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SvennoJ 5 days ago
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Knesset debate on October 7 committee postponed after fight between bereaved families and security

A Knesset debate on forming an investigation committee into October 7 has been postponed after a fight broke out between security forces and bereaved families and relatives of captives in Gaza.

The clashes broke out when dozens of the families were stopped by Knesset security when they attempted to enter the gallery to watch the debate.


‘Remarkable scenes’ as Knesset security clash with bereaved Israelis

There were pretty remarkable scenes inside the Israeli Knesset as families members of captives and bereaved family members – around 1,500 people – were going to the gallery because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was finally going to answer questions on why there has not been a state inquiry into October 7, and the security failures that happened that day in 2023.

The families of the captives, the opposition, and a large majority of the Israeli public have been calling for this for more than a year, and in fact the Israeli military has released their findings of a probe about the security failures.

The Israeli army’s chief of staff even acknowledged his responsibility for his role in the security lapses.

But Netanyahu says a state inquiry should only happen when the war is done, and says it would interfere with the war effort and the running of the country during war.

However, the opposition is saying the scenes that happened today at the Israeli parliament are shameful and despicable, and the family members of the captives are calling on the Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana to resign.




Japanese judge Yuji Iwasawa elected new ICJ president

The International Court of Justice has appointed Yuji Iwasawa as its new president, replacing Nawaf Salam, the new prime minister of Lebanon.

The 70-year-old will head the Hague-based court – which rules in disputes between nations – until Salam’s term was due to expire on February 5, 2027, the ICJ said in a statement.

The court is weighing on a case brought by South Africa that Israel is committing genocide in its war on Gaza.

In July, the ICJ ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories since the 1967 Middle East war and its settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were illegal and that it must withdraw as soon as possible.

Iwasawa has been a member of the court since June 2018. Before joining the ICJ, he was a professor of international law at the University of Tokyo and chair of the United Nations Human Rights Committee.