via Moon of Alabama

Press Briefing with the NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby – October 24, 2023

And as I think you’ve heard us say, a ceasefire right now really only benefits Hamas. That’s where we are right now.

A ceasefire would of course benefit ALL people living in Gaza and all Israelis under threat of Hamas missile fire.

The UN Secretary General António Guterres took a much saner position:

Secretary-General’s remarks to the Security Council – on the Middle East – October 24, 2023

It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.

They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing.

But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
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Excellencies, Even war has rules.

We must demand that all parties uphold and respect their obligations under international humanitarian law; take constant care in the conduct of military operations to spare civilians; and respect and protect hospitals and respect the inviolability of UN facilities which today are sheltering more than 600,000 Palestinians.

The relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces, the level of civilian casualties, and the wholesale destruction of neighborhoods continue to mount and are deeply alarming.
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The protection of civilians is paramount in any armed conflict.

Protecting civilians can never mean using them as human shields.

Protecting civilians does not mean ordering more than one million people to evacuate to the south, where there is no shelter, no food, no water, no medicine and no fuel, and then continuing to bomb the south itself.

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.
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Today is United Nations Day, marking 78 years since the UN Charter entered into force.

That Charter reflects our shared commitment to advance peace, sustainable development and human rights.

On this UN Day, at this critical hour, I appeal to all to pull back from the brink before the violence claims even more lives and spreads even farther.

I find this unprecedented. The UN SecGen is clearly pointing to the U.S. which had vetoed last week’s ceasefire resolution in the UN Security Council.

Should the U.S. call for a ceasefire, Israel will have to end its bombing. It should anyway immediately do so because its opponents are ready for the next phase of the fight.

Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders discuss how to achieve ‘victory’

The meeting involved Hezbollah’s Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri and Islamic Jihad chief Ziad al-Nakhala, Hezbollah said in a statement. It did not say when the meeting took place. “An assessment was made of the international positions being taken and what the parties of the Axis of Resistance must do … to realise a real victory for the resistance in Gaza and Palestine and to halt the brutal aggression,” Hezbollah said.

If Hizbullah unleashes its missile force against Israel’s infrastructure and industrial areas, the Zionist entity is done.