Roving Periscope: Israel says ready to invade Gaza—and asks UN chief to quit
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Continuing its air strikes on the Gaza Strip for more than two weeks now, Israel on Wednesday said it is ‘ready’ to launch a ground attack on the Gaza Strip, the hideout of Hamas terrorists, and also took potshots at the United Nations chief, demanding that Antonio Guterres should resign immediately.
Even after over 7,000 deaths on both sides, no one is backing off yet. Hamas, which last week released two American and two Israeli hostages each, is still holding on to nearly 220 captives as a bargaining chip while the US, Qatar, and some other countries continued efforts to get more of them released, while humanitarian aid continued to trickle in from Egypt into Gaza.
Besides the US, France, Germany, Italy, and Britain, some other countries have supported Israel while the Muslim nations and the Muslim community the world over have voiced strong support to Hamas and the Palestinians.
Unable to penetrate so far the Hamas hideouts in the ‘spiders’ web’ of over 1,300 tunnels spread underground 500 square km across the Gaza Strip, Israel has offered money, confidentiality, and protection to anyone from the Gazan community who shared information about the terrorists, the media reported on Wednesday.
Israel is fighting on multiple fronts. It is also bombing the Hezbullah hideouts in neighboring Lebanon and military infrastructure in Syria from where Hamas-friendly militants are attacking the Jewish state.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has marshaled its entire strength on the country’s southern border and is ready to ‘invade’ Gaza, The Jerusalem Post said quoting Chief of Staff Ltd Gen Herzi Halevi: “I want to be clear, we are ready to invade.”
Meanwhile, Israel has demanded UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s resignation immediately after, on Tuesday, he alleged violations of international law in Gaza and urged an immediate ceasefire while the crisis deeply divided the UN Security Council.
Opening a UNSC session, the UN chief said there was no excuse for the “appalling” violence by Hamas militants on October 7 but also warned Israel against “collective punishment” of the Palestinians.
“I am deeply concerned about the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza. Let me be clear: No party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law,” Guterres said, without explicitly naming Israel.
Guterres also said that the Hamas attacks “did not happen in a vacuum” as the Palestinians have been “subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.”
His remarks infuriated Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen who, pointing his finger at Guterres and raising his voice, recounted graphic accounts of civilians including young children killed in the deadliest single attack in Israeli history.
“Mr. Secretary-General, in what world do you live?” Cohen asked.
Rejecting linking the Hamas violence to the occupation, he said Israel, with its withdrawal in 2005, gave Gaza to the Palestinians “to the last millimeter.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, called on Guterres to resign, writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the UN chief has “expressed an understanding for terrorism and murder.”
Hamas militants stormed into Israel on October 7 and attacked largely civilian targets including families and a music festival, killing at least 1,400 people and taking more than 220 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
More than 5,700 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, have been killed across the Gaza Strip in retaliatory Israeli bombardments, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry said.
Guterres, who personally traveled to the border between Egypt and Gaza in a push to let in assistance, welcomed the entry of three aid convoys so far through the Rafah crossing.
But Guterres said it was “a drop of aid in an ocean of need,” as the UN agency for Palestinian Refugees warned it would be forced to stop working on Wednesday due to lack of fuel, amid Israeli blockade of the enclave of 2.3 million people, denying them food, water, electricity, and medicine for over two weeks.
“To ease epic suffering, make the delivery of aid easier and safer, and facilitate the release of hostages, I reiterate my appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
Israel, backed by the United States and its allies, has rejected calls to halt the offensive, saying it would only allow Hamas to regroup.
The United States last week vetoed a draft resolution on the crisis, saying it did not sufficiently support Israel’s right to respond to Hamas.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked the Security Council to back a new US-led resolution that “incorporates substantive feedback.”
The draft proposes to defend the “inherent right of all states” to self-defense while calling for compliance with international law. It would back “humanitarian pauses” to let in aid but not a full ceasefire.
“No member of this Council — no nation in this entire body — could or would tolerate the slaughter of its people,” Blinken said.
Veto-wielding Russia, which has been on the receiving end at the Security Council over its invasion of Ukraine, quickly said it would oppose the US draft, which also came under criticism from US regional ally, Egypt.
“We’re surprised by new attempts to adopt a resolution that doesn’t include any call for a ceasefire to prevent further deterioration of the situation which might lead the region to a dangerous juncture, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said.
Foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki of the Palestinian Authority, run by Hamas rivals, called inaction by the Security Council “inexcusable,” as did Jordan, another US partner.
“The Security Council must take a clear stance to reassure two billion Arabs and Muslims that international law will be applied,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said.
Jordan and Russia are among nations that requested a meeting on Thursday of the UN General Assembly, whose resolutions are non-binding, due to the Security Council deadlock.
