Jeremy Corbyn has summed up the dire situation in Palestine where Israel has begun its offensive on Rafah.
South Gazan city Rafah is where over half of Gaza’s population – around 1.4m people – are currently, after many fled to the supposed ‘safe zone’ to escape Israel’s seven month assault. Beforehand, there were 275,000 people in Rafah:
The assault on Rafah is another utterly despicable war crime.
As bombs rain down on a trapped and terrified population, we implore our government to find an ounce of humanity and end its complicity in this senseless massacre.
Wake up. This is not war. This is genocide.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 6, 2024
Rafah: “bombs rain down”
Palestinians and people on social media are continuing to document Israel’s assault:
This footage is taken from the Egyptian side of Rafah
Indiscriminate bombing
Netanyahu is a monster. He leads a fascist government and seeks genocide
Biden, Sunak and Starmer enabled and supported his slaughter of innocent people.
They are all guilty.pic.twitter.com/DBf0K5UdMa
— Howard Beckett (@BeckettUnite) May 7, 2024
Israel has intensified its bombing of Rafah since announcing what it claims is a “limited” operation in the city:
ISRAEL IS HEAVILY BOMBING RAFAH pic.twitter.com/8UB4NAHdoj
— Muhammad Smiry 🇵🇸 (@MuhammadSmiry) May 7, 2024
As well as the bombing campaign, Israeli tanks are on the ground at the Rafah crossing:
A year ago, my joy was indescribable as I took this picture upon entering the Rafah crossing during a visit to my family in #Gaza.
Today, Israeli army, relentless in its destruction, launches a heinous military operation on the #Rafah area and completely destroys the crossing. pic.twitter.com/Aq4pJrJ3oV
— Nour Naim| نُور (@NourNaim88) May 7, 2024
While continuing its bombing elsewhere in Gaza, Israeli occupation forces killed another 21 Palestinians with airstrikes on family homes in Rafah.
Corbyn: UK must “end its complicity”
Corbyn also called for the UK government to stop its complicity in the Israeli assault. That complicity comes in many forms.
For one, the Conservative government has refused to restore funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).
As the Canary previously reported:
The UN agency delivers education, social services, healthcare, and refugee camps. 1.7 million Gazans rely on it. Most Palestinians in Gaza are refugees from elsewhere in Palestine. That’s because Israel has colonised their nation since 1948.
The UK cut funding to UNRWA after Israel made evidence-free claims that 12 of its 13,000 Gaza employees were involved in the 7 October Hamas attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously called for UNRWA to be “dismantled”. It’s a life-line for millions of Palestinians and stands in the way of Israel’s colonisation of Palestine.
The Conservative government has also long used ‘special mission immunity’ to prevent Israeli war criminals from facing justice in the UK.
As recently as March and after the International Court of Justice found it “plausible” that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, the government granted such immunity to member of the Israeli war cabinet Benny Gantz.
This seeks to prevent police arresting Gantz under the UK jurisdiction of international law.
The complicity is far-reaching and also takes the form of arms sales to Israel. Since 2008, the UK government has licensed arms to Israel worth over £574m.
These arms sales have continued despite Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.
“This is not war. This is genocide.”
Corbyn also challenged the framing that Israel’s offensive in Palestine is a legitimate war, rather than a genocide. The figures make this position clear.
Since 7 October, Israel has killed at least 34,789 Palestinians in Gaza including over 14,500 children. Meanwhile, Hamas and other militants have killed around 600 Israeli soldiers since Oct 7.
The nuclear armed Israeli state has one of the world’s most powerful militaries. It’s the opposite of a balanced fight. Palestine has no military – no land force, navy nor air force.
And Hamas has a comparatively very limited capability – it doesn’t have fighter jets nor tanks instead relying on machine guns and anti-aircraft missiles.
Besides that, Israel has been targeting Palestinian family homes, hospitals, universities, and other civilian infrastructure.
Corbyn’s right – this so-called war is simply a “senseless massacre”.
Featured image via BBC Newsnight – YouTube and IsraeliPM – YouTube
