Industrial scale killing in Gaza
Using industrial methods
The sheer numbers of Palestinians that Israel has slaughtered, directly and indirectly, since October 7th, 2023, are staggering. In early July, when official sources reported 37,396 dead, the Lancet published, Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essential, where it stated:
It is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza. Using the 2022 Gaza Strip population estimate of 2, 375 259, this would translate to 7·9% of the total population in the Gaza Strip.
The killing has continued unabated. Hospitals, schools, and infrastructure have been obliterated. The provision of food, water, sanitation and electricity has completely stopped or been severely curtailed. Those who haven’t been killed outright are dying from disease and starvation. Refugee camps and ‘safe havens’ are routinely bombed and attacked.
We may never know the true number of dead, but we know the current estimate of 45,000 is a gross underestimate.
This is industrial scale killing, carried out with industrial methods. Not just by US-supplied 2k bombs and other munitions and weapons components from the UK and EU, but by Israeli manufactured armed drones, such as the Heron TP, the Hermes 450 and the Hermes 900, manufactured by Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries.
These armed remote-controlled UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) include electronically controlled quadcopter drones that indiscriminately drop bombs, fire from rifles and machine guns and even drop grenades at anything that moves. With a diameter of no more than 1 metre, they hover over people lying wounded on the ground and finish them off. Because they’re equipped with high-tech surveillance - cameras and listening devices - and precise targeting technology, IOF soldiers can remotely attack any target with ease.
As well as sniping operations, quadcopter drones are used to infiltrate homes and narrow alleyways. This Euromed report provides several horrifying accounts.
Always in the air above, quadcopters are also used to terrorise already terrified people on the ground and have broadcast the sound of crying children to lure people from their homes and tents.
These killing machines are a booming market in Israel. Startups are showcasing and marketing a range of different products that are conveniently field-tested in Gaza on civilians. As one of the world’s leading UAV users and manufacturers, Israel exports a significant amount. In mid-2017, it was estimated that Israel accounted for over 60% of international UAV exports over the previous 30 years.
Armed quadcopter drones aren’t illegal but the way the IOF is using them to carry out the mass murder of Palestinians, most certainly is. And no one believes the IOF’s claims that it doesn’t target civilians. There are too many videos showing otherwise.
The human rights monitor Euromed said of the killing of civilians by armed drones:
The Geneva Conventions classify these executions as war crimes and crimes against humanity, under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and they are a fundamental component of the genocide that Israel has been committing against the Gaza Strip’s inhabitants since 7 October 2023.
In September, Foreign Secretary Lammy suspended 30 out of 350 export licenses for military equipment to Israel on the grounds that the equipment could be used by Israel to violate International Humanitarian Law (IHL). These include components for fighter aircraft (F-16s), parts for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs or drones), naval systems, and targeting equipment.
These measures are inadequate. In October Starmer said:
“I have never described what is going on in Gaza as genocide, but I do agree that all sides should comply with international law”.
As a human rights lawyer, Sir Keir should know that the genocide convention, which both the UK and Israel have ratified, is a pillar of international law. The UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the US Center for Constitutional Rights, Amnesty International and the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention (founded by Raphael Lemkin who invented the term genocide) have said Israel is committing a genocide. Fourteen countries (Belgium, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Ireland, Spain, Libya, Maldives, Mexico, Nicaragua and Turkiye) have either joined or said they’ll join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel in the ICJ.
Here’s what the UK should be doing - end all arms sales to and political support for Israel, use its influence on the UN Security Council to force Israel to withdraw from Gaza, and openly condemn Israel’s genocide, not deny it as Lammy recently did.
Anything less and the UK will be liable for complicity under the genocide convention.
Thanks Leah. The horrors being committed against innocent civilians, by Israel, are far beyond what can be described as war or self defence. The weapons being deployed, my god, some are even used to experiment on how effective they are in murdering actual human beings. I can't get my head around the inhumanity of it all, but we know Palestine was not exactly a free and liberalised place to be for the people there for a very long time.
People ask why it's being allowed to go on, just look at the tech in weapons and you can see why, money, power, control and repeat.
I have had a few experiences of ghosts, seriously, and as we know, graveyards are not where you want to hang around for too long. Gaza is going to be a huge graveyard, and the dead won't all rest, to get all spooky about it. My mother used to say 'never be scared of ghosts, it's the living that'll hurt you', I'm not scared of ghosts, but where such wanton blatant heinous murder has taken place, I wouldn't want to live there. The other thing I find very disturbing is when watching news about Gaza, (few and far between reporting) are the comments, so many laughing, so many playing the victim who are the perpetrators, and so many condoning and welcoming the murdering of little children. That has me worried because they have truly lost their own humanity, and who else would they see the same thing happen to...very scary times indeed.
As usual, the voice of England as Britain is assumed to speak for the people of Scotland. I have no doubt that it does not - as an independent country I'm certain we would make a stand and be listed with those including Ireland who have the courage and humanity to call out this genocide for what it is and have no part in anything that assists it to continue I also believe that there are a great many in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who feel similarly and don't feel Westminster speaks for them either.