Nearly seventy former US diplomats, military officers, and officials have written an open letter pleading with President Biden to hold Israel responsible if it denies Palestinians their civil rights.
President Joe Biden has been asked by almost seventy former US officials, diplomats, and military personnel to threaten Israel with dire consequences if it continues to deny Palestinians their civil rights and basic necessities and intensifies illegal settlement development in the occupied West Bank.
In an open letter to Biden on Wednesday, the group stated that “the United States must be willing to take concrete action to oppose” such practices, “including restrictions on the provision of [US] assistance [to Israel] consistent with US law and policy.”
More than a dozen former ambassadors signed the petition, along with other retired State Department officials and former officials from the Pentagon, CIA, and White House, including Anthony Lake, who served as Bill Clinton’s national security adviser.
The letter emphasized the growing outrage in the US about the Israeli slaughter under Gaza’s siege.
The group called for an Israeli war on the blockaded enclave in its letter, calling it “necessary and justified.”
However, the organization claimed that Israel’s slaughter had “been marked by repeated violations” of international law that forbids indiscriminate killing and the use of weapons that do not allow for the distinction between fighters and civilians.
“Tens of thousands of Gazan civilians have been killed, the majority of whom are women and children,” the organization stated. “Civilian killings of this nature and magnitude cannot be justified.”
The group declared that it fully supports Biden’s demands for the release of prisoners, the creation of a trustworthy system for delivering humanitarian relief, and an urgent ceasefire lasting at least six weeks.
The signatories further demanded that the Israeli military adhere to international law while establishing rules of engagement.
Gaza’s slaughter by Israel
Israel disputes that any international law is broken by its actions.
At least 31,923 people have died and 74,096 have been injured in Tel Aviv’s blockaded enclave thus far.
A devastating blockade of most food, clean water, and medication has forced 85% of Gaza’s people to flee inside, and the UN estimates that 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed as a result of the Israeli conflict.
The International Court of Justice has accused Israel of committing genocide.
An interim verdict from January required Tel Aviv to make sure that its soldiers do not commit acts of genocide and to ensure that residents in Gaza receive humanitarian aid.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD
