UPDATE:  Israel Kills 900 Palestinians in Week Since ICJ Ruling

Feb. 5—Seemingly undeterred and in open defiance of Jan. 26 ruling by the International Court of Justice that it cease and deter all acts of potential genocide by its armed forces against Palestinians in Gaza, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported Feb. 2 that Israeli violence in Gaza had killed 874 Palestinians and caused 1,490 casualties in Gaza between Jan. 27 and Feb. 2. Sources report that the number has risen to well over 900 deaths since that report and that even those figures understate the death total as many more bodies lie buried in the rubble of homes and buildings destroyed by Israel's relentless bombardment.

These sources report that the death total has now reached over 28,000 and is climbing every day. Meanwhile, Israel continues to block entry into Gaza of trucks carrying desperately needed food and other humanitarian supplies, according to officials of UNRWA, the United Nations relief agency that is the main distributor of such aid to the Palestinians. This denial of free and open access to Gaza by relief agencies is also in open defiance of the ICJ provisional orders. These actions bespeak to the need for action by the United Nations Security Council to enforce the ICJ orders, which can only be effective with a ceasefire. The United States has indicated that it would veto such a resolution, which has been circulated by Algeria, and its veto would kill it (see report below).

Buoyed by the staying support of American officials, Israeli forces have killed at least 874 Palestinians and injured at least 1,490 in Gaza since last week’s ICJ ruling, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures from Saturday, January 27, to Friday, February 2. That’s not to mention other acts of Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. The loss of life should not be dismissed as “collateral damage,” contrary to what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has saidOpens in a new tab.