International outrage with Israel grows
Reports: US approved sending bombs on day strike killed aid workers
Three former British Supreme Court justices and more than 600 members of the British legal profession called for their government to halt arms sales to Israel as the global outcry over humanitarian concerns in Gaza continues to grow.
The justices said the sales could make Britain complicit in genocide in Gaza and that their nation must use all available leverage to persuade Israel, and the United States, to alter the course of the war. Their call comes days after Israeli launched an attack in which seven World Central Kitchen aid workers were killed, three of them British.
“The provision of military assistance and material to Israel may render the U.K. complicit in genocide as well as serious breaches of International Humanitarian Law,” the judges, lawyers and legal academics said in a 17-page letter sent late Wednesday to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The news comes amid reports that the Biden administration approved the shipment of thousands more bombs to Israel the same day Israeli airstrikes killed the World Central Kitchen workers, an attack that has drawn outrage around the world and from Biden himself.
Three U.S. officials told The Washington Post the State Department approved the transfer of more than 1,000 MK82 500-pound bombs, over 1,000 small-diameter bombs and fuses for MK80 bombs. All the weapons transfers had been authorized by Congress years before the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that ignited the current war in Gaza, said the U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive arms deals. The Post and CNN, which also reported on the shipment, said it occurred before the Israeli strike.
Biden said he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the attack. Netanyahu said the killings were accidental and promised a thorough investigation of the attack.
Last week the U.S. authorized the transfer of billions of dollars worth of bombs and fighter jets to Israel, Reuters then reported, despite the White House publicly expressing concern over the still-anticipated Israeli military offensive in Rafah.
Israel has repeatedly argued that it has a right to defend itself after the Hamas-led militant attack Oct. 7 killed almost 1,200 people in border communities. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, Palestinian officials say.
The British government has been a staunch ally of Israel since the war began, but Foreign Secretary David Cameron has toughened his language in recent weeks amid increasing humanitarian concerns. Still, Sunak has resisted calls to halt the weapons sales, saying the government adheres to a “very careful licensing regime.”
President Joe Biden was scheduled to speak by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, a U.S. official said.
Meanwhile, Polish leaders denounced “outrageous” remarks by the Israeli ambassador to Poland after Israel’s deadly strike – which counted among its seven fatalities Polish citizen Damian Sobol, 35 – drew outcry in Poland. Israeli ambassador Yacov Livne chastised the “extreme right and left in Poland” for accusing Israel of “intentional murder in the attack.”
President Andrzej Duda on Thursday called his remarks “not very fortunate, in short, outrageous,” adding that “the ambassador is the biggest problem for the state of Israel in its relations with Poland.” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that if Livne makes any public appearances in Polish media, he should “use this opportunity to offer a simple, human apology.”
Israeli probe of WCK strike completed, to be released soon
The Israeli military’s probe into its attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy has been completed and the findings will be released to the public soon, spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Thursday.
The incident was investigated “thoroughly” by the General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism, an independent military body responsible for investigating unusual incidents amid the war, Hagari said.
“I believe that after we present it to the ambassadors of the relevant countries, and to the people of WCK, we will publicize it in a clear transparent way soon,” Hagari said at a briefing translated by The Times of Israel.
Hagari said the report would first be presented to Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Hamas says cease-fire, hostage talks going nowhere
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said talks with Israel aimed at a cease-fire, hostage release and ultimately an end to the war have become a “vicious circle” and are making no progress. Hamdan accused Netanyahu of creating obstacles to an agreement, saying the prime minister is “not concerned with the release” of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
“The occupation still rejects the demands of our people and our legitimate resistance for a comprehensive ceasefire, withdrawing from (Gaza), the return of the displaced, and a real exchange for the prisoners,” he said.
Egyptian and Qatari efforts, backed by the United States, have so far failed to achieve a cease-fire. While Hamas wants any cease-fire agreement to secure an end to the Israeli military offensive, Israel prefers a prisoners-for-hostage release deal, refusing to commit to ending its military campaign.
The Israeli military released 101 Palestinians who had been detained by forces during the ground offensive in the past weeks and months. The detainees, many of whom complained of ill treatment in Israeli jails, were freed through the Israeli Kerem Shalom crossing into the southern Gaza Strip.
However, Israeli bombardment in Gaza continued to target areas across the Palestinian enclave Thursday, killing 62 people in 24 hours, the territory’s health ministry said.
Contributing: Reuters