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SvennoJ on 29 January 2024
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‘Egregious violations’: Israel keeps killing Palestinians despite ICJ ruling

In the 48 hours after interim rulings by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Israel continues to kill as many Palestinians in Gaza as it did before the verdicts, a human rights group says. Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reports the Israeli army killed at least 373 Palestinians – including 345 civilians – and wounded 643 others in the two days after the rulings on alleged genocidal acts.

“Israel has also ramped up its efforts to starve [Palestinians] as well as forcibly displace them from their homes in the Strip,” the group said. “In defiance of the ruling of the world’s highest court and in violation of its own international obligations, including to international law and principles, Israel persists in committing egregious violations that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide against the Palestinian people.”

‘Target Tehran’: US senators call for direct strikes on Iran

Several US senators, who say they don’t want war, have called for direct strikes on Iran after the attack claimed by an Iran-backed group in Iraq killed three US soldiers on the Syria-Jordan border. “Target Tehran,” wrote John Cornyn of Texas on X. He later clarified he meant attacks on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and this would be “about deterrence, not war”.

Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called on President Biden to “strike targets of significance inside Iran” – also for “deterrence” purposes. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said he wants to see “devastating military retaliation against Iran’s terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East”.

Roger Wicker of Mississippi also called for “striking directly against Iranian targets and its leadership”, while Iowa’s Chuck Grassley said on X: “Will President Biden finally take decisive action against Iran?”

Iran denies involvement in drone strike on US troops

Iran has no connection to the drone strike on US troops at a military base near the Jordan-Syria border, says Iran’s representative to the United Nations, Saeed Iravani. The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reports that Iravani blamed “conflict between US forces and resistance groups in the region” for the attack, in a statement to the UN. He also said “hawkish Republicans” were linking Iran to the drone strike.

Israel’s ambassador to US says Iran ‘main destabilizing actor’ in region

The Iranian government is “stoking fire” in the Middle East, says Israel’s ambassador to Washington Michael Herzog. “This attack, yet again, shows that Iran is the main destabilizing actor in the Middle East, and highlights the need to hold the regime accountable,” he wrote on X.

Three US troops were killed in a drone strike on Sunday near the barracks of the US Tower 22 military outpost base near the Jordan-Syria border. The Iran-backed group the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed responsibility.

Iraq calls for regional de-escalation

The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed concern over the recent “security developments” in the region and called for de-escalation to support “international efforts towards stability”. The ministry said it rejects the escalation near the Jordan-Syria border, referring to the drone attack that killed three US soldiers, which Washington has blamed on Iran-linked Iraqi groups.

Baghdad has been in talks with Washington over the future of US forces in Iraq. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry stressed “the need to allow space for the ongoing negotiations with the American side … to reach positive agreements that serve Iraq and the region”.