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ICJ to hold hearings on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories
The United Nations’s highest court is set to open historic hearings into the legality of Israel’s 57-year occupation of the Palestinian territories. The week-long proceedings, which begin at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Monday, are separate from the genocide case brought by South Africa.
The case arrived at the court after the UN General Assembly (UNGA) voted by a wide margin in December 2022 to ask the 15-judge panel for a non-binding advisory opinion on the Israeli occupation.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/19/icj-to-hold-hearings-on-israels-occupation-of-palestinian-territories
Al-Aqsa ban is ‘blatant infringement’ of freedom says Israeli MP Ahmad Tibi
Ahmad Tibi, a member of the Israeli Knesset, has called Netanyahu’s reported plan to ban prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan a “blatant infringement on the freedom of worship”. In a statement shared on social media, Tibi described Netanyahu as a “captive” to the “convicted terrorist [National Security Minister] Ben-Gvir” and said that “it’s time for President Biden to impose sanctions on Ben-Gvir himself”.
“The prohibition for Muslims, both from the West Bank and within the Green Line, to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, deserves to be discussed at the UN,” Tibi added. The 1949 Armistice Line, also known as the Green Line, is the generally recognised boundary between Israel and the West Bank.
Earlier, Israel’s war cabinet member Benny Gantz said restrictions will be in place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan for “security purposes only”, after media reports Netanyahu would impose the ban proposed by Israel’s far-right Minister Ben-Gvir.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem is one of the holiest sites in the world and one of the most contested
Displaced, bombed by Israel, Rafah’s kids seek warmth in hospital coveralls
Running out of options and solutions, parents in Gaza have resorted to putting their children in the white medical coveralls that were part of COVID-19 PPE kits, in a desperate bid to keep them warm and dry.
Gaza’s displaced – many of them having been forced to move multiple times – are suffering in the severe winter cold with little to protect them from the elements other than thin tents at best. “I’m warm and the water doesn’t get into my clothes,” says Nour al-Bayouk, 11. “I have no alternative clothes at all. If my clothes get wet, I won’t find anything else to wear.
“At first I looked funny and scary. I felt like I looked like a person undergoing an operation, or an astronaut. “I laugh every time I see myself in the car windows.”
Israeli gunboats fired on Palestinian fishing boats
Israeli gunboats have fired at Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza coast, threatening a vital source of food. The men were using small boats to catch fish off the coast near Rafah. Under the Israeli blockade, they used to be able to fish up to 37km (23 miles) out to the sea but not any more.
Israeli Navy boats patrol off the coast of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 27
Clashes and arrests in the town of Qabatiya in West Bank
The Israeli military has raided the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports. Israeli forces have destroyed property and vehicles, distributed threatening leaflets and arrested at least three Palestinians in raids on homes, Wafa reports. Confrontations have also broken out, with the Israeli military throwing smoke bombs.
Raids and arrests have been reported elsewhere in the occupied West Bank in the following locations:
- The city of Qalqilya
- The towns of Hajjah and Kafr Qaddum near Qalqilya
- The village of Al-Arooj, east of Bethlehem
- The Al-Fawwar camp, south of Hebron
- The town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron
- The village of Kobar, north of Ramallah
- The town of Jabal Mukaber, south of occupied East Jerusalem
Israeli forces have also arrested a man from the Shuafat camp, north of occupied East Jerusalem and beaten a man from the city of Hebron.
Clear decline in aid entering Gaza
We’re here on the Palestinian side of the Karam Abu Salem border crossing, which has seen a clear decline in the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the month. Officials here say the decline is due to demonstrations on the Israeli side of the crossing, organised by the families of Israeli captives in Gaza.
The decline in the quantity of humanitarian aid has reached its lowest level. And that, of course, has a big negative effect on Palestinians in dire need of that aid. From February 1 to 13, the number of aid trucks was not more than 110, compared with 200 trucks last month.
Israel’s complicated procedures have also played a role in the decrease as well as the late delivery of goods that piled up at the Israeli side of the crossing. These procedures have worsened the suffering, bearing in mind the already deteriorated humanitarian situation in Gaza.
People protest at the Nitzana border crossing with Egypt in southern Israel on Monday, February 12
