphine in Department of Corrections and Community Supervision facilities
- Establish a New York State Drugs Advisory Council that includes the participation of community experts and the legislature and executive to ensure common objectives and policy coordination between agencies and elected officials
The Drug Policy Alliance is the nation's leading organization promoting drug policies grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights.
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'Friday News Dump': Biden State Dept Report Accepts Israeli Assurances
"The report is a slap in the face to the Palestinian and international human rights and humanitarian organizations that provided firsthand accounts and evidence," said the head of Oxfam America.
May 10, 2024
Foreign policy and human rights experts on Friday sharply condemned the Biden administration's delayed report to Congress about Israeli assurances regarding U.S. weapons use in the Gaza Strip and the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The historic assessment stems from National Security Memorandum 20, which President Joe Biden issued in February. NSM-20 requires Secretary of State Antony Blinken "to obtain certain credible and reliable written assurances from foreign governments" that they use U.S. arms in line with international humanitarian law (IHL) and will not "arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance."
"With today's report, the U.S. will be complicit in even more death and suffering in Gaza."
The section on Israel—which spans about a third of the 46-page report—says that "given Israel's significant reliance on U.S.-made defense articles, it is reasonable to assess that defense articles covered under NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its IHL obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm."
However, "we are not able to reach definitive conclusions on whether defense articles covered by NSM-20 were used in these or other individual strikes," it continues, listing examples that include the April strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen workers.
While noting that "Israel has not shared complete information" to verify U.S. weapons use, the report concludes that Israeli assurances are "credible and reliable so as to allow the provision of defense articles covered under NSM-20 to continue."
Israel also "did not fully cooperate" with the U.S. and international "efforts to maximize humanitarian assistance flow to and distribution within Gaza," the report states. While expressing "deep concerns" about Israel's action and inaction regarding much-needed relief, the document adds that "we do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance within the meaning of Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act."
The report was initially due to be sent to Congress on Wednesday. Calling its release a "Friday news dump," Palestinian American political analyst Yousef Munayyer said, "This would be comical, if it wasn't aiding genocide."
Democracy for the Arab World Now executive director Sarah Leah Whitson took aim at the State Department, which she said "sinks to uncharted lows in twisting both the facts and the law to absolve Israel of responsibility for its well-documented use of U.S. weapons to commit war crimes and hindrance of U.S. humanitarian aid delivery."
"The State Department's report dutifully regurgitates every hoary defense Israel has long offered the world to justify its indefensible savagery in Gaza using U.S.-taxpayer funded military assistance," she continued. "It wants the world to reject the evidence of our eyes and ears with utterly implausible excuses."
"The State Department is seeking to create new loopholes in the law that don't exist, at once acknowledging that Israel HAS used U.S. weapons in violation of the laws of war and HAS hindered aid delivery, but excusing them from sanctions by claiming they are 'individual' violations and that Israel is remedying them," she added. "The law provides no such carve-outs from enforcement, and by the way, they're also utterly false claims."
Many critics of the war—called plausibly genocidal by the International Court of Justice in January—praised how detailed the document is but blasted its conclusions, which conflict with those of former State Department officials, U.S. lawmakers, and relief groups.
"The administration has once again ignored a mountain of evidence and failed to hold Israel accountable for severe violations of international and U.S. law in its conduct in the Gaza war," said Center for International Policy executive vice president Matt Duss. "This report comes as hundreds of thousands of civilians in Gaza face famine, continued bombardment, and an invasion of Rafah against U.S. warnings."
Israeli officials and forces this week have made clear that they will not cease the operation against Rafah—a southern Gaza city crowded with over 1.4 million Palestinians, most of them displaced from other areas—in response to Biden stalling the delivery of some weapons and threatening to withhold more.
While welcoming Biden's recent moves on Rafah, Duss argued that "today's report treating Israel as largely meeting its obligations under NSM-20 undercuts the administration's own efforts to protect civilian lives and facilitate a cease-fire and the release of hostages still held by Hamas. Instead, it functionally greenlights Israel's continued use of U.S. weapons in ways contrary to our law, interests, and values."
"The Biden administration must end its mixed messages and conflicting actions on Israel's conduct in Gaza, as well as in the occupied West Bank, and bring its policy in line with its rhetoric," he stressed. "It must fully and consistently enforce international and U.S. law by halting the transfer of all offensive weapons and other military assistance that Israel is using in the Rafah invasion or elsewhere to violate Palestinian rights. If this administration is serious about promoting peace and upholding human rights and international law, President Biden must finally and completely end U.S. complicity in the grievous harm being done to civilians with our aid and arms."
Oxfam America president and CEO Abby Maxman declared Friday that "despite what the Biden administration claims in today's report to Congress, it is clear that Israel is violating international law and obstructing aid into Gaza."
"In turning a blind eye, the administration is allowing Israel to continue to do so without consequence," she said. "The Biden administration published NSM-20 to hold itself and the recipients of its military aid accountable to the requirements of U.S. law, but instead it is demonstrating those laws only apply when politically convenient."
According to Maxman:
The report is a slap in the face to the Palestinian and international human rights and humanitarian organizations that provided firsthand accounts and evidence—backed by experts within the administration—on the assumption that their input would be evaluated in good faith. Most of all, it is a devastating blow to Palestinians in Gaza who have been killed, driven from their homes, and pushed into starvation by Israel's systemic abuses. They now suffer the indignity of this confirmation of the U.S. government's policy of willful blindness.
In a joint report with Human Rights Watch, Oxfam documented substantial violations of international humanitarian law and direct impediments to the delivery of humanitarian aid, including the destruction of Oxfam-supported water infrastructure and repeated delays and denials of basic humanitarian supplies. These impediments remain in place today and there is no sign of improvement going forward.
President Biden's suspension of bombs and artillery shells to stop a Rafah invasion is an important step, but not a substitute for following the law and holding Israel accountable to the basic conditions that apply to all U.S. security assistance recipients. With today's report, the U.S. will be complicit in even more death and suffering in Gaza.
Win Without War also welcomed Biden's decision to send Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "a message that Rafah is a red line by holding up weapons shipments—the absolute right call, even if much more needs to be done," the group highlighted on social media Friday. "Yet, we are incredibly alarmed by the findings in the NSM report."
"At this dire moment, we need a U.S. policy towards ending the war and protecting people in Gaza that is consistent and coherent," the organization said. "But this NSM-20 report, by dodging a determination over whether the Israeli government has committed violations, cuts against that clear message and scrambles U.S. policy."
"And it will be yet another missed opportunity to uphold U.S. law and policy governing weapons transfers—right when growing numbers in Congress are calling for exactly that," the group added. "Luckily, Congress can inject some coherence—by continuing to place informal holds on transfers of deadly weapons, and making clear that there won't be new sales until the Israeli [government] shifts course."
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South Africa Urges ICJ Action as Israeli War Cabinet Expands Rafah Assault
"Despite repeated orders by the court, Israel has not changed its conduct," South Africa's urgent request states. "It has doubled down on its genocidal aims and acts, including by invading Rafah."
May 10, 2024
As Israel's War Cabinet voted Friday to expand the invasion of Rafah, South Africa filed an urgent request for the International Court of Justice to order Israel to stop its assault on Gaza's southernmost city, citing violations of the Genocide Convention and "particularly severe" risks to the 1.5 million displaced Palestinians and residents sheltering there.
"The situation brought about by the Israeli assault on Rafah, and the extreme risk it poses to humanitarian supplies and basic services into Gaza, to the survival of the Palestinian medical system, and to the very survival of Palestinians in Gaza as a group, is not only an escalation of the prevailing situation, but gives rise to new facts that are causing irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people in Gaza," South Africa's request states.
"This amounts to a change in the situation in Gaza since the court's order of March 28, 2024," the filing continues, referring to the ICJ's directive for Israel to stop blocking desperately needed humanitarian from entering the embattled enclave.
The March 28 directive also reiterated the court's earlier preliminary ruling that found Israel is "plausibly" committing genocide in Gaza and ordered the Israeli government to "take all measures within its power" to uphold its obligations under Article II of the Genocide Convention.
The treaty—to which Israel is a party—defines the crime of genocide in part as "killing members of a group" and "deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part," which South Africa's request says Israeli forces are doing in Rafah.
The new filing argues three main points:
- Rafah is now effectively the last refuge in Gaza for 1.5 million Palestinians from Rafah and those displaced by Israeli action, and the last viable center in Gaza for habitation, public administration, and the provision of basic public services, including medical care;
- By seizing control of the Rafah and Kerem Shalom (Karem Abu Salem) crossings, Israel is now in direct, total control of all entry and exit to Gaza, has cut it off from all humanitarian and medical supplies, goods, and fuel on which the survival of the population of Gaza depends, and is preventing medical evacuations; and
- The remaining population and medical facilities are at extreme risk, given the recent evidence of evacuation zones being treated as extermination zones, the mass destruction and mass graves at Gaza's other hospitals, and the use by Israel of artificial intelligence (AI) to identify "kill lists."
"The incursion followed a two-week intensification of Israel's military bombardment of Rafah, to which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had previously been ordered by Israel to evacuate for their safety," the South African filing states. "An estimated 100,000 Palestinians in eastern Rafah, many of them already displaced nine times over, were given less than 15 hours to evacuate. Many were simply unable to flee. None have anywhere safe to go."
The document cites media reports of "the extreme brutality and indiscriminate nature of Israel's attack on areas of Rafah both within and outside the evacuation zone."
"Videos posted on social media by Israeli soldiers record them firing directly on areas where tents are pitched by displaced Palestinians," the filing states. "Many, including large numbers of Palestinian children, have been killed or injured already. There is recently published testimony from Israeli soldiers who have served in Gaza that Israeli soldiers treat evacuation zones as 'zones of extermination' in which all remaining Palestinians are considered to be legitimate targets. Israel also relies extensively on AI to select its targets and 'kill lists.'"
"Despite repeated orders by the court, Israel has not changed its conduct," the filing states. "It has doubled down on its genocidal aims and acts, including by invading Rafah. Members of the Israeli Ministerial Committee on National Security Affairs (Security Cabinet) and the War Cabinet have continued their genocidal rhetoric."
South Africa lodged its genocide complaint against Israel in December. Since then, more than 30 nations and regional blocs, and hundreds of advocacy groups have joined. The ICJ last month set October 28 as the deadline for South Africa's comprehensive submission in the case. Israel has until July 28, 2025 to respond.
A final ruling from the tribunal is not expected for years. Israel says the case is "baseless" and has accused South Africa of "functioning as the legal arm of Hamas," which led the attacks in which more than 1,100 Israelis and others were killed—at least some by so-called "friendly fire"—last October 7.
Since then, Israeli forces have killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, while wounding more than 78,000 others. Over 11,000 Palestinians are also missing and presumed dead and buried beneath the rubble of the hundreds of thousands of bombed-out homes and other buildings. Around 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million people have also been forcibly displaced, and Israel's "complete siege" of the strip has caused massive starvation and has led to the deaths of dozens of children from malnutrition and dehydration.
Friday's filing came on the same day that a group of United Nations experts demanded that U.S. President Joe Biden—Israel's most important international backer—follow through on his "red line" threat to halt arms shipments to Israel in the event its forces invade Rafah. On Thursday, Biden was accused of retreating from his red line by stating he would only cut Israel off if it launches a "major" assault on the city.
Common Dreamsreported Tuesday that Biden is delaying shipments of two types of bombs to Israel in order to send a message that the president is angry and frustrated over what he called Israel's "indiscriminate bombing" of Gazan civilians. However, the U.S. continues to supply billions of dollars of weaponry to Israel and also provides diplomatic cover in the form of U.N. vetoes and other moves.
On Friday, for example, the U.S. was one of only nine nations to vote against a U.N. General Assembly resolution urging the Security Council to grant Palestine full membership in the world body. The vote was 143-9, with 25 abstentions.
Also on Friday, human rights defenders from around the world gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa for the inaugural Global Anti-Apartheid Conference on Palestine.
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'Children Are Starving': Rafah Suffers as Israel Halts All Aid and Escalates Assault
"People have been fearing this for a long, long time and it is now upon us. There is constant bombardment. There is smoke on the horizon. There are people on the move," said one humanitarian worker.
May 10, 2024
United Nations experts on Friday used U.S. President Joe Biden's own language regarding Israel's offensive in Rafah, Gaza to demand that the president follow through with his statement that an Israeli invasion of the southern city would be a "red line" and would push him to halt military support for Israel.
"States with influence over Israel have described any incursion into Rafah as a 'red line,'" said experts including Francesca Albanese, special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, and Michael Fakhri, special rapporteur on the right to food. "They must immediately put those words into practice and stop this disastrous campaign by ending the flow of arms into Israel and withholding investment and political support."
The latest call for the U.S. to end its support for Israel comes as humanitarian workers in Rafah, where 1.4 million people have been living in improvised tent encampments for weeks following the forced displacement of 90% of Gaza residents, are grappling with rapidly dwindling aid supplies.
Israel seized control of the crucial Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt this week, shutting off all humanitarian aid—which was already a fraction of what's needed—as the enclave's entire population suffers from acute food insecurity.
Along with food, said the U.N. experts, Rafah now has no access to shipments of other survival supplies and fuel, which is needed to run Gaza's remaining hospitals and water desalination plants.
As a full-scale ground assault on Rafah is threatened, Sam Rose, director of planning for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), toldAl Jazeera, people in Rafah "are petrified" of a potential "scorched earth" war on Palestinian civilians.
"People have been fearing this for a long, long time and it is now upon us. There is constant bombardment. There is smoke on the horizon. There are people on the move," Rose said. "No aid has come into Gaza now since Sunday. No aid, no fuel, no supplies, nothing. And we really are now down to our last reserves. We have a few more days of flour that we can provide. But everything else will start to shut down very soon without fuel, without water. So the situation is really desperate."
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has long demanded that Biden end unconditional military support for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), warned that the U.S. can no longer be "complicit" in Israel's starving of Palestinians, dozens of whom have already died of malnutrition due to Israel's blockade on nearly all aid since October.
Biden stopped a shipment of bombs to Israel last week, but NBC Newsreported Friday that shipments of "both offensive and defensive weaponry" have been sent to the IDF in recent days despite Israel's incursion.
UNRWA said Friday that 110,000 people have fled Rafah this week, with Israel claiming the coastal town of Al-Mawasi, about six miles from the city, is a new "expanded humanitarian area" where Palestinians will be safe. Rafah is one of many places in Gaza that have been previously designated as safe zones but were then bombarded by the IDF.
The U.N. experts said Al-Mawasi, a narrow strip of land, "cannot cope with a population influx."
The town is "already without sufficient food, water, medicine, hygiene products, electricity, shelter, and access to education for children," they said.
"In light of the grievous humanitarian situation on the ground, no evacuation order issued by Israel can be considered compliant with international humanitarian law," said the rapporteurs. "Further displacement of Gaza's population through evacuation orders or military operations contravenes binding provisional measures imposed on Israel by the International Court of Justice."
On Friday, Israeli troops were advancing in eastern Rafah as cease-fire talks brokered by the U.S., Qatar, and Egypt appeared to stall. Hamas said the "ball is now completely" in the hands of Israel, which on Monday rejected a cease-fire deal that Hamas had accepted, just as the IDF launched strikes on Rafah.
Hamas, which has governed Gaza for nearly two decades, said Israel had "raised objections" to Hamas' demands on "several central issues"; the Palestinian group has demanded a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of displaced Palestinians, and swapping Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called on the international community to "speak with one voice for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza."
"The long-threatened Rafah invasion must not be seen as a foregone conclusion," said the U.S. experts. "Israel must halt this assault."
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