Israeli soldiers view evacuation areas as ‘extermination zones’: Lawyer
A lawyer for South Africa at the genocide case at the World Court says there has been one child killed or wounded in Gaza every 10 minutes since Israeli’s military attacks began.
Blinne Ni Gralaigh also quoted an Israeli reservist active in Gaza as saying soldiers treat Israel-ordered evacuation areas as “extermination zones”.
“The evidence before the court indicates that the extent of the carnage in Gaza is of a much-greater magnitude than that pertained to Ukraine and Russia. Indeed, the carnage in Gaza is in an order which exceeds by far the necessities of war and the limits imposed by the laws of war,” said Gralaigh.
‘Gaza largely wiped off the map’: South Africa
South Africa told the United Nations’s top court the situation in Gaza has reached “a new and horrific stage” as it sought emergency measures to halt Israel’s military operation in Rafah.
It was the third time the International Court of Justice held hearings on the conflict in Gaza since South Africa filed proceedings at The Hague-based court in December accusing Israel of genocide.
“Seven months ago, South Africa could not have imagined that Gaza would be largely wiped off the map,” the country’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Vusimuzi Madonsela, told the panel of 15 international judges.
South Africa argues Israeli attacks have far surpassed self-defence. “Israel’s actions in Rafah are part of the end game. This is the last step in the destruction of Gaza,” lawyer Vaughan Lowe said.
According to the latest request, the previous preliminary orders by The Hague-based court were not sufficient to address “a brutal military attack on the sole remaining refuge for the people of Gaza”. Israel will be allowed to answer the accusations on Friday.
South Africa’s Ambassador to the Netherlands Vusimuzi Madonsela, right
Israel accuses South Africa of making ‘false claims’ in genocide case at World Court
Israel claims South Africa is “presenting biased and false claims” based on “unreliable Hamas sources” when it called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order a halt to the Israeli invasion of Rafah.
“Israel acts in accordance with international law and its humanitarian obligations while implementing measures to minimize harm to civilians and civilian facilities,” a statement from the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.
It also called on the World Court “to reject South Africa’s appeal and bring the abuse of the Court to an end”.
South Africa provided evidence of Israel committing genocide in Gaza on Thursday, including deliberate moves to “wipe Gaza off the map” with more than 35,000 Palestinians killed since October.
South Africa tells ICJ this is ‘last chance’ to stop genocide in Gaza: Analyst
Juliette McIntyre, a lecturer in law at the University of South Australia, said South Africa has told judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that this is a “last chance to stop what appears to be genocide” in Gaza.
“This is now the fourth time that South Africa has applied to the court. And each of those times, South Africa has asked for some form of ceasefire order. And what we really saw in the hearings today is that they are putting pressure on the court,” McIntyre told Al Jazeera
“They added evidence of genocidal rhetoric and of course various acts that we have all seen on the news, to really say to the court, look, it’s now or never. If you don’t order Israel to pull out of Rafah, it will be too late,” McIntyre said.
On Friday, the court will hear from Israel.
“It is likely that Israel will continue the same line of defence, which it has to date, which is essentially that there is no genocidal intent here,” McIntyre said, adding that they will also likely argue that Israel is complying with the court’s previous order to ensure that humanitarian aid is reaching Gaza.
“Israel is likely to take the line that they are complying with the court’s orders to date and that they are engaged in active warfare against Hamas and that is likely to lead to civilian casualties, McIntyre added.
Seems going back to the ICJ has some short term gains, just for show likely.
Israeli military claims 365 aid trucks entered Gaza on Thursday
The Israeli military says it allowed 365 humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza through the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) and the Beit Hanoon (Erez) crossings.
It said this included 38 trucks of flour and 76,000 litres of fuel sent to the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide supplies to its bakeries.
This comes as WFP announced it had to suspend aid operations in Rafah after all its stocks were depleted in the aftermath of the Israeli ground invasion of the southernmost Gaza city – and the closure of its vital border crossing.
The UN and international aid organisations continue to say Israel is significantly blocking aid to Gaza as famine spreads.
We are expanding our humanitarian aid efforts for Gazan civilians:
📍Kerem Shalom and Erez Crossing:
365 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza today through the Kerem Shalom Crossing operated by the @Israel_MOD , as well as the Erez Crossing in coordination with @cogatonline .… pic.twitter.com/HDdHBTZp1z
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 16, 2024
Of course it's just a claim and no guarantee that aid actually arrives where needed. Plus Israel counts half full trucks for inspection. And what is in all the other trucks. (76K liters fits in two large fuel trucks or four small ones)
