DayofPal– More than a dozen British NGOs have called out the UK government for neglecting its commitment to international law amid Israeli escalating assaults in northern Gaza.
As Israeli forces intensify their aerial and ground offensive, they have significantly besieged residential neighborhoods, leaving 400,000 civilians in a perilous situation.
In a powerful statement released on Tuesday, a coalition of prominent NGOs, including Oxfam, Islamic Relief UK, and Medical Aid for Palestinians, declared that Gaza “is being wiped from existence before our very eyes.”
They urged the UK government to call for an immediate halt to Israel’s brutal assaults and to actively oppose any attempts to annex or diminish Gaza, accusing the government of complicity due to its deliberate silence.
“Its current silence is tantamount to complicity.”
The NGOs are urging the UK government to take a stand against Israel’s forced displacement of Palestinians and the annexation of northern Gaza, insisting on a suspension of all arms transfers to Israel.
They also said the government should take “bold and concrete steps” to ensure that Israel complies with the International Court of Justice’s orders to prevent genocide and to implement the court’s advisory opinion not to aid Israel’s unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory.
“We reiterate our calls on the UK to end its potential or actual complicity in violations of international law,” they wrote.
What is General’s Plan?
Israeli forces have encircled the Jabalia camp and its neighboring areas, including Tal Al-Za’atar, Al-Sikka, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahia, enforcing a complete siege. Tanks and drones dominate the landscape, sealing off vital roads, particularly the key junction at Al-Halabi Square in Jabalia.
Residents, already enduring a barrage of airstrikes and artillery, find themselves cut off from escape. Tragically, numerous families remain trapped beneath the debris, with rescue teams unable to reach them amidst the chaos.
Amid a complete shutdown of north Gaza’s hospitals, the Indonesian, Al-Yaman Al-Saeed, and Kamal Adwan, hundreds of Palestinians in Jabalia have been injured with no access to medications.
More than 130 Palestinians have been killed since a week ago in Jabalia, according to Gaza Civil Defense.
The renewed assault comes amid fears that the military is implementing a plan conceived by retired Major-General Giora Eiland to empty northern Gaza of its 400,000 residents to make way for a “closed military zone.”
“The general’s plan,” which was launched in an Israeli TV campaign, calls for the ethnic cleansing of northern Gaza, warning that those that remain will face starvation.
“The right thing to do is to inform the approximately 300,000 residents who remained in the northern Gaza Strip… we are ordering you to leave,” Eiland said last month.
“In a week, the entire territory of the northern Gaza Strip will become military territory.”
Israel’s public broadcaster Kann reported that the renewed incursion on Jabalia could signal the implementation of the plan.
“The entire northern area of the Gaza Strip will be cleansed according to the generals’ plan; the entire population will be evacuated…and the entire northern area of the Gaza Strip will be declared a closed military area,” the network reported on Saturday.
In recent weeks, the plan was reportedly being considered by Israel’s government, with Reuters reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said it “makes sense”.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces issued expulsion orders for three main hospitals in northern Gaza—Kamal Adwan, al-Awda and the Indonesian hospital, giving them just 24 hours to flee.
The army threatened that if they didn’t leave, they would face “the same fate as al-Shifa hospital, with destruction, killing and arrest”, according to a statement by the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
General’s plan fails as Gazans stand still and die still. Reports from Jabalia residents have confirmed that the people prefer to die in their homes with dignity over fleeing. For seven days in a row, the Israeli army has faced unbroken spirits and unabated steadfastness.
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