To the editor: As Princeton human rights expert Kenneth Roth has stated, “if the administration is so indifferent to existing law, it is not clear what difference a new set of reports will make.” (“Biden order imposes human rights conditions on US military aid,” February 9, and “Israel's next target in Gaza war is likely Rafah. Terrified people say there is nowhere left to go” , February 9).
Israel has ignored the ruling of the United Nations International Court of Justice to avoid killing innocent Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It now plans to lay siege to Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians fled after Israel declared it a safe zone.
Facing famine and lacking medical access, Gazans have nowhere to find safety from Israeli bombs or street-to-street fighting.
Perhaps another US approach could deter Israel's plans for Rafah: the Biden administration could simply stop funding and arming Israel's military; if not for a brief timely pause, then a clear demand for a ceasefire to save Palestinian lives.
Lenore Navarro Dowling, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Since the beginning of Israel's war against Hamas, the entire world should have been pressuring Egypt to open its border and allow those who wanted to leave, even temporarily.
Nearby Arab countries could have offered safe haven to countless civilians. Canada and Türkiye offered them safe haven.
Israel's only objectives in carrying out this war have been to eradicate an evil enemy and rescue its hostages, not to kill innocent civilians. Unfortunately, the world has been complicit in so much unnecessary suffering and death by not shouting from the rooftops to open the Rafah border crossing and allow these people to leave.
Pauline Regev, Santa Monica
