How Israel's targeting of Palestinian children proves that it is committing genocide:
The powerful @nytimes article by @FerozeSidhwa and his colleagues adds to the mounting evidence that makes it irrefutable that Israel is committing genocide in Palestine, here is why:
The powerful @nytimes article by @FerozeSidhwa and his colleagues adds to the mounting evidence that makes it irrefutable that Israel is committing genocide in Palestine, here is why:
Recall that the Genocide Convention enumerates these genocidal acts: 
In @CIJ_ICJ Gambia v. Myanmar case, 6 states (Germany, UK, France, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands) argued that “the targeting of children is relevant to the determination of specific intent,” as per Art. II of the Convention, i.e. genocidal intent. icj-cij.org/sites/default/…
They offer 3 reasons to support this argument:
1. “Evidence that children have been targeted on a significant scale would be likely to preclude a defense that members of a protected group were targeted solely for certain other reasons, such as that they posed a security threat”
1. “Evidence that children have been targeted on a significant scale would be likely to preclude a defense that members of a protected group were targeted solely for certain other reasons, such as that they posed a security threat”
2. "the targeting of children provides an indication of the intention to destroy a group as such, at least in part. Children are essential to the survival of any group as such, since the physical destruction of the group is assured where it is unable to regenerate itself."
3. "where children are targeted.. this may assist in demonstrating the existence of the requisite intent. Given the significance of children to the survival of all groups, evidence of harm to children may contribute to an inference that the perpetrators intended to destroy a substantial part of the protected group"
In Gaza:
(a). Direct Killing: already on 29 Oct 23 Save the Children declared that the “number of children reported killed in just 3 weeks in Gaza is more than the number killed in armed conflict globally.. over the course of a whole year, for the last 3 years.”
(a). Direct Killing: already on 29 Oct 23 Save the Children declared that the “number of children reported killed in just 3 weeks in Gaza is more than the number killed in armed conflict globally.. over the course of a whole year, for the last 3 years.”
On 10 November 2023, the World Health Organization stated that a “child is killed on average every 10 min in the Gaza Strip.”
The NYT article also supplies evidence of genocidal killing, as per Art II of Convention:
The NYT article also supplies evidence of genocidal killing, as per Art II of Convention:
In August 2024 it was estimated that out of the 40,000 Palestinian killed in Gaza, the number of children killed was 16,456. Thousands more are estimated to be buried under the rubble. aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/15…
Recent numbers show that 3,100 children of the 11,300 identified children killed in Gaza (Oct-31 Aug) were younger than five. Of those about 710 were babies aged under 12 months. Another 2,800 children killed have yet to be identified. savethechildren.org.uk/news/media-cen…
(b)1. the “serious bodily harm” that Israel inflicted on Gaza’s children is evident for example in the unprecedented numbers of amputations. see newyorker.com/news/dispatch/…
(b)2: The “serious mental harm” that Israel inflicted on Palestinian children is also clear from the NYT article and other previous sources
In February 2024, UNICEF estimated that at least 17,000 children were left orphaned or separated from their parents. aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/2/…
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part: this is clear in starvation/ famine and the destruction of the health system:
This malnutrition affected all the population
the lack of basic supplies
leading to predictable but preventable deaths, including of children
The recent report of the UN International Commission of Inquiry was very clear of the destructive effect of the systematic destruction of the health sector in Gaza documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/…
No wonder that UN agencies said for many months that Israel is waging a "war on children", a "war on childhood", and that, at least since 31 Oct 2023, Gaza has become a graveyard for children. unicef.org/press-releases…
In June, the United Nations secretary-general added the Israeli armed forces to the “list of shame” of warring parties committing grave violations against children in armed conflict. hrw.org/news/2024/06/1…
.@DCIPalestine published a report "Targeting Childhood", focusing on 141 children that Israel killed in the West Bank between Oct and 31 July. On average, Israel killed a Palestinian child in the West Bank every two days since 7 October. dci-palestine.org/targeting_chil…
In the dossier that South Africa submitted on 29 May to the UN Security Council there are many recorded Israeli statements since October that deny the existence of any innocents in Gaza, including children. documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/…
Now, compare this situation to Ukraine: "A total of 2,184 child casualties have been documented by OHCHR since the full-scale war began in February 2022, with 633 killed and 1,551 injured." .savethechildren.net/news/ukraine-c…
Although the numbers (633 children killed) in Ukraine is much much lower than in Palestine (over 16 thousand), we have seen arguments that Russia is committing genocide, see this by @EwelinaUO in Dec 2022: .forbes.com/sites/ewelinao…
Thus, according to the arguments of Germany, France, UK, Canada, Netherlands, and Denmark in the Myanmar case, Israel has committed a genocide. Israel’s invocation of security pretexts is not credible and does not preclude a finding of genocidal intent.
The NYT article referenced in this thread is available here:
65 Doctors, Nurses and Paramedics: What We Saw in Gaza archive.ph/O9p7F
65 Doctors, Nurses and Paramedics: What We Saw in Gaza archive.ph/O9p7F
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
