May, 17 2021, 12:00am EDT
![Amnesty International - USA](https://assets.rbl.ms/32012686/origin.png)
Israel/OPT: Pattern of Israeli Attacks on Residential Homes in Gaza Must Be Investigated As War Crimes
WASHINGTON
Israeli forces have displayed a shocking disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians by carrying out a number of airstrikes targeting residential buildings in some cases killing entire families - including children - and causing wanton destruction to civilian property, in attacks that may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity, said Amnesty International today.
The organization has documented four deadly attacks by Israel launched on residential homes without prior warning and is calling for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to urgently investigate these attacks. The death toll in Gaza continues to climb with at least 198 Palestinians killed including 58 children and more than 1,220 injured. Ten people in Israel, including two children, have been killed and at least 27 injured by Palestinian attacks.
"There is a horrific pattern emerging of Israel launching air strikes in Gaza targeting residential buildings and family homes - in some cases entire families were buried beneath the rubble when the buildings they lived in collapsed. In the cases documented below, no prior warning was given to the civilian residents to allow them to escape. Under international humanitarian law, all parties must distinguish between military targets and civilian objects and direct their attacks only at military objectives. When carrying out attacks, parties must take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians," said Saleh Higazi, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
"Although the Israeli military has given no explanation of what military objectives it was targeting in these attacks, it is hard to imagine how bombing residential buildings full of civilian families without warning could be considered proportionate under international humanitarian law. It is not possible to use large explosive weapons, like aircraft bombs that have a blast radius of many hundreds of meters, in populated areas without anticipating major civilian casualties.
"By carrying out these brazen deadly attacks on family homes without warning Israel has demonstrated a callous disregard for lives of Palestinian civilians who are already suffering the collective punishment of Israel's illegal blockade on Gaza since 2007."
The Israeli army claims that it only attacks military targets and has justified airstrikes on residential buildings on that basis. However, residents told Amnesty International that there were no fighters or military objectives in the vicinity at the time of the attacks documented.
"Deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian property and infrastructure are war crimes, as are disproportionate attacks. The International Criminal Court has an active investigation into the situation in Palestine and should urgently investigate these attacks as war crimes. States should also consider exercising universal jurisdiction over those who commit war crimes. Impunity only works to fuel the pattern of unlawful attacks and civilian bloodshed, which have we have repeatedly documented in previous Israeli military offensives on Gaza," said Saleh Higazi.
At least 152 residential properties in Gaza have been destroyed since May 11, according to the Gaza-based human rights organization, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Gaza, Israeli strikes have destroyed 94 buildings, comprising 461 housing and commercial units while 285 housing units have been severely damaged and rendered uninhabitable.
According to United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) more than 2,500 people have been made homeless due to the destruction of their homes and more than 38,000 people have been internally displaced and have sought shelter in 48 UNRWA schools across Gaza.
Indiscriminate rocket-fire by Palestinian armed groups towards civilian areas of Israel has also killed and injured civilians and damaged homes and other civilian properties. The rockets fired from Gaza into Israel are imprecise and their use violates international humanitarian law which prohibits the use of weapons that are by nature indiscriminate. These attacks should also be investigated by the ICC as war crimes.
Amnesty International has previously published evidence that the Israeli military had a deliberate policy of targeting family homes during the 2014 conflict.
Devastating attacks on family homes
In one of the heaviest episodes of bombardment since the latest fighting began, between 1am and 2am on May 16 Israel carried out airstrikes against residential buildings and streets in Gaza City. The attacks completely destroyed two residential buildings belonging to the Abu al-Ouf and al-Kolaq families - killing 30 people - 11 of them children.
Gaza's Ministry of Labour building was also destroyed in the attacks. The attack blocked al-Wehda Street, one of the main roads leading to the main hospital in Gaza, al-Shifa.
The families residing in the four-story al-Ouf building, which included residential apartments and shops, received no prior warning - they were buried beneath the rubble in the attack.
Yousef Yassin, a medic from al-Shifa Hospital, was one of the first to arrive on the scene of al-Ouf Building after the attack and helped pull survivors from the wreckage with the Red Crescent. He described the scene to Amnesty International as one of "great destruction".
"I helped get out four dead [bodies], but there were many more. It was very hard. There was no warning, so people were inside their home sitting together, and this is a lively, bustling area," he said.
Shortly before midnight on May 14 Israeli air strikes hit the three-story building of the al-Atar family in Beit Lahia killing 28-year-old Lamya Hassan Mohammed al-Atar her three children Islam, seven, Amira, six, and Mohammed an eight-month-old baby.
Lamya's father, Hassan al-Atar, a civil defense officer told Amnesty International he headed to the scene of the attack with an ambulance and rescue team after a relative called him with news of the attack. "He told me that our home had been bombed and [he was] stuck under the rubble [with his] wife and children," he said.
"I arrived at the house, which is made up of three stories - 20 people live there - I tried to find people, but I could not. Then the rescue team arrived to help and we eventually found my daughter, a mother of three, with her children, one of whom was a baby, under one of the cement pillars of the house; all of them were dead. The other residents seem to have managed to escape from an opening after the bombing and got to the hospital. I was shocked," he said.
Nader Mahmoud Mohammed al-Thom, from al-Salatin neighbourhood in Beit Lahia, described how his home where he lives with eight others was attacked without any warning shortly after midnight on May 15.
"There was no warning missile, no warning call, the house was bombed, and we were inside. Thank God that the civil defense and by sheer chance was close by and saved us from under the rubble, thank God no one died. We had injuries but not serious, when we got out I saw a fire at the gate of the house, then the ambulance took us to the hospital. I think this is when I lost consciousness. Thank God no one was badly hurt but we lost our house. We are now in the street; we do not know where to go what to do."
His family sought shelter at an UNRWA school but the school they arrived at was closed when they arrived and they had to sleep outside in the school yard. His entire home was destroyed including his clothes, money and paperwork and all their belongings.
In addition to residential homes, Israeli attacks have damaged water and electricity infrastructure as well as medical facilities and halted the operations of the North Gaza Seawater Desalination plant, which supplies water to more than 250,000 people.
Amnesty International is a global movement of millions of people demanding human rights for all people - no matter who they are or where they are. We are the world's largest grassroots human rights organization.
(212) 807-8400LATEST NEWS
'Scathing' Report Exposes Broken Promises of Cori Bush's Primary Challenger
"Wesley Bell promised long overdue reforms in St. Louis County, but—like his predecessor, Bob McCulloch—he's continued to punish primarily poor and working people," said the Working Families Party national director.
Jul 17, 2024
A local coalition on Wednesday released a report blasting the record of St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, who is challenging progressive Congresswoman Cori Bush in the Democratic primary for Missouri's 1st District.
The report about Bell's five years in his current office was published by the Prosecutor Organizing Table, which includes Action St. Louis, ArchCity Defenders, Freedom Community Center, Forward through Ferguson, MacArthur Justice Center, and Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty.
"Early on, Bell cast himself as a progressive looking to make fundamental changes to the way that the St. Louis County prosecutor's office operated," the report explains. "He promised changes to address some of the key issues that plague the criminal legal system, including overcharging, lack of transparency, reliance on cash bail, and criminalization of poverty, drug use, and mental health illness."
When Bell took office in 2019, "many residents hoped to see a leader that would fight to dramatically reduce mass human caging on behalf of Black communities and others disproportionately impacted in St. Louis County," the document notes. "We have seen the office fail to implement meaningful change on a number of important fronts."
The analysis began in August 2022 and includes data the coalition collected from Bell's office, "freedom of information requests, independent research, as well as lived experience from people impacted by the carceral system." The report features a timeline of their communication with his office and points out that "some of the issues and questions raised by the table went unanswered."
The Missouri coalition—whose members lead local decarceration and racial justice efforts—evaluated Bell based on five metrics: transparency, charging decisions, pretrial detention, convictions and sentencing, and commitment to community-based alternatives.
"After early progress, the St. Louis County jail population has steadily climbed under Bell's leadership. It has increased 23% in the past year and 46% in the past two years," the report highlights. "Meanwhile, the nation's overall jail and prison population has fallen by over 10%."
"While failing to reduce the jail population long-term, Bell's office has succeeded in securing a $1.8 million budget expansion and a $700,000 [American Rescue Plan Act] grant to hire new attorneys and build out satellite offices with the police," the publication continues. "This risks inflating the office’s budget for years to come, creating even more power to put our neighbors behind bars."
In addition to calling out Bell's prosecutorial record, the groups offered "recommendations for shifting policies and practices towards a survivor-centered approach to restorative justice to decarcerate and address violence at its core."
Bell "discounted the report as politics," according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Many of the organizations backing the report, he said, have endorsed Bush. And he said she won't debate the issues publicly."
The prosecutor told the newspaper, "My opponent refusing to answer questions and hiding behind this group is disingenuous and does a grave disservice to this community."
Meanwhile, ArchCity spokesperson Z Gorley pointed out that the analysis began long before Bell announced he was running for Congress and Bush's campaign accused Bell of using the congresswoman as a scapegoat "to evade responsibility."
The Working Families Party (WFP)—which has endorsed Bush—called the report "scathing."
"Wesley Bell promised long overdue reforms in St. Louis County, but—like his predecessor, Bob McCulloch—he's continued to punish primarily poor and working people," said WFP national director Maurice Mitchell. "St. Louisans deserve better from their prosecuting attorney."
The race between Bell and Bush has garnered national attention in large part because Republican billionaires and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) have backed the prosecutor for the August 6 primary in hopes of ousting the congresswoman for criticizing the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip and her supportiveness of a range of progressive issues.
AIPAC's other top progressive target this cycle was Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who was defeated by his pro-Israel primary challenger, Westchester County Executive George Latimer, last month. Just days later, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) released a joint statement endorsing Bush.
Keep ReadingShow Less
65% of Democratic Voters Want Biden to Step Aside: Poll
A majority of respondents said they want both Biden and Trump to quit the race, and were not confident in the mental fitness of either candidate.
Jul 17, 2024
A majority of U.S. voters want both President Joe Biden and Republican nominee Donald Trump to drop out of the 2024 presidential contest, with nearly two-thirds of Democrats favoring the Democratic incumbent's withdrawal amid mounting concerns over his mental fitness, a poll published Wednesday revealed.
The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey of 1,253 U.S. adults conducted between July 11-15 found that 70% of all respondents want Biden to step aside in favor of an alternative nominee and 57% think Trump should quit the race. Broken down by partisan affiliation, 73% of Republicans, 70% of Independents, and 65% of Democrats want Biden to stand down, while 26% of Republicans, 51% of Independents, and 86% of Democrats say Trump should withdraw.
"I just feel like these two individuals are a sad choice," Alexi Mitchell, a 35-year-old civil servant in Virginia and self-described Democratic-leaning Independent, toldThe Associated Press, adding that Biden has "put us in a bad position where Trump might win."
Black Democrats are Biden's strongest supporters—50% want Biden to continue running—while only 25% of all Democratic voters aged 18-44 want him to stay in the race.
A majority of respondents said they were not confident in the mental fitness of either candidate. Seventy percent of voters said they had little or no confidence in Biden's "mental capacity to be an effective president," while 51% said the same thing about Trump.
The former president was recently convicted of 34 felony charges in New York state related to the falsification of business records regarding hush money payments to cover up sex scandals during the 2016 presidential election. Trump still faces dozens of federal and state charges in connection with his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, cases that could be impacted by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling granting presidents "absolute immunity" for acts committed in their official capacity.
Earlier this week, a Trump-appointed federal judge dismissed a case involving Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents—a decision Special Counsel Jack Smith, who has led the case since Trump announced his current campaign, is appealing.
Trump was also impeached twice by the House of Representatives—but not convicted by the Senate—during his first presidential term.
A separate survey by Data for Progress published Wednesday found that "swing" voters are increasingly more concerned about Biden's age than Trump's criminal charges.
According to Data for Progress:
Before the debate and before Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts, we found that swing voters were more concerned about Trump's criminal charges (48%) than Biden's age (41%), with 11% unsure.
After the debate, swing voters have flipped. Now, 53% say they are more concerned about Biden's age, a 12-point increase from our last survey of swing voters. Only 37% say they are more concerned about Trump's criminal charges, an 11-point decrease.
Notably, the new AP-NORC survey was conducted before Saturday's attempted assassination of Trump at a Pennslyvania campaign rally. The deadly shooting seemed to take some wind out of the sails of the burgeoning movement of Democrats urging Biden to withdraw from the race: In the four days before the incident, over a dozen Democratic U.S. lawmakers called on Biden to step aside. In the four days since the assassination attempt, only one more has joined the list, Rep. Adam Schiff of California.
"Our nation is at a crossroads," Schiff told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday. "A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the president can defeat Donald Trump in November."
A Pew Research Center poll published last week showed that more than 6 in 10 U.S. voters see both Biden and Trump as "embarrassing" choices and nearly 9 in 10 said that the 2024 election campaign "does not make them feel proud of the country."
Keep ReadingShow Less
House Progressives Rip GOP for Siding With Credit Card Giants on Junk Fees
"It is critical that the American people understand the House Republican Conference's firm and dedicated commitment to protecting the business model of unfettered, predatory fines."
Jul 17, 2024
Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Wednesday slammed their House Republican colleagues for siding with credit card giants over U.S. consumers by attempting to roll back a Biden administration rule banning excessive late fees—a major profit source for card issuers.
The House's Republican majority is expected in the near future to schedule a floor vote on a GOP-authored resolution that would use the Congressional Review Act to undo the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) rule lowering the typical credit card late fee from $32 to $8.
The CFPB is currently
fighting a Trump-appointed judge's injunction against the rule, which the agency estimates would save Americans more than $14 billion a year in fees.
In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.)—the chair of the CPC—and more than 50 fellow caucus members welcomed the "opportunity to highlight the Republican majority's enthusiastic support for junk fees, including exorbitant credit card fees."
The letter continues:
We think it is critical that the American people understand the House Republican Conference's firm and dedicated commitment to protecting the business model of unfettered, predatory fines imposed by large corporate banks against ordinary Americans. Thanks to the leadership of the Biden Administration and the CFPB, Americans will collectively receive $10 billion in annual relief from this rule, curbing junk fees levied by profitable credit card giants on consumers.
We look forward to a promptly scheduled vote that allows every House Republican to go on the record opposing an initiative that will rein in a loophole exploited by corporate giants to boost their profits at the expense of American households and create an average savings of $220 per year for more than 45 million people who are charged late fees by large credit card companies.
"We are unsurprised that House Republicans uniformly insist on defending large corporate banks’ current practice of overcharging Americans with credit card late fees," the progressive lawmakers added, "and welcome the opportunity to highlight the contrast in our priorities on the House floor this summer."
A new @POTUS + @CFPB rule means big banks won’t be able to charge over $8 in late fees for credit card payments.
Surprising no one, @HouseGOP is trying to block it 🫠@SpeakerJohnson: bring this bill to a vote & make your members' support for predatory junk fees official. pic.twitter.com/JuzHU921ur
— Progressive Caucus (@USProgressives) July 17, 2024
The House GOP's defense of junk fees undercuts the election-year narrative of ascendant pro-worker populism within the Republican Party, which is working aggressively to overturn labor protections enacted by the Biden administration.
In April, Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee voted unanimously to advance Rep. Andy Barr's (R-Ky.) resolution to undo the CFPB's rule on late fees. Every Democrat on the panel voted no.
The House Republicans who backed Barr's resolution have received millions of dollars in donations from leading credit card issuers and industry groups fighting the CFPB rule, according to the progressive watchdog group Accountable.US.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), a vocal supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, is leading the Senate effort to roll back the CFPB rule and has criticized the Biden administration for characterizing credit card late-payment penalties as "junk fees."
According to OpenSecrets, Goldman Sachs employees, executives, and PACs have been Scott's largest campaign contributors over the course of his Senate career.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing last month that Republicans are "falling all over themselves to defend these junk fees."
"If you're wondering why Republicans are introducing legislation to protect junk fees and working overtime to come up with fantastical legal theories to kill the CFPB, I think the answer is pretty clear," said Warren. "Republicans are in bed with big business to rip off families and to protect corporate bottom lines."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular