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'Humanitarian Calamity' Looms as US-Armed Israeli Forces Prepare to Invade Lebanon
"Despite the Israeli government's serious escalation in Lebanon and indiscriminate bombings in Gaza and the West Bank, President Biden continues to funnel billions in lethal military aid."
Sep 30, 2024
Israeli forces appear poised to launch a ground invasion of Lebanon within days following a sustained bombing campaign that has killed more than a thousand people—including dozens of children—and displaced more than a million, heightening fears of a large-scale humanitarian disaster and a wider war that could consumer the entire region.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has already carried out what were described as "limited ground incursions" across the Lebanese border, but a larger invasion could be imminent given the positioning of Israeli troops and rhetoric from top Israeli officials.
"We will use all the means that may be required—your forces, other forces, from the air, from the sea, and on land," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Israeli troops on Monday.
The mayor of a Christian-majority Lebanese village located roughly six miles from the Lebanon-Israel border toldReuters that locals "had received calls apparently from the Israeli army telling them to evacuate the area as soon as possible."
Humanitarian groups have warned that a full-scale ground invasion would be a disaster for the Lebanese people, many of whom have seen their lives upended by Israeli attacks over the past two weeks.
"We are gravely concerned about the possibility of an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon," said Julie Mehigan, Christian Aid's head of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. "The patterns we're seeing from the attacks of the last few days are reminiscent of what we've seen in Gaza these last few months. Massive displacement and killing of civilians, whole families killed in their homes, and schools converted into shelters. All the while Gaza is continually being bombed from land, air, and sea."
"We are on the precipice of yet another humanitarian calamity in the region," Mehigan added.
"Not only is this administration sending more bombs aimed at them and other civilians, they're also helping Netanyahu cover up his crimes. It's despicable."
The Biden administration, which provided the 2,000-pound bombs that Israel used to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and dozens of civilians in an attack on Beirut late Friday, is reportedly prepared to give Israel approval to move troops into Lebanon as long as the invasion is "limited."
But the Israeli government, headed by far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has repeatedly disregarded the Biden administration's stated conditions. As The New York Timesobserved Monday, the administration wanted the Israeli military to "eschew major combat operations" in the southern Gaza city of Rafah earlier this year. The IDF went on to launch a massive assault on the city, rendering it uninhabitable.
Akbar Shahid Ahmed, HuffPost's senior diplomatic correspondent, reported Monday that the Biden administration is unlikely to "veto" Israeli plans for a ground invasion of Lebanon and noted he is hearing a "growing sense" that "an Israeli invasion of Lebanon with U.S. backing (based on the idea it will be limited) is coming."
The possibility of an imminent Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon has heightened concerns of a full-blown regional war with potentially devastating global implications. Hezbollah has pledged to retaliate against Israel for the assassination of Nasrallah, and Iran—which has thus far acted with restraint—could also decide to intervene as Lebanon's government works to prevent the military conflict from spiraling.
Craig Mokhiber, a human rights attorney and former director of the New York office of the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, wrote on social media Monday that "as Israel continues its genocide in Palestine, expands its murderous rampage into Lebanon (perhaps even launching a ground invasion to ethnically cleanse the south) the West cheers and arms them, Arab governments sleep, the U.N. looks the other way, the [International Criminal Court] stalls, the Global South offers only symbolic objections, and the world is dragged passively toward WWIII."
Israel's intensifying assault on Lebanon has sparked fresh calls for a halt to U.S. arms transfers to the Israeli military, which relies heavily on American-made weaponry.
Maurice Mitchell, national director of the U.S.-based Working Families Party, said in a statement Monday that Israel's ongoing attacks on Lebanon "mark an extreme escalation that further threatens the stability of the region" and expressed support for an effort led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to block recently approved arms sales.
"Despite the Israeli government's serious escalation in Lebanon and indiscriminate bombings in Gaza and the West Bank, President Biden continues to funnel billions in lethal military aid to the Israeli government without conditions, including $8.7 billion last week," said Mitchell. "This coupled with new reports that the Israeli government violated international law by deliberately blocking humanitarian aid to families in Gaza underscores the urgent need to stop the flow of offensive weapons to the Israeli government.”
Abbas Alawieh, a Lebanese American from Michigan and a co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement, said Monday that "every hour, I get messages from my family in Lebanon, asking when the American-funded bombs will stop."
"Not only is this administration sending more bombs aimed at them and other civilians, they're also helping Netanyahu cover up his crimes," said Alawieh. "It's despicable."
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'I Am Not a Terrorist': Letters From Gaza Children Decry Daily Horrors of Israeli Assault
"We live in a constant state of fear and anxiety, with shells accompanying us around the clock, reaping lives, sparing only those fortunate enough to survive," one Palestinian girl wrote to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Jul 16, 2024
A U.K.-based humanitarian group on Tuesday delivered "heartbreaking" letters from two Palestinian girls—including one who lost her arm in an Israeli attack—imploring new Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer to "intervene and help bring about a permanent cease-fire" in Gaza.
"We write to you with hearts full of sorrow and spirits crushed by the daily suffering inflicted upon us by the brutal war," wrote 15-year-old Mais Abdel Hadi, president of the youth-led Palestinian Children's Council, in a letter presented to Starmer's office in London by the charity Christian Aid. Palestinian Children's Council is a partner of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
"We live in a constant state of fear and anxiety, with shells accompanying us around the clock, reaping lives, sparing only those fortunate enough to survive," said Hadi, whose family is forcibly displaced due to the destruction of their home. "Destruction and devastation surround us on all sides. Our question is: Why must we children pay such a horrendous price?"
"Our question is: Why must we children pay such a horrendous price?"
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, an average of 58 children have been killed each day—approximately 16,000 in total—since Israel launched its retaliatory assault and siege of Gaza after the Hamas-led attacks last October 7.
The ministry—whose figures have been deemed reliable by Israeli intelligence—says that Israeli bombs and bullets have wounded more than 34,000 other Palestinian children, and that thousands more are missing and presumed dead and buried beneath the rubble of bombed-out homes and other buildings. Over 17,000 other Gazan children are orphaned.
"We wake up every day to the sound of bombs and rockets, with no safe place to seek refuge," Hadi stated. "This violent war has taken our homes, schools, families, relatives, friends, and classmates. It has forced us to sleep in poor tents and in the open air, our bodies scorched by the sun during the day and deprived of sleep at night due to constant airstrikes and random shelling."
"We need your support and urgent intervention to end this tragedy," she stressed to the newly-elected prime minister.
Hadi continued:
We demand an immediate cease-fire and the establishment of peace because we, the children of Palestine, deserve to live in safety and peace. We also urge you to work on rebuilding our schools and hospitals that have been destroyed and to provide the necessary psychological and educational support so we can regain our lives and futures.
Stop the death by starvation, the killing by denying medicine, and the destruction of health centers. Bring back life through songs, poems, and music. We are children who hope for a dignified life and do not wish for anyone to suffer.
Save our lives, dreams, and rights, and preserve our childhood. We are not just numbers or news in media reports; we are living souls, carrying hope in our hearts, awaiting your swift and effective action.
Sixteen-year-old Hala Abu Saleem, one of the thousands of child amputees in Gaza, asked: "Will my hand grow back? Or am I condemned to live without an arm?"
"I am not a terrorist to be exterminated," asserted Saleem, whose family is also forcibly displaced after their home was bombed. "I am not a terrorist for my house to be destroyed and my family killed. I am not a terrorist to live in a tent that is scorching during the day and freezing at night, unfit even for animals!"
"It's time for you to bear the consequences of your mistakes from over a century ago," Saleem added. The British Empire ruled Palestine in the early 20th century and facilitated Zionist colonization before reversing the policy amid resistance from the existing Arab population.
"End the occupation," she begged. "Stop the genocide!"
Starmer, who became prime minister on July 5, has given no indication that his administration will depart from the previous Conservative government's nearly unconditional support for Israel. As opposition leader, he sparked widespread outrage in Britain—a country that has seen massive pro-Palestine demonstrations over the past nine months—and beyond by initially supporting Israel's "right" to cut off water and electricity in Gaza, acts cited as evidence of genocide. He later retracted his statement.
The United Nations Children's Fund has described Gaza as "the most dangerous place in the world to be a child." More children were killed in the first four months of Israel's Gaza onslaught than in all the world's wars over the past four years, according to the U.N.'s Palestine relief agency. Israeli forces have allegedly deliberately targeted and executed children. Israeli warplanes are dropping shrapnel-packed fragmentation bombs that doctors say are eviscerating children's bodies and causing a "constant flow of amputations."
Israel also stands accused of using starvation as a weapon of war, killing dozens of children by malnutrition, dehydration, and lack of medical care.
In addition to killing, maiming, starving, and orphaning children, Israel's war has wrought what one Gaza mother described as "the complete psychological destruction" of youth living in the enclave.
Last month, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres added Israel to the so-called "List of Shame" of countries that kill and injure children during wars and other armed conflicts.
Israel's conduct in the 283-day war—which has left more than 137,500 Palestinians in Gaza dead, maimed, or missing—is under investigation by the International Court of Justice in a South Africa-led genocide case.
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan is also seeking to arrest Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes including extermination and forced starvation. Khan also applied for warrants to arrest three senior leaders of Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2006.
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Aid Groups Condemn IDF 'Humanitarian Islands' Plan for Rafah Civilians
"There is nothing humanitarian about Israel's proposal to push civilians into 'humanitarian islands' in Gaza."
Mar 14, 2024
Aid groups reacted with alarm Thursday to the Israeli military's stated plan to transfer much of the population of Rafah—a small city in southern Gaza that's currently packed with more than 1.5 million people—to so-called "humanitarian islands" in the central part of the enclave.
William Bell, the head of Middle East policy and advocacy at Christian Aid, called the proposal "a preposterous idea" that the international community must reject in favor of an immediate, permanent cease-fire and a massive surge of humanitarian assistance.
"The half-baked plan to force more than a million displaced civilians out of Rafah into so-called 'humanitarian islands' further north beggars belief," said Bell. "And the suggestion that they will be safe simply cannot be given credence."
"How long will it take to build and equip these islands? And how much longer to get people to them?" Bell asked. "With Gaza on the brink of famine, children dying of malnutrition, and desperate families reportedly eating grass to survive, men, women, and children need lifesaving aid now."
"The past five months have taught us that places labeled 'safe zones' in Gaza quickly become death zones."
During a news briefing on Wednesday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the planned humanitarian zones would be created in concert "with the international community," but he did not provide specifics or a timeline.
Ahead of a planned ground invasion of Rafah, Hagari said the IDF intends to direct a "significant" portion of the city's population—most of which is living in makeshift tents—to designated areas in central Gaza, where he claimed they would be provided with temporary housing, food, and other necessities that Israel has systematically restricted.
Given that Rafah was once considered a relatively safe area for Palestinians displaced by Israel's assault and is currently under IDF bombardment, aid campaigners expressed deep skepticism that the plan outlined by Hagari is in any way viable or humane.
"There is nothing humanitarian about Israel's proposal to push civilians into 'humanitarian islands' in Gaza," said Melanie Ward, CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians. "They are dangerous and must be stopped. The past five months have taught us that places labeled 'safe zones' in Gaza quickly become death zones."
An investigation published Wednesday by the London-based research firm Forensic Architecture shows how the Israeli military has used supposed humanitarian measures to advance its assault on Gaza's civilian population.
The investigation details the IDF's repeated bombardment of so-called "safe zones" to which it has instructed desperate Gazans to flee and makes the case that Israel's evacuation orders have functioned "as a tool of mass displacement, pushing civilians into unlivable areas that later come under attack."
NEW INVESTIGATION: Since 7 Oct 23, the Israeli army has weaponised humanitarian measures such as ‘evacuation orders’, ‘safe routes’ & ‘safe zones’ to support their military operations & facilitate the mass displacement of Palestinians.
View the platform: https://t.co/sOL45vXBcM pic.twitter.com/wr4SAtrIVj
— Forensic Architecture (@ForensicArchi) March 13, 2024
"Military evacuation of civilian populations is only legal under select, rare circumstances, and requires that displaced civilians be temporarily relocated to areas safe from conflict and with access to fundamental provisions for their safety and survival," the Forensic Architecture analysis said. "Where Israel's evacuation orders might individually be framed as humanitarian in nature, in fact when closely analyzed and considered over time, they reveal patterns of systematic mass displacement, with Palestinians deliberately and repeatedly being expelled from one unsafe and under-resourced location to another."
"A ground invasion in Rafah," the research firm argued, "would exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation for the 1.5 million displaced Palestinians taking refuge there."
In an interview this past weekend, U.S. President Joe Biden said that an IDF incursion into Rafah would cross a "red line"—a remark that the White House has since tried to walk back after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the planned assault would go ahead.
Asked about Israel's "humanitarian islands" proposal on Thursday, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said, "We can't confirm that that is in fact a plan that they have."
"Our position has not changed," Kirby said of a potential Rafah invasion. "We do not want to see large-scale operations in Rafah... unless there is [a] legitimate, executable plan to provide for the safety and security of the civilians that are there."
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