Switzerland states the obvious (which, despite its obviousness, will of course still be ignored by Israel):
Switzerland is the "depository" state of the Geneva Conventions.
They prohibit the deliberate targeting of services essential to the civilian population, like water and electricity.
[...]There is "no doubt Israel has not taken the precautions required of it in international law to protect the civilian population and infrastructure.
"The destruction of a power station, the attack on the offices of the Palestinian prime minister, the arbitrary arrests of a large number of democratically-elected representatives of the people and ministers... cannot be justified."
Here are some more examples of what Israel has been doing in Gaza:
The large-scale military operation by Israel has had serious humanitarian consequences for people living in the region.
The power station that was destroyed by the Israeli forces on 28 June, provided 43 per cent of the electricity supply to the Gaza Strip. Some 700,000 people have been affected by power cuts.
Water supplies have also been badly hit as not all pumps can continue to function, and in addition there is a lack of petrol and other fuels, the Swiss government said.
As the Swiss correctly point out, these actions are textbook violations of the Geneva Conventions:
Article 54.-Protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population
[...]
2. It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production of foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works, for the specific purpose of denying them for their sustenance value to the civilian population or to the adverse Party, whatever the motive, whether in order to starve out civilians, to cause them to move away, or for any other motive.
That seems clear enough. So how is the US responding to these blatant violations of international humanitarian law by its most favored client state? You only get one guess, and the first one doesn't count:
This, then, is the American modus operandi on the current season: sit quietly and do nothing. Or, as one official said more bluntly, "let the Palestinians sweat a little."
Why do they hate us? Those words just might suggest an answer, don't you think?
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