Thanks, I really hope this time there will be a different outcome and we're not back here for another round in 8-10 years.
While the situation keeps on deteriorating further, the US already has started shielding Israel from the potential ICJ ruling
US won’t say if Israel should abide by ICJ ruling
US Department of State spokesperson Vedant Patel was elusive when asked whether Israel should follow the UN court’s verdict on South Africa’s request for provisional measures to stop suspected violations of the genocide convention in Gaza.
While Patel said Israel should abide by international humanitarian law, he declined to commit to accepting the International Court of Justice’s decision tomorrow. The court could order Israel to halt its offensive in Gaza. “This is a legal process, and I’m not gonna hypothesise or speculate on any kind of outcome,” Patel told reporters, reiterating the position of the administration of US President Joe Biden that the genocide allegations against Israel are unfounded.
Pressed by reporters – with one journalist noting that Hamas has said it would honour an ICJ-ordered ceasefire – Patel pivoted to rebuking the Palestinian group. “That suggests you’re waiting to see what the verdict will be, and then you’ll decide whether you agree with the verdict or not,” another reporter said.
Hamas says it will accept ceasefire if ICJ rules in favour
In a statement published via its official Telegram channel, the Palestinian group says that as long as Israel reciprocates, it will abide by any decision issued by the International Court of Justice that calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. The statement also says that Hamas will release all of the captives it holds if Israel releases the Palestinian prisoners currently held by it.
“The Zionist enemy must end its 18-year siege of Gaza and enter all necessary aid for population relief and reconstruction,” the statement concludes, in its third and final demand.
Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq accuses the Biden administration of trying to preempt the UN court’s ruling on South Africa’s petition accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention. “The American administration still rejects ending the aggression against Gaza by stopping the UN Security Council from passing a resolution to end the aggression and by continuing to supply the occupation forces with weapons and ammo to bomb women and children,” al-Rishq said in a statement.
“This makes the US a biased side and a partner in the crimes of murder. It does not have a right to talk about values and morals and international laws, which it violates in broad daylight.”
Scale of death and destruction in Gaza ‘horrifying’: US congresswoman
Summer Lee, a progressive Democrat who is gearing up for re-election against an expected onslaught of campaign spending by the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC, has renewed her call for a ceasefire.
“We saw a ceasefire work: aid was trickling in [and] Israeli hostages [and] Palestinians were coming home,” she wrote in a social media post. “100 days in, I’m still standing with a majority of Dem voters, humanitarian orgs, [and] families of hostages for a #CeasefireNOW.”
The scale of death & destruction in Gaza is horrifying. We saw a ceasefire work: aid was trickling in & Israeli hostages & Palestinians were coming home.
100 days in, I’m still standing with a majority of Dem voters, humanitarian orgs, & families of hostages for a #CeasefireNOW.
— Rep. Summer Lee (@RepSummerLee) January 25, 2024
Obstetrician says pregnant women in Gaza dying from complications in greater numbers
Dr Haya Hijazi, a gynaecologist and obstetrician in Gaza, has spoken to Al Jazeera’s The Stream about the dire situation of pregnant women in the besieged Strip. “The cases that undergo hysterectomy due to postpartum haemorrhages are increasing, because there is no medical aid to treat them and to deal with them,” she said.
“Postpartum depression is also increasing,” she added, noting that in one case a 23-year-old woman was forced to travel to numerous hospitals only to be turned down as the facilities were strained by bombardment. Hijazi said the girl died from sepsis.
Doctors treat wounded Palestinians by flashlight in Khan Younis
A doctor at Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city has shared video that we verified on his Instagram account showing him intubating an injured patient, working only by the light of mobile phone flashlights. “Today, in the intensive care unit of the emergency department, I was trying to resuscitate this patient without electricity, without tools, and without anesthesia, only flashlights, and God’s grace,” his post reads.
The two main hospitals in Khan Younis, Nasser and al-Amal, have been completely surrounded by Israeli forces and come under repeated attack in recent days, as Israel has concentrated its ground operations on the city.
Israeli army detaining Palestinian men fleeing Khan Younis fighting
The Associated Press has reported that Palestinians are fleeing Khan Younis “by the thousands” as fighting in the area intensifies. Palestinians also told the outlet that Israeli forces told them to evacuate the Faisal school where many were sheltering, and detained many young men with little explanation.
“Suddenly, they [the Israeli military] started calling from the microphones to evacuate the site within half an hour,” Amal, a Palestinian mother who gave birth three days ago and fled the school with her newborn, told AP. “They allowed us to leave, and they made us walk a certain distance, and they took the young men and searched them on the side,” said Israa Khashan, who was also sheltering at the school.
“They took some young men with them and left others, and now we are here, not knowing where to go,” she added.
Palestinians fleeing Khan Younis, due to the Israeli army ground operation, January 25, 2024
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