Israel should face repercussions for the massive civilian death toll from its war on Gaza, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter has said.
“We cannot look away while children are killed every day in Gaza,” the politician told the Nieuwsblad newspaper on Wednesday.
“It is time for sanctions against Israel. The rain of bombs is inhumane. It is clear that Israel does not care about the international demands for a ceasefire.”
De Sutter proposed suspending Belgium’s association agreement with Israel and banning the import of products from the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
Israeli officials and military personnel found guilty of war crimes, as well as violent radical Jewish settlers, should be banned from traveling to the EU, she added.
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed and wounded as Israel continues to target Palestinian homes, schools, and hospitals in the besieged Gaza Strip. https://t.co/EZuAXlwxw1 pic.twitter.com/aMwSyPbBWJ
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 9, 2023
“There must be an investigation into the bombings of hospitals and refugee camps. This is war violence that is never acceptable,” De Sutter said, suggesting additional funding for The Hague-based International Criminal Court, whose jurisdiction Israel does not recognize.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo also blasted Israel’s military tactics at a gathering of diplomats in Brussels on Monday.
“If one bombs an entire refugee camp with the intention of eliminating one terrorist, I don’t think this is proportionate anymore. Something like that is a bridge too far,” he said.
Israel has, thus far, killed over 10,569, including 4,324 children and 2,823 women, and wounded 26,475 wounded. Palestinian Ministry of Health reports and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
"Abu Samir and Um Samir, an elderly couple, were killed by an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza."
Read the latest story by Abdallah Aljamal, reporting from Gaza.https://t.co/kdevY1o49p pic.twitter.com/csOL6bPpJY
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 9, 2023
Despite a massive Israeli military buildup around the Gaza borders and sporadic infiltrations on the outskirts of the besieged Strip, Palestinian Resistance continues to repel Israeli attacks.
To justify its military failure, the Israeli army continues to pound civilian homes throughout the Gaza Strip with new massacres reported everywhere in the besieged enclave.
Gaza has been under a tight Israeli military siege since 2007, following a democratic election in occupied Palestine, the results of which were rejected by Tel Aviv and Washington.
(PC, RT)
