Media reports indicate that Israel has established ‘kill zones’ in which anyone may be executed under ‘shoot to kill’ orders
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said President Biden bears responsibility for the reported Israeli mass slaughter, torture of civilians and widespread destruction at and in the area of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
Horrifying reports have surfaced since Israeli forces withdrew from the area of the hospital complex. Hundreds of bodies were reportedly found inside the complex and in surrounding streets. World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 21 patients died since Israel began its attack on Al-Shifa.
Video: Journalist speaks to locals who survived Israeli siege and raid of al-Shifa hospital
Agence France-Presse reported:
“Several doctors and civilians at the damaged complex told AFP that at least 20 bodies had been found, some of which appeared to have been driven over by military vehicles…’Bodies…the tanks went over them. Destruction. Children. Innocents. Unarmed civilians. They (soldiers) went over them,’” one witness said. An AFP correspondent saw one badly decomposed body bearing tire marks.”
The BBC reports: “Dr Amira al-Safady at al-Shifa told the BBC’s Gaza Lifeline radio that about 16 people who were in the intensive care unit died after being moved, because she and other doctors no longer had the equipment to treat them. Three days later, troops told medical staff to bury them outside, she said.”
Reuters reports: “Footage on social media, unverified by Reuters, showed corpses, some covered in dirty blankets, scattered around the charred hulk of the hospital, many of whose outer walls were missing. It showed ground heavily ploughed up, and numerous buildings outside the facility flattened or burned down.”
Those forced to flee the complex report being tortured by Israeli forces. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said recently that it “received identical testimonies about the killings and executions of Palestinian children between the ages of four and 16” in and around Al-Shifa.
Media reports also indicate that Israeli forces have established ‘kill zones’ in Gaza in which any civilian may be executed without cause. An Israeli reserve officer allegedly told Haaretz that “as soon as people enter” a kill zone, “orders are to shoot and kill, even if that person is unarmed.”
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“Through his unceasing rhetorical, political and military support for the genocidal campaign being carried out by the forces of the far-right Israeli government in Gaza, President Biden bears direct responsibility for the mass slaughter, widespread destruction and torture of civilians at and near Al-Shifa Hospital.
“He must finally act to end the genocide, ethnic cleansing, wholesale destruction of homes and infrastructure, torture, ‘kill zones,’ and forced starvation that his administration has supported and excused.”
On Friday, CAIR strongly condemned a new American military aid package including 2,000-pound bombs and aircraft to Israel, saying that support for Israel’s genocide makes President Biden a “war criminal.” CAIR Deputy Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said: “Arming a war criminal makes you a war criminal.”
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com, CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com