Children look at damage to a UN-run school, used as a shelter, struck by Israel, June 6, 2024 (Eyad Baba/AFP)
EA on RTE and Pat Kenny Show: Can Anyone Stop Israel’s Mass Killings in Gaza?
UPDATE, JUNE 9:
I spoke with India’s WION on Saturday about the political consequences of the Israeli military’s rescue of four hostages — and its killing of scores of civilians — in the Nuseirat area in central Gaza.
When I was on air, the estimate of Saturday’s casualties was 55 slain. By the end of the day, it was 210 with 400 wounded.
Watch from 3:57:
#WIONPulse | Israeli defence forces further advance into Gaza's Rafah, 4 hostages rescued
Displaced Palestinians flee once more due to Israeli attack@Mohammed11Saleh joined by @ScottLucas_EA, Professor of International Politics, Clinton Institute, University College Dublin… pic.twitter.com/5hXkQ4UPUU
— WION (@WIONews) June 8, 2024
I explain how the hostage rescue has given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu some breathing space at home — where fellow War Cabinet member Benny Gantz postponed a Saturday ultimatum that could have triggered early elections — and abroad, staving off international pressure for a ceasefire and an end to the mass killings.
Why does Netanyahu need this war to continue?
The day that this war ends, unless there is an absolute defeat of Hamas, his political future is in jeopardy with the likelihood of early elections.
And he would face legal jeopardy over bribery charges, with a trial that could resume.
ORIGINAL ENTRY, JUNE 8: I joined Ireland’s Tonight Show on Thursday night to discuss Israel’s latest mass killing in Gaza: at least 40 people, including 14 children and 9 women, in a UN shelter in the center of the Strip.
Chris Gunness, formerly of the UN Relief and Works Agency, takes apart the Israeli military’s claim that Hamas “terrorists” were the victims. The University of Galway’s Larry Donnelly and I discuss the wider significance and evaluate if there are any “red lines” on Israel’s killings.
Watch Discussion from 35:07
Even if Israel was aiming at Hamas members, the weapons that they used — US-supplied small diameter bombs — are not precision weapons when you have crowded shelters with civilians.
And this is not the first time Israel has hit a shelter. Israel is carrying out an open-ended war of mass killing.