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November 27, 2024

Myanmar: ICC arrest warrant request for military leader must be decisive step in breaking cycle of impunity

 

Responding to the announcement that the International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan is seeking an arrest warrant for Myanmar military leader Min Aung Hlaing for his responsibility for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya committed in both Myanmar and Bangladesh, Agnès Callamard, Secretary General at Amnesty International, said:

 

“Today’s announcement by the ICC prosecutor is a decisive step and an important signal – both for Myanmar and the rest of the world – that those who are allegedly responsible for crimes under international law will be sought to face arrest and trial, no matter how powerful they are or how long they have escaped scrutiny.

“The cycle of impunity in Myanmar has to be broken now. No senior leader has ever been held accountable for the atrocity crimes committed against the Rohingya who lost their lives, homes and entire communities and continue to face multiple crimes. In the absence of accountability, more violations will occur. Min Aung Hlaing has been at the centre of multiple human right catastrophes in Myanmar. He oversaw violent operations against the Rohingya in 2016 and 2017, and he led the 2021 coup, which has led to the killing of nearly 6,000 civilians and plunged Myanmar into economic, political and social chaos.

“Though the arrest warrant sought in this case deals with the 2017 crisis, Rohingya people are still being persecuted and driven into Bangladesh from Myanmar to this day. This year marked the worst year of violence against the community since 2017, as Rohingya men, women and children died in bombings or drowned while being trapped in the middle of an armed conflict between the Myanmar military and the rebel Arakan Army.

“If the arrest warrant is granted, Min Aung Hlaing should be subject to immediate arrest and surrender to the International Criminal Court to face trial. In the meantime, more can be done to build on this momentum and pursue accountability for Rohingya and all the peoples of Myanmar. This should start with the UN Security Council referring the entire situation in the country to the International Criminal Court.”

Background

The ICC prosecutor’s statement said that this is the first application for an arrest warrant for a senior Myanmar military official but that more will follow.

The ICC prosecutor’s office alleges that the crimes were committed in a four-month period between 25 August 2017 and 31 December 2017.

Starting in August 2017, Myanmar’s military drove more than 740,000 Rohingya men, women and children into Bangladesh in a campaign that Amnesty International said at the time amounted to crimes against humanity under international law.

In a 2018 report, Amnesty identified 13 individuals against whom the organization had gathered extensive, credible evidence of direct or command responsibility for crimes against humanity. Min Aung Hlaing was at the top of this list.

Amnesty International has also called for the United Nations Security Council to refer the full situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor, so that an investigation of all crimes committed in Myanmar can be conducted.

Myanmar: ICC Prosecutor Requests Arrest Warrant

 

Key Step Toward Justice for Rohingya

Rohingya refugees walk through rice fields after crossing the border from Myanmar into Palang Khali, Bangladesh, October 19, 2017. © 2017 Jorge Silva/Reuters

(New York) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant for Myanmar military commander-in-chief, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, for alleged crimes against humanity is a major step towards justice for the country’s Rohingya population, Human Rights Watch said today. ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan’s announcement during a visit to Bangladesh on November 27, 2024, opens the door to seeking accountability for the atrocities of 2016-2017, and eroding the impunity fueling the military’s ongoing abuses.

Khan requested the arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing, alleging his responsibility for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya committed in Myanmar and in part in Bangladesh between August and December 2017. Min Aung Hlaing led the February 2021 coup and remains head of the State Administration Council junta.

“The ICC prosecutor’s request for this arrest warrant is a strong warning to Myanmar’s abusive military leaders that they’re not beyond the reach of the law,” said Maria Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch. “And it sends the Rohingya community an important message that their struggle for justice has not been forgotten.”

In his announcement, Khan stated that the alleged crimes were committed by “the armed forces of Myanmar, the Tatmadaw, supported by the national police, the border guard police, as well as non-Rohingya civilians.” He also noted that this is the first request by his office for a warrant against a senior Myanmar official, but “more will follow.”

In August 2017, Myanmar security forces began a sweeping campaign of massacres, rape, and arson against Rohingya in northern Rakhine State that forced more than 700,000 to flee to Bangladesh. Human Rights Watch determined that the atrocities amounted to crimes against humanity and acts of genocide.

Although Myanmar is not an ICC member country, in 2019 the ICC prosecutor opened an investigation into alleged grave crimes against the Rohingya population that were committed, at least in part, in Bangladesh or another ICC member country. The ICC can only exercise its jurisdiction over crimes committed by nationals of, or on the territory of a member country, unless the situation is referred to the court by the UN Security Council, or if the nonmember country in question accepts the court’s jurisdiction. 

The prosecutor’s request has been submitted to ICC judges, who will determine whether to issue the warrant. No time limit is imposed on the judges’ decision. If the judges issue the warrant, ICC member countries will be under a legal obligation to arrest and transfer Min Aung Hlaing to the court if he enters their territories. The ICC does not permit trials in absentia.

No one has yet been held accountable for the 2016-2017 crimes against the Rohingya, while the international response to the Myanmar crisis has been fragmented and halting. The UN Security Council, which has the authority to issue legally binding resolutions, has remained paralyzed. Council members have yet to follow up on the council’s December 2022 resolution, which denounced the military’s postcoup abuses, with tangible measures. Anticipating vetoes by China and Russia, the deadlocked council has not referred the situation in Myanmar to the ICC, which would expand the court’s jurisdiction to crimes allegedly committed on Myanmar territory. 

Emboldened by decades of impunity, Myanmar’s military has committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity since the 2021 coup. In the past year, fighting against opposition forces and ethnic armed groups has engulfed much of the country. 

Human Rights Watch has found that the junta’s systematic abuses against the Rohingya in Rakhine State amount to the crimes against humanity of apartheid, persecution, and severe deprivation of liberty. Currently, the estimated 630,000 Rohingya remaining in Myanmar are facing the gravest threats since 2017. 

The junta has arrested thousands of Rohingya for “unauthorized travel,” and imposed new movement restrictions and aid blockages in Rakhine State. Over the past year, the Myanmar military and the ethnic Arakan Army have committed mass killings, arson, and unlawful recruitment against the Rohingya population. Both the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army have laid landmines along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border while fighting for control of the area.

An estimated 40,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh in recent months to escape ongoing abuses in Myanmar, joining about one million refugees who had fled atrocities in 2016-2017 and earlier. The security situation and living conditions in the refugee camps have deteriorated. 

To bring comprehensive accountability, the UN Security Council should expand the ICC’s jurisdiction to address the full scope of criminality by referring the situation in Myanmar to the court, Human Rights Watch said. An ICC referral would broaden the scope of the investigation to include, among others, grave crimes committed by the military against other communities in Myanmar. 

The UN-backed Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar – mandated to collect evidence and build case files for criminal prosecution of individuals responsible for serious crimes – reported in July 2024 that it “has accumulated and analysed a diverse range of evidence of serious international crimes committed in Myanmar, including evidence bearing on the criminal responsibility of specific individuals.” The investigators noted that from July 2023 to June 2024, they had shared “an unprecedented volume of evidence and analysis” with the ICC, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and authorities in Argentina who are investigating crimes against the Rohingya under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

The ICJ is currently hearing a case brought by Gambia against Myanmar, supported by seven other countries, for alleged violations of the Genocide Convention. On January 23, 2020, the ICJ imposed provisional measures directing Myanmar to prevent all genocidal acts against the Rohingya, to ensure that the military and other security forces do not commit acts of genocide, and to take steps to preserve evidence related to the case. The military’s escalating abuses underscore its blatant disregard for the ICJ’s provisional measures, Human Rights Watch said. In a June 2024 report, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights found that “actions taken by all parties that endanger the Rohingya appear inconsistent with the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice.”

Security Council members should hold an open meeting to address the deteriorating situation in Myanmar and the military’s violations of the provisional measures, while building momentum for a strong follow-up resolution under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. In addition to referring the country situation to the ICC, such a resolution should institute a global arms embargo, impose targeted sanctions on junta leadership and military-owned companies, and request regular reporting by the UN secretary-general on the situation.

In addition to Bangladesh/Myanmar, the ICC is currently working in 15 other situations across the globe. The court faces renewed threats of sanctions from US legislators following the issuance of arrest warrants, against two senior Israeli leaders as well as a Hamas official on November 21, in the context of the Palestine investigation. 

The ICC’s 124 member countries preparing to meet for their annual session in The Hague should stand ready to protect the court against any efforts aimed at undermining its mandate, Human Rights Watch said. 

“Addressing the abuses happening today in Myanmar means holding those responsible accountable for the grave crimes that paved the junta’s way,” Vignoli said. “With few other options for justice, the ICC is doing exactly the job it was set up to do. ICC member countries should fully back the court and speak up to support and defend its independent global mandate.”

ICC seeks crimes against humanity warrant for Myanmar military leader Min Aung Hlaing

 Nov. 27 (UPI) -- International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC on Wednesday sought an arrest warrant for Myanmar Senior General and Acting President Min Aung Hlaing. The ICC alleges crimes against humanity targeting the Rohingya with deportation and persecution.

Khan said more than 1 million Rohingya have been forced to flee violence in Myanmar. The violence includes rape and abuse of women and girls.

"After an extensive, independent and impartial investigation, my Office has concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Senior General and Acting President Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the Myanmar Defense Services, bears criminal responsibility for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya, committed in Myanmar, and in part in Bangladesh," Khan said in a statement.

Myanmar denies crimes against humanity and asserts actions against Rohingya people have been targeted at what Myanmar's government describes as Rohingya militants.

Khan alleges the crimes against humanity happened between Aug. 25 and Dec. 31, 2017.

He said the crimes were committed by "the armed forces of Myanmar, the Tatmadaw, supported by the national police, the border guard police, as well as non-Rohingya civilians."

First Gaza genocide case against French nationals filed in Paris

 A French organisation and a French-Palestinian woman filed a complaint on Tuesday against the French managers of two pro-Israel NGOs for "complicity in genocide and incitement to commit genocide in Gaza", according to a statement shared with Middle East Eye.  

The complaint - against the groups "Israel is Forever" and Tzav-9 - targets actions by French nationals to block humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the coastal strip devastated by Israel's onslaught, which has killed more than 44,282 people since October 2023.

The plaintiffs are the French Jewish Union for Peace and a woman who has 13 family members in the Gaza Strip. They are supported by the Urgence Palestine NGO.

The complaint, filed with the senior investigating judge of the crimes against humanity division of the Paris judicial court, is the first brought under the grounds of genocide, the most serious in the hierarchy of crimes, before the French courts.

In the 70-page complaint, the petitioners denounce "the organisation, participation and call to participate in concrete actions blocking humanitarian aid to the occupied territory of Gaza, in particular by physically preventing the passage of trucks at border crossings controlled by the Israeli army". 

"These acts committed by French nationals are part of the total blockade of the Gaza Strip, while Israel exercises exclusive and effective control over the territory's land, sea and air borders, and is already imposing drastic restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid, on which civilians depend for survival," the statement read.

"This deliberate subjection of the Gaza population to conditions of life likely to bring about its destruction, and more particularly the use of starvation, constitutes the crime of genocide under both international and French law," it added.

The applicants argue that French courts have jurisdiction over any French national who takes part in or incites blocking aid, which they argued may amount to the crime of complicity in genocide.

They chose to institute a civil action, which systematically leads to the opening of a judicial investigation, in order to avoid the case being closed without further action by the public prosecutor.

'A game changer'

In mid-November, a UN investigative committee concluded that "Israel's warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of genocide".

"Through its siege over Gaza, obstruction of humanitarian aid, alongside targeted attacks and killing of civilians and aid workers, […] Israel is intentionally causing death, starvation and serious injury, using starvation as a method of war and inflicting collective punishment on the Palestinian population," the committee said.

In January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had already ordered Israel to take "immediate and effective measures" to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide by ensuring sufficient humanitarian assistance and enabling basic services.

Since the start of the war, some Israeli citizens have been seen trying to prevent aid convoys from entering Gaza.

In July, the US State Department sanctioned Tzav 9, describing it as "a violent extremist Israeli group", for "blocking, harassing, and damaging convoys carrying lifesaving humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza."

"For months, individuals from Tzav 9 have repeatedly sought to thwart the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, including by blockading roads, sometimes violently, along their route from Jordan to Gaza, including in the West Bank. They also have damaged aid trucks and dumped life-saving humanitarian aid onto the road," the State Department reported.

'The French justice system can no longer continue its repressive headlong rush while the ICC is indicating the direction of history, towards the end of Israel's impunity'

- Rafik Chekkat, lawyer

The French complaint comes a few days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif (presumed dead), for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Netanyahu and Gallant have been issued arrest warrants for "the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts". 

The ICC stated that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the two Israelis "intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival," including food, water and medicine, and played a role in impeding humanitarian aid.

Middle East Eye explained last week that the warrants could trigger domestic cases against other citizens of Israel, particularly dual nationals in European countries, because the court has found that crimes have been committed.

"Anyone else involved in the commission of the crimes may be brought to justice at a domestic level but also at an international level," Triestino Marinello, an international human rights lawyer representing Palestinian victims at the ICC, told MEE.

Game changer

According to French lawyer Rafik Chekkat, the arrest warrants "will definitely be a game changer on the issue of dual nationals".

"Until now, we were stuck for lack of a major decision. There were certainly the ICJ opinions on a 'plausible risk' of genocide, but it was rather vague," Chekkat told MEE.

"This is the first significant step towards recognising war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and the West Bank. So yes, Netanyahu and Gallant benefit from the presumption of innocence. But the ICC does not issue warrants if it does not have solid evidence that these crimes have been committed."

French prosecutor drops complaint against Israeli dual national accused of crimes in Gaza

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According to Chekkat, the other point on which the warrants could have an impact is "the repression of the Palestine solidarity movement in France," as hundreds of investigations under the country's "apology for terrorism" law have been launched by the French authorities since 7 October.

"The French justice system can no longer continue its repressive headlong rush while the ICC is indicating the direction of history, towards the end of Israel's impunity," Chekkat told MEE.

In September, the French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office dropped a complaint by NGOs against a French-Israeli soldier for the alleged torture of Palestinian prisoners.

According to a judicial source, the complaint was dismissed due to facts being "insufficiently characterised" and supporting evidence "not being sufficient to establish the existence of possible material acts of complicity."

For the lawyers of the NGOs who filed the complaint, the dismissal of the case was "incomprehensible" given the evidence they had provided.

"With this decision, the [National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office] shows a desire not to shed light on the involvement, in Gaza, of dual nationals in war crimes... This desire can only be political," the lawyers said.

In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights in several judgments found that the French public prosecutor was not independent of the executive power.

Despite a reform of the judiciary in 2023, the independence of the public prosecutor's office from the executive, particularly in matters of appointments and discipline, is not yet guaranteed and the public prosecutors have called for reform to strengthen their impartiality. 

The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office, on the other hand, has long since opened an investigation into "terrorist assassinations" relating to the attacks led by Hamas in Israel on 7 October 2023.

Rebel Group Takes Key Myanmar Border Town and Rare Earth Mining Hub in Setback for Military Regime

BANGKOK (AP) — A powerful rebel group has seized a key trading town in northeastern Myanmar on the Chinese border, taking control of a lucrative rare earth mining hub in another setback for the military-led government, according to witnesses.

The apparent loss of Kanpaiti to the Kachin Independence Army leaves Myanmar's military in control of only one town with a border crossing, Muse, and deprives it of potential profits from the mines that provide China with rare earth minerals critical for electric motors and wind turbines, as well as high-tech weapons and a broad range of electronics.

Neither Col. Naw Bu, the KIA's spokesperson, nor Thet Swe, spokesperson for the military, responded to multiple requests for comment, but several local media outlets reported that Kanpaiti fell last week. The ongoing civil war and military restrictions make travel for journalists nearly impossible, but the reports were confirmed by witnesses by telephone.

Video clips circulating on social media, which could not be independently verified, showed what was said to be a KIA member raising the group's flag at the tunnel through the mountain to China. Other clips showed a vast quantity of weapons allegedly captured by the KIA.

The military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering intensified fighting with long-established armed militias organized by Myanmar’s ethnic minority groups in its border regions which have struggled for decades for more autonomy.

The once-mighty armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, have suffered a series of unprecedented defeats over the past year, especially in areas to the east near the Chinese border and in the western state of Rakhine, after an alliance of three powerful militias launched a coordinated offensive on Oct. 27, 2023.

Since then, other militias organized along ethnic lines have joined in, including the KIA in the northern state of Kachin.

In Kachin's so-called Special Region 1, where Kanpaiti is located, the KIA since late September has been increasing assaults on a rival ethnic militia, the New Democratic Army-Kachin, which is allied with the government military and had provided border guard forces.

The NDA-K also controlled the web of small, unlicensed operations where heavy rare earth elements are mined, then sold directly to China’s big state-owned mining conglomerates or through intermediaries.

There are more than 300 unregulated mines in the area, producing most of the $1.4 billion in rare earths for sale to China last year “at a terrible cost to the environment and local communities,” according to a report issued by London-based environmental group Global Witness in May.

It's not clear how much of the profits flowed to the military government, and how much directly to the NDA-K, however, and while the loss of any revenue stream would be bad for the military, the fall of Kanpaiti is not necessarily a game changer for the overall conflict, said Morgan Michaels, a Singapore-based analyst with the International Institute of Strategic Studies who runs its Myanmar Conflict Map project.

“This is another series of embarrassing losses for the regime, but may not significantly affect the regime’s ability to wage war,” he said. “China had already shut most of the border to dissuade the KIA’s offensives, and the regime is thought to primarily generate revenue through other means than rare earths.”

China was able to use its close ties to the regime and the Three Brotherhood Alliance groups to broker a ceasefire in January in northern Shan state, where much of the fighting has been. Hostilities resumed five months later after the ethnic alliance said the military had violated the ceasefire and has shown no signs of stopping, despite intense pressure from Beijing.

China has likewise been pushing the KIA in Kachin to end the fighting, which has stopped cross-border trade, to little end.

In its September push, the KIA was able to quickly seize four towns in Kachin, with the exception of Kanpaiti, including the NDA-K headquarters of Pang War.

KIA forces advanced toward Kanpaiti on Nov. 20, and since consolidating control have called for the hundreds of residents who fled to return, a local community leader said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of arrest.

The report was confirmed by a spokesperson for Kachin Human Rights Watch, which is not affiliated with the New York-based watchdog group of a similar name, and a resident who saw the KIA troops enter the town. Both spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of arrest by authorities.

Multiple Kachin-based news outlets and other Myanmar media reported that 300 government troops were able to escape by fleeing into China, then crossing back into Myanmar at the regime-controlled border town of Muse.

Kachin Human Rights Watch's spokesperson said he had reports of regime soldiers fleeing to safety, but did not have further details.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Israeli snipers ‘shoot Palestinians for sport’

 Israel's attempts to excuse the mass murder of civilians in Gaza as "collateral damage" fall apart in the face of mounting evidence that it employs deliberate sniper attacks. The targeted killing of unarmed people – using quadcopter drones and professional snipers – has restricted access to essential medical care, food, and water, exposing a chilling reality behind the occupation army’s actions. 

The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are further testament to this not being a conventional war; it is a systematic targeting of civilians that points directly to genocidal intent.

Over the past year, debates have raged over what constitutes an “acceptable” level of collateral damage in Gaza. In July, the West Point US Military Academy's Modern War Institute even published a piece that argued for a more surgical approach to be taken by the Israelis.

Similar discussions that also surround what constitutes a “disproportionate use of force” are all predicated on Tel Aviv’s approach being one of a conventional war. However, if Israel’s intention is not to wage war against Hamas and is instead to intentionally commit genocide and ethnic cleansing, these conversations prove meaningless. And no clearer evidence exists than the cold-blooded targeting of civilians by sniper fire.

Sniping civilians on live TV 

Though there have been instances when sniper attacks on civilians captured the international media's attention, this grim element of Israel's military strategy is largely ignored, likely because of the damning implications.

The first major case to break headlines in the western media was the murder of two Christian women at Gaza City’s Holy Family Church on 16 December 2023. The incident even received condemnation from the Pope over the murder of the Palestinian Catholic mother and her daughter, who were deliberately killed while seeking refuge inside the church compound.

But today, these kinds of shootings are so commonplace that they even occur during live TV interviews with western news outlets. For example, in January, British broadcaster ITV captured the moment when 51-year-old Ramzi Abu Sahloul was shot through the chest, only moments after he had spoken on air. Sahloul was part of a group of civilians who were fleeing to Rafah in Gaza’s south while holding white flags on the orders of the Israeli military. 

Another innocent civilian murdered while fleeing and with a white flag was Hala Khreis; she was shot and fatally wounded while holding her grandson's hand as they were walking. The incident was also caught on camera. A CNN investigation was able to prove that Israeli soldiers stationed nearby were responsible.

Intimidation by assassination 

Palestinian correspondent Motasem Dalloul, who is based in northern Gaza, testifies to The Cradle that his own son Yahya was murdered by an Israeli sniper on 29 May, after which the soldiers ran over his child's body with a tank.

“I took my sons to our destroyed house, in Al-Sabra neighborhood, in order to pick up some clothes from under the rubble. When we were there, I saw my son fall to the ground and he started bleeding from his head. I got close to him and found that his head had exploded.”

He explains that although he couldn’t see the Israeli soldiers, he knew that they were positioned nearby with sniper weapons and states that when he approached little Yahya’s body, he was struck by the fact that he was motionless. He adds:

“Israeli tanks began shooting and firing everywhere. I knew that my son was dead … so I had to leave him on the ground and flee with my other sons to safety. I couldn’t return back to this place for 10 days, where I later found that an Israeli tank had run over his body and dismembered it, we could only collect some of his flesh and bones, which had been smashed by the Israeli tanks, and we put them in a piece of fabric, like a shirt, and took them, burying them in a makeshift cemetery.”

During Dalloul’s conversation with The Cradle, bombs exploding in the background are heard as he recounts:

“I think the reason Israeli occupation [word muffled by the sound of explosions] killed my son was to frighten the rest of us and warn us not to return to this area … as that area was later on destroyed and all the buildings were erased, turning it into a military buffer zone. This put much pressure on the residents of Gaza City who do not have homes and a lot of these displaced people were murdered.”

Psychological warfare and denial of medical care

The calculated targeting of civilians is not limited to sniper fire. On 20 September, a UN special committee reported to the General Assembly that there has also been a “deliberate denial of healthcare access by Israeli snipers” to lactating and pregnant Palestinian women. 

After countless testimonies of deliberate shootings committed against civilians have been emerging, in December 2023, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a press release urging accountability and an investigation. The press release also highlighted the execution of 11 men in front of their families in the Remal Neighbourhood of Gaza City.

Yassin, a young man from Jabalia Refugee Camp, describes to The Cradle how he was shot from a quadcopter drone in mid-November of 2023, managing to survive by mere chance. Yassin says that he was traveling on foot, using Salah al-Deen Road between Jabalia and Khan Younis, after receiving evacuation orders from the occupation army to move south. 

While he was fleeing, an armed clash suddenly erupted within his visual range: 

“I picked up my clothes and phone and ran from the place to escape this clash. There was a hill of sand in front of me, I jumped off it, and some of my clothes fell. Then I found the ambulance that the enemy [Israel] had stopped, remaining on the road.” 

Scared, he said he heard calls in Arabic for him to stop running, then “I heard the sound of the bullet, so I asked in a loud voice ‘Who was shot?’ After 10 meters, I realized this bullet had exploded inside my liver, and I was the answer to my own question. This bullet penetrated my right lung, then the diaphragm, then exploded in the liver.”

Yassin says that the only reason he survived was because a relative happened to be driving a nearby ambulance and acted quickly to save his life. Yassin’s recovery has been a long and grueling journey spanning several months, and he continues to suffer from his injuries despite evacuating across the Rafah Crossing into Egypt.

A policy of deliberate targeting 

American surgeon Mark Perlmutter, who traveled to Gaza in order to treat wounded Palestinians during the war, has also drawn specific attention to the intentional targeting of children by Israeli sniper fire. “No child gets shot twice by mistake,” he told France 24. Perlmutter has burst into tears during several interviews while describing how scores of children had died in front of his eyes. 

Perlmutter’s accounts align with the recent testimony of British doctor Nizam Mamode, who described to UK Members of Parliament how drones would deliberately shoot children “day after day” in Gaza. Such accounts have been emerging from foreign physicians throughout the war, with nine other on-the-ground doctors providing accounts of the calculated targeting of children to The Guardian earlier this year.

The Cradle also received testimony from a Palestinian man from northern Gaza whose brother was shot by an Israeli sniper in October during Israel’s re-invasion. As he tried to drag his brother to safety, he was repeatedly targeted by snipers and eventually had to watch his brother slowly die from his wounds.

He explains that they fled their homes to Gaza City, but he and his brother decided to return when the fighting was less intense, noting that the shooting erupted out of nowhere when they were in the Jabalia area. He then saw his brother collapse and bleed everywhere, noting that the bullet hit him in the middle of his body.

Twisted tactics 

The accounts provided to The Cradle are but a few in a long list of similar horrors that emerge on a daily basis from the Gaza Strip. In April, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor released a report that pointed out Israel’s use of intimidating sounds to scare and lure civilians into kill zones. In the Nuseirat Refugee Camp, drones were recorded playing the sounds of babies crying in order to draw civilians out of their homes and into the streets so that they could be fired upon. 

Throughout the writing of this piece, over a dozen eyewitnesses to shootings – including journalists and doctors in Gaza – were consulted. All confirmed that Israeli snipers deliberately target civilians without any justification to instill fear that prevents people from moving freely. 

A Palestinian doctor from northern Gaza, who requested anonymity, tells The Cradle, “They are shooting civilians for sport, and this is clearly deliberate; this must be the policy of the army.”