German dilemmas

Berlin refuses to criticise Israeli war conduct – despite fierce protests from the UN. The death toll of women and children in Gaza far exceeds any other war in the last 18 years.

TEL AVIV/BEIRUT/BERLIN (own report) – The German government is still refusing to criticise Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, and now in Lebanon. Berlin will not even call for a halt to the supply of deadly weapons to Israel. In recent days, several senior United Nations officials have taken a clear and strong stance against purported war crimes committed by the Israeli Defence Force. French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a halt to the supply of weapons of war to Israel. In a speech delivered yesterday, Sunday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz limited himself to a generalised plea for “a ceasefire”. The Hamas massacre of 7 October 2023, in which almost 1,200 people were directly murdered, is now being widely commemorated. Israel answered the massacre with a war on Gaza that has long since transgressed all humanitarian limits. The number of civilians killed in the Gaza Strip after one year of war is twice as high as the number of civilians killed in Ukraine after thirty months of war. More than 80 per cent of all schools in Gaza and almost all hospitals have been severely damaged or completely destroyed by bombing. For Germany, Israel remains its most important military partner outside of NATO.

The massacre of 7 October 2023

The current Middle East conflagration was triggered by the massacre carried out by Hamas units on 7 October 2023. According to research by Agence France-Presse (AFP), Hamas killed 1,195 people, including 815 civilians and 380 Israeli security forces.[1] They also abducted 251 people to the Gaza Strip. The murdered civilians were predominantly Israelis. Among the foreign nationals were 39 Thai citizens who had been working as labourers in Israel.[2] So far, 97 hostages taken by Hamas are still missing, including a supposed figure of eight Thai nationals.[3] It is uncertain how many of the hostages are still alive. Israel officially counts 101 hostages, including four who were abducted much earlier to the Gaza Strip, in 2014 and 2015, although two of the four are now presumed dead.[4] The massacre of 7 October 2023 was the worst ever committed against Israelis and probably the largest single massacre in the Middle East conflict since the Sabra and Shatila massacres of September 1982, when Lebanese Christian militias slaughtered Palestinians and Lebanese Shiites in refugee camps surrounded by Israeli soldiers. The number of fatalities is still disputed today. The renowned Middle East expert Robert Fisk estimated the figure at around 1,700.[5]

The most killings in 18 years

Israel responded to the Hamas massacre with a war it has been waging without restraint, a war that goes beyond all limits. According to the Palestinian health authorities, at least 41,870 Palestinians have been killed in the course of the war in the Gaza Strip (as of yesterday, 6 October). And far more than half of fatalities have been women and children. The number of civilians killed within twelve months is therefore well in excess of 20,000. By comparison, the United Nations reports that at least 11,743 civilians were killed in the Ukraine war in the thirty months since the start of the war, i.e. from 24 February 2022 until 31 August 2024.[6] The population of Ukraine exceeds that of the Gaza Strip by a factor of more than seventeen. A recent study by Oxfam concludes that more women and children were killed in the Gaza onslaught within one year than in any other war in at last eighteen years. This is true even on the basis of conservative estimates of more than 6,000 women killed and more than 11,000 children killed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023. The highest number of women killed to date was in excess of 2,600 in Iraq in 2016. And more than 11,000 children were killed in the civil war in Syria, albeit in the first two and a half years, i.e. over a much longer time period.[7]

Hospitals bombed

The current Israeli war against Hezbollah, which began shelling Israel’s north on 8 October 2023, is already having a similarly devastating impact. According to various sources, between 63,000 and 80,000 Israelis have had to flee from the north. The Israeli counter strikes forced countless Lebanese to flee further north. With Israel expanding the strikes to other parts of the country and launching a ground invasion, many more Lebanese have been displaced. It is mainly the Shiite districts of Beirut being targeted, although nowhere is now safe in the city. The total number of internally displaced persons in Lebanon is at present estimated by the UN to be around 1.2 million people. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the death toll in Lebanon exceeded 2,000 people at the end of last week, the vast majority being killed since Israel escalated its attacks in September 2024.[8] Israel’s invasion has forced four hospitals in southern Lebanon to shut down. Saint Therese Hospital in southern Beirut has been particularly badly damaged by Israeli airstrikes and has ceased operations. If Gaza offers a future scenario, much worse is to come. According to Médecins Sans Frontières, only seventeen out of 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are currently operational, and even then only partially, having been subjected to Israel’s firepower.[9]

‘All targets legitimate’

What’s more, Israel is not only overstepping humanitarian limits but also serially contravening international law. This applies to the systematic bombing of hospitals and schools. After all, according to a study by aid organisations, including UNICEF and Save the Children, 84.6 percent of all schools in the Gaza Strip have been completely or partially destroyed.[10] The preparation of pagers with explosives and their remote detonation also violates prohibitions under international law of the mining of civilian equipment. That covert operation endangered and killed civilians indiscriminately.[11] The targeted assassination campaign against officials not only of Hamas but also of Hezbollah mimics the approach once practised by the United States against Al Qaeda and IS. But in this case we are looking at established organisations that maintain extensive civil, social and political structures and provide members of parliament and ministers. The assassination campaign has included a bomb attack on an official guest of a foreign state (Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran) and the bombing of diplomatic facilities (an Iranian consulate building in Damascus).[12]. In addition to the large numbers of civilians being killed on a regular basis, Israel attacked an ammunition depot last week near the Russian Kmeimim airbase in Latakia, Syria. Syria expert Charles Lister from the Middle East Institute sees this as an indication that Tel Aviv has come to consider “everything to be a legitimate target and an acceptable risk”.[13]

‘This has to stop’

The response worldwide has long been one of widespread street protest along with strong criticism from international organisations and actors. Last Friday, for example, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, declared that the extent of civilian casualties in Lebanon was “completely unacceptable”.[14] Guterres himself had previously condemned the further escalation of the conflict in the wake of Iran’s missile strikes on Israel: “This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire.” The Israeli government then declared Guterres “persona non grata”, banning him from entry because his wording referred to them.[15] Yesterday, Sunday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said that the Israeli airstrikes on targets in Lebanon had ‘in many cases’ violated international humanitarian law.[16] On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron was the first Western head of state to officially urge a halt to the supply of weapons that can be used by Israel in Gaza. “The priority,” Macron said, was “to get back to a political solution.”[17]

‘Contradictory values’

The German government, on the other hand, remains steadfast in its support for the Israeli government’s war policy. Berlin continues to justify its stance by seeking to invoke human rights. In her speech in the UN General Debate at the end of September, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock defended Berlin’s arms deliveries to Ukraine by saying that, “Russia’s war against Ukraine has been destroying Ukrainian cities, schools and hospitals for almost one thousand days now.”[18] With regard to Israeli warfare, including attacks on cities, schools and hospitals, Baerbock stated that, “Values can at times appear contradictory, such as the inherent right to self-defence and the responsibility to protect the civilians.” Berlin had to face this “dilemma”. Germany works very closely with Israel militarily, and the Bundeswehr has described its cooperation with the IDF as “incredibly close”, as german-foreign-policy.com has recently reported.[19]

 

[1] October 7 Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes by Hamas-led Groups. hrw.org 17.07.2024.

[2] Penchan Charoensuthipan, Poramet Tangsathaporn: Thai death toll in Israel rises to 39. bangkokpost.com 11.11.2023.

[3] A year in captivity: Faces of 97 hostages who still haven’t returned home to Israel. news.sky.com 05.10.2024.

[4] Hamas hostages: Stories of the people taken from Israel. bbc.co.uk 01.09.2024.

[5] Robert Fisk: The forgotten massacre. independent.co.uk 15.09.2012.

[6] Ukraine: Worsening impact on civilians of Russia’s attack, torture of prisoners of war. ohchr.org 01.10.2024.

[7] More women and children killed in Gaza by Israeli military than any other recent conflict in a single year. oxfam.org.uk 01.10.2024.

[8] Mohamad El Chamaa, Suzan Haidamous, Ellen Francis, Bryan Pietsch, Louisa Loveluck: Israel expands strikes to northern Lebanon as death toll rises. washingtonpost.com 05.10.2024.

[9] One year of a war without rules leaves Gaza shattered. doctorswithoutborders.org 02.10.2024.

[10] Tania Krämer: Education in Gaza: Still no classes as schools stay closed. dw.com 18.09.2024.

[11] See also: ‘In Germany’s national interest’.

[12] See also: Escalation in the Middle East (II).

[13] Eve Sampson, Anton Troianovski, Aric Toler, Oleg Matsnev: Syria and Russia remain silent on reported airstrikes on a weapons facility near a Russian base in Syria. nytimes.com 04.10.2024.

[14] Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. press.un.org 04.10.2024.

[15] Israel verbietet UN-Generalsekretär die Einreise. tagesschau.de 02.10.2024.

[16] Timour Azhari: UN refugee chief says airstrikes in Lebanon have violated humanitarian law. reuters.com 06.10.2024.

[17] Emmanuel Macron se prononce en faveur de l’arrêt des livraisons d’armes à Israël pour la guerre à Gaza : « Honte », réplique Benyamin Nétanyahou. lemonde.fr 05.10.2024.

[18] Rede von Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock bei der Generaldebatte der 79. Generalversammlung der Vereinten Nationen. auswaertiges-amt.de 26.09.2024.

[19] See also: ‘In Germany’s national interest’ (II) and ‘In Germany’s national interest’ (III).


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