States arming Israel or Hamas ‘complicit in war crimes’ – HRW

Jewish man dies after clashes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrators

California police said on Monday they were investigating the death of a Jewish man following a fray between supporters of Israel and Palestine. 

Clashes broke out Sunday between demonstrators at two rallies – one pro-Palestinian and the other pro-Israeli – in Thousand Oaks, northwest of Los Angeles, according to local police. 

At the scene, officers found the victim, 69-year-old Paul Kessler, had “suffered from head trauma,” the statement said. “Witnesses indicated that Kessler was involved in a physical altercation with one or more demonstrators” from the pro-Palestinian camp. 

“During the altercation, Kessler fell backwards and hit his head on the ground,” the statement added. 

He died Monday as a result of his injuries, according to the same source. 

Suspend arms to Israel and Palestinian armed groups – HRW

Allies of Israel and backers of Palestinian armed groups should suspend arms transfers given the real risk they will be used to commit grave abuses, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday. 

“Providing weapons that knowingly and significantly would contribute to unlawful attacks can make those providing them complicit in war crimes,” it added in a press release.

Data shared with Euronews by several organisations last week showed that multiple European states have supplied Israel’s army with key weapons and equipment it is likely using on the ground in Gaza. 

HRW urged Israel’s “key allies” – which it listed as the US, UK, Canada and Germany –  to “suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel so long as its forces commit widespread, serious abuses amounting to war crimes against Palestinian civilians with impunity.” 

It also called on Iran and other governments to cease providing arms to Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, “so long as they systematically commit attacks amounting to war crimes against Israeli civilians.”

Both sides have been accused of committing serious abuses and war crimes during the current hostilities. 

HRW pointed to the deliberate killing of hundreds of civilians in Israel on 7 October by Hamas and other Palestinian militants. 

Israel then cut electricity, fuel, food and water to Gaza’s population and severely curtailed life-saving humanitarian aid, all of which are acts of collective punishment, it continued. 

“Civilians are being punished and killed at a scale unprecedented in recent history in Israel and Palestine,” said Bruno Stagno, chief advocacy officer at HRW. “The United States, Iran and other governments risk being complicit in grave abuses if they continue to provide military assistance to known violators.”

Jewish activists demand ceasefire

Hundreds of Jewish activists in the US peacefully occupied the Statue of Liberty on Monday to demand a ceasefire from Israel and an end to the “genocidal bombing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”

Dressed in black t-shirts emblazoned with the slogans “not in our name”, demonstrators held banners “the whole world is watching” and “the Palestinians should be free” at the foot of the emblematic monument in New York. 

“The famous words of our Jewish ancestor [19th-century American poet and activist] Emma Lazarus engraved on this monument compel us to act to support the Palestinians of Gaza who aspire to live free,” said Jay Saper from the Jewish Voice for Peace.

“As long as the people of Gaza are screaming, we must scream louder, whatever the attempts to silence us,” added photographer Nancy Goldin, also at the demo. 

The US megalopolis, a mythical world city for immigration and multiculturalism, has been shaken for a month by demonstrations in favour of Israel and Palestinians.

Populated by some two million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Muslims, New York has so far escaped violence but tensions are palpable, particularly on university campuses like Columbia.

Part of a progressive American Jewish youth – with Jews voting overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party – is fiercely critical of Israel, which they accuse of perpetrating “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza. 

They also denounce President Joe Biden’s military and diplomatic support for the Jewish state.

Organisations like the Jewish Voice for Peace gathered tens of thousands of demonstrators in Washington on Saturday to demand an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, while criticising US policies supporting Israel.

Netanyahu refuses ceasefire

The Israeli Prime Minister once again rejected the possibility of a ceasefire, vowing to take “responsibility for security” in the Gaza Strip after the war. 

“There will be no ceasefire, no general ceasefire, in Gaza without the release of our hostages,” Benjamin Netanyahu said during an interview with the US channel ABC News on Monday evening. 

He also said Israel will take “for an indefinite period, general responsibility for security” in the Palestinian territory after the war.

“When we do not have this responsibility for security, we witness the eruption of Hamas terror,” Netanyahu added.

A senior Hamas official has previously said the Islamist movement would not accept “a Vichy government” in Gaza, referring to the French collaborationist regime under Nazi occupation during World War II.