The US and the UK will reject the international court of justice order directing Israel to end its offensive on Rafah after slowly blurring their red lines that once stated that they could not support a military offensive in Rafah.
The line was first adapted by saying they could not support a major ground offensive without a credible plan to protect civilians, but since then the definition of what constitutes a major offensive has become more flexible.
The deputy foreign secretary, Andrew Mitchell, told MPs on Monday “the UK could only support a constructive plan for Rafah that complies with international humanitarian law on all counts”.
On Tuesday he told the UK business select committee that “the significant operation in Rafah, it appears, has not yet started”, even though 800,000 people had fled the area, including 400,000 who had been warned to do so by the Israel Defense Forces. His definition of a major offensive – which did not encompass an operation that led to the collective flight of so many people – stretched the credulity of Labour MPs on the committee.
But the US and the UK are now saying aid is not entering Rafah because of a dispute between Egypt and Israel, placing no greater responsibility on Israel even though it is the occupying power.
*Have a read of the whole article, it is interesting.
Now the real damage is not making us look weak.
The real damage is to the International Rules-based System.
It’s not a pick and mix, Putin? Boo! Israel? Yay!
Nobody has as yet been found guilty of anything.
When 15,000++ children are killed in a short timeframe, some questions need answering, any trials will take years, and we need to prevent more preventable harm from occurring in the meantime.
Personally; I would have kept redlines between the active parties and not tried to look tough or equitable on the world stage. When you get caught out, you just look silly, Red lines resemble red flags to extremists.
Stop complaining, parsing, and trying to weasel out of commitments.
It’s a distraction! You say.
No, it is not! I say.
If you want to dismiss as irrelevant rules that have been in place for eighty years or so.
Carry on.
Don’t complain to me when the shit hits the fan, again.
“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” — Arundhati Roy
A morning muse.