Israel unlikely to comply with UN ceasefire call in Gaza: Law expert
Israel is not expected to comply with the UN Security Council’s recent call for a ceasefire in Gaza, according to an international law expert.
“Israel has a significant record of non-compliance with international law,” Lima Bustami, director of the Law Department at the Geneva-based civil society organisation Euro-med Human Rights Monitor, told Anadolu.
Bustami stressed that Tel Aviv disregards international organisations, including the UN and the UN Security Council.
“Although compliance with the UN Security Council resolution is mandatory, there are no direct measures or sanctions in case of non-compliance because it is a decision made under Chapter 6 of the UN Charter,” Bustami noted.
“We will likely witness Israel continuing to commit genocide crimes in Gaza, and have to appeal to the UN Security Council to issue a new decision,” according to Bustami.
The possibility of decisions being made under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, involving economic and diplomatic sanctions as well as the use of military force in the event of Israel’s non-compliance with the ceasefire call, is ‘unlikely’ due to the US veto power, Bustami said.
Underlining that the UN has failed to stop the crime of genocide committed by Israel since October 7, Bustami said: “Nevertheless, this decision represents a significant development at the international level regarding the events occurring in the Gaza Strip.”
“The decision indicates increasing international pressure against Israel and its allies to halt the war, as well as a shift in international approach towards Israel,” Bustami added.
On Monday, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
While Hamas welcomed the resolution, Israel rejected the ceasefire call and vowed to continue its war on the Palestinian enclave.
Death toll rises to 32,490
The Palestinian death toll from Israel’s deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip has reached 32,490 since last October, Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
At least 74,889 other Palestinians have been injured in the onslaught, the ministry added in a statement.
“Israeli attacks killed 76 people and injured 102 others in the last 24 hours,” the ministry said.
“Many victims are still trapped under rubble and on the roads and rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since the October 7, 2023 cross-border attack by Hamas, which killed nearly 1,200 people.
The Israeli war, now in its 173rd day, has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Meanwhile, in the northern occupied West Bank, an Israeli army airstrike killed three Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp on Wednesday.
In a statement, the Palestinian Health Ministry said three Palestinians were martyred and four others injured in the (Israeli) occupation aggression on Jenin.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that an armed Israeli army drone struck the Al-damj neighbourhood of the Jenin refugee camp while Israeli forces, escorted by bulldozers, raided Jenin, and the adjacent towns of Qabatiya and Burqin, and started to destroy the infrastructure there.
The Israeli army arrested at least three Palestinians from Jenin, and withdrew from the area after nine hours of military operations there, the eyewitnesses added.
Clashes were also reported between the Israeli army and Palestinians in Qabatiya that left at least three Palestinians injured.
The new deaths bring the Palestinian death toll in the West Bank, killed by the Israeli forces and settlers, since October 7 to 453, in addition to over 4,600 others injured. Besides, at least 20 Palestinians were detained in fresh Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
We will likely witness Israel continuing to commit genocide crimes in Gaza, and have to appeal to the UN Security Council to issue a new decision LIMA BUSTAMI