Israel has a history of blocking UN investigators from entering Palestinian territory
The ICJ on Friday ruled that Israel must allow the UN and other relevant bodies, “unimpeded access to the Gaza Strip” to “investigate allegations of genocide”. But Palestinian lawyer Mohammad Dahleh told Al Jazeera’s Inside Story that Israel has denied access to similar inquiries in the past.
“Several UN inquiry commissions were supposed to come to the Palestinian Territories in the past, based on the resolutions of the UN General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, and other committees,” Dahleh said.
“Israel in the past hasn’t been cooperative and this time, I don’t think it’s going to be any different,” he added.
Dahleh noted that Israel continues to control who can and can’t enter the Gaza Strip, noting that ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan visited Israel and the occupied West Bank in December last year but did not visit the Gaza Strip.
“Gaza has been under Israeli full control from the sea from the air and from the [land] borders,” Dahleh said. “No one can enter Gaza without an Israeli permit or Israeli consent.”
Gantz seeks inquiry into October 7 attacks, war on Gaza: Reports
Israel’s war cabinet member Benny Gantz has submitted a proposal to the Israeli cabinet secretary to establish a commission of inquiry into October 7 and the war on Gaza, according to various Israeli media outlets.
Last week, Gantz threatened to quit Israel’s coalition government if Netanyahu didn’t come up with a plan for Gaza’s post-war governance within three weeks.
A leading figure in the opposition before joining the war cabinet, Gantz is currently viewed as Netanyahu’s main political rival in Israel.
Reports suggest Israel’s military operations in Gaza ‘not going well’
Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, citing a report in Politico, says “70 percent of Hamas’s fighting force remains intact on fighting in Gaza” and that Hamas has been able to recruit thousands of new members.
The report, he said, also indicated Hamas’s extensive tunnel network under the Gaza Strip remains largely intact.
Elmasry said there had also been reports that Hamas has been able to repurpose unexploded Israeli bombs, so the Palestinian group no longer has a weapons supply issue.
“I think Israel is clearly getting all it can handle on the battlefield right now,” he concluded.
There's definitely been an increase of counter attacks. With 10% of ordnance not exploding, Hamas has plenty ammo repurpose.
Netanyahu’s only interest is ‘political survival’: Lapid
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid says on X that Prime Minister Netanyahu and “his entourage” are people whose “only interest is political survival and wreaking havoc in the State of Israel”.
Lapid has been vocal in his criticism of the embattled Israeli leader and his government.
Earlier this month, he said the Netanyahu administration had “lost control”. “Relations with the US are collapsing; the middle class is collapsing,” he said at the time.
“Soldiers are being killed every day in Gaza, and they fight among themselves on television. The cabinet is disassembled and non-functional. Ministers protest in front of cabinet meetings.”
Deal on captives not realistic without ceasefire: Former Israeli general
General Yair Golan, former Israeli deputy chief of staff has told Radio Israel that “there will be no deal [between Israel and Hamas] without the cessation of fighting” in Gaza.
“Let’s be real with ourselves, and we will not listen to the poison machine coming out of Jerusalem,” the retired general was quoted as saying.
