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SvennoJ on 12 February 2025
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UN experts say Trump’s plan to take over Gaza is ‘manifestly illegal’

More than 30 independent UN human rights experts have issued a joint statement condemning the “shocking threats” by Trump to “take over” and “own” Gaza.

“It is manifestly illegal to invade and annex foreign territory by force, to forcibly deport its population, and to deprive the Palestinian people of their inalienable right to self-determination, including to retain Gaza within a sovereign Palestinian state,” the experts said.

They also warned that “such blatant violations by a major power” would have “devastating consequences for peace and human rights globally” and “return the world to the dark days of colonial conquest”.

They also proposed ways Trump could respond to the conflict if he “is genuinely concerned for the welfare of Palestinians”. These include pressing for a lasting ceasefire, resuming funding to UNRWA, ending arms transfers and compensating “Palestinians for damage resulting from US weapons and munitions supplied to Israel”.




Israeli public divided over Gaza ceasefire deal

The public in Israel is divided. The majority supports the plan proposed by Trump to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its Palestinian population.

There is also wide support for the ceasefire agreement so long as it results in the release of Israeli captives.

The Israeli opposition is capitalising on that, launching political attacks against Netanyahu and his government, saying that he shouldn’t be cowering from the ceasefire agreement and fearing Smotrich, the minister of finance, who threatened to take down the government if it moves to phase two of the agreement.

In the meantime, the Israeli media is also reflecting that division, the Haaretz newspaper leading with the headline that Netanyahu is endangering the ceasefire, while more mainstream and right-of-centre newspapers say that Netanyahu has issued an ultimatum to Hamas that if it does not release the captives by Saturday, the war will resume.


Israeli army to call up 14,000 Haredim recruits, Israeli Broadcast Authority reports

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority has said the army will announce the sending of 14,000 recruitment orders to the Haredim, the Hebrew term for ultra-Orthodox Jews.

In June, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that Haredi Jews cannot be exempted from military service.

It also ordered a freeze on budgets for yeshivas, traditional Jewish educational institutions, and said there was no legal basis preventing the government from conscripting Haredi Jews into the Israeli army.

The Haredim, who constitute about 13 percent of Israel’s population, refuse to serve in the Israeli army under the pretext of devoting their lives to religion.