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SvennoJ on 22 May 2024
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Watchdogs press World Court to order unimpeded media access to Gaza

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is among nine human rights and press freedom groups saying Israel has failed to comply with the top UN court’s January 26 order to “take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence” related to genocide allegations.

“Despite the valiant efforts of Palestinian journalists who continue reporting despite a daily struggle to survive, Israel’s censorious actions make it nearly impossible to comprehensively, continuously and independently document what is happening on the ground in Gaza and risk significantly hampering future accountability efforts,” the groups said in a statement.

Journalists, independent rights investigators, fact-finding missions and the International Criminal Court still do not have access to Gaza, prohibiting the effective preservation and retention of evidence of potential war crimes, the groups added.

"Israel’s near-total ban of foreign journalists from Gaza and its increasing constraints on outlets like Al Jazeera and The Associated Press – combined with a struggling Palestinian press corps – means South Africa’s ICJ request for unimpeded media access is urgent and vital,” said Gypsy Guillen Kaiser, CPJ’s communications director.


White House: Israeli operations in Rafah more ‘targeted and limited’

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says Israel appears to be complying with assurances made that its attacks on Rafah would be “more limited”, although Washington will continue to monitor how its army proceeds.

“What we have seen so far in terms of Israel’s military operations in that area has been more targeted and limited and has not involved major military operations in the heart of denser areas. We now have to see what unfolds from here,” Sullivan told a briefing.

There is no “mathematical formula” to determine if Israel’s actions are acceptable, he said. “What we’re going to be looking at is whether there is a lot of death and destruction from this operation, or if it is more precise and proportional.”

President Biden earlier took one of his strongest positions yet against a planned ground invasion of Rafah. Still, Israeli leaders largely dismissed US warnings before launching the assault this month.

That makes it OK? wtf. We'll only kill 80 people a day (that are known of and maim many more) while starving the rest. US says go ahead. ICC should have the balls to charge Biden and Blinken as well.


‘Israeli government must not waste another moment’: Abduction video released

Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum released a Hamas-shot video showing female soldiers being abducted during the October 7 attack to highlight the need for Israel’s government to get back to negotiations to free them.

“With each passing day, it becomes more challenging to bring the hostages back home – the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for proper burial. The Israeli government must not waste another moment; it must return to the negotiating table today,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said as it publicised the footage.

The video was previously released by Hamas and edited by Israel’s military, according to the forum. It shows the young women troops – all of them stunned and some bloodied – being bound and bundled into a jeep by Hamas fighters.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum – which represents relatives of 124 people, mostly civilians, still held by Hamas – said the footage was recovered from bodycams worn by gunmen who attacked the Nahal Oz base in southern Israel, where the women served as surveillance spotters.

In a statement, Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed to continue fighting Hamas to “ensure what we have seen tonight never happens again”.


Relatives and supporters of captives call for their release in Tel Aviv



Translation: “The renegade government, the people will return!” Families of abductees together with hundreds of citizens at Shaar Begin in Kirya call for the return of the abductees even at the cost of ending the war.