The ICJ ruled the genocide case against Israel should proceed. It ordered Israel to immediately cease and prevent all genocidal actions in Gaza, including the killing of Palestinians, and not to destroy evidence. Specifically, the court ordered, by a 15-2 vote, that Israel must…
— jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) January 26, 2024
LurkerJ said:
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The UNSC has said the same with a lot more words
Specifically, the court ordered, by a 15-2 vote, that Israel must prevent the following actions against the protected "group," which the court defined as the Palestinians of Gaza: "(a) killing members of the group; ( b ) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; 
deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; and ( d ) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group."
Which is simply upholding the Geneva conventions on genocide
The court has no way to enforce its ruling, but maybe it will spur the UNSC to actually enforce their resolution
UNSC resolution of December 22nd 2023
1. Reiterates its demand that all parties to the conflict comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, including with regard to the conduct of hostilities and the protection of civilians and civilian objects, humanitarian access, and the protection of humanitarian personnel and their freedom of movement, and the duty, as applicable, of ensuring the food and medical supplies, among others, of the population, recalls that civilian and humanitarian facilities, including hospitals, medical facilities, schools, places of worship, and facilities of the UN, as well as humanitarian personnel, and medical personnel, and their means of transport, must be respected and protected, according to international humanitarian law, and affirms that nothing in this resolution absolves the parties of these obligations;
Pretty much all of that has been violated since December 22nd and is continued to be violated
2. Reaffirms the obligations of the parties to the conflict under international humanitarian law regarding the provision of humanitarian assistance, demands that they allow, facilitate and enable the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale directly to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip, and in this regard calls for urgent steps to immediately allow safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access and to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities;
UN recently stated again that over 2/3rds of their humanitarion assistance missions have been denied access to the North of Gaza
https://www.reuters.com/world/un-deplores-israels-systematic-refusal-grant-access-north-gaza-2024-01-12/
Plus the scale of aid is woefully inadequate, only 10% to 30% of what is needed, signalled daily by numerous help organizations.
3. Demands that the parties to the conflict allow and facilitate the use of all available routes to and throughout the entire Gaza Strip, including border crossings, including full and prompt implementation of the announced opening of the Karem Abu Salem / Kerem Shalom Border Crossing, for the provision of humanitarian assistance in order to ensure that humanitarian personnel and humanitarian assistance, including fuel, food, and medical supplies and emergency shelter assistance, reaches the civilian population in need throughout the Gaza Strip without diversion and through the most direct routes, as well as for material and equipment to repair and ensure the functioning of critical infrastructure and to provide essential services, without prejudice to the obligations of the parties to the conflict under international humanitarian law, and stresses the importance of respecting and protecting border crossings and maritime infrastructure used for the delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale;
Still no aid over water, still only aid trickling in through the south corner of Gaza, still no structural repair of critical infrastructure
4. Requests the Secretary-General, with the objective of expediting the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, to appoint a Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator with responsibility for facilitating, coordinating, monitoring, and verifying in Gaza, as appropriate, the humanitarian nature of all humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza provided through states which are not party to the conflict, and further requests that the Coordinator expeditiously establish a UN mechanism for accelerating the provision of humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza through states which are not party to the conflict, consulting all relevant parties, with the goal of expediting, streamlining, and accelerating the process of providing assistance while continuing to help ensure that aid reaches its civilian destination, and demands that the parties to the conflict cooperate with the Coordinator to fulfill their mandate without delay or obstruction;
Israel keeps delaying humanitarian aid, even attacking aid distribution points.
No new mechanisms have come in place, many places in Gaza are not getting any aid at all
5. Requests that the Coordinator be appointed expeditiously;
I guess Sigrid Kaag (appointed Dec 26th) is supposed to be the coordinator
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/personnel-appointments/2023-12-26/ms-sigrid-kaag-of-the-netherlands-senior-humanitarian-and-reconstruction-coordinator-for-gaza-pursuant-security-council-resolution-2720-%282023%29
Nothing much has come from the appointment yet though, assessments...
6. Determines that the Coordinator will have the necessary personnel and equipment in Gaza, under the authority of the United Nations, to perform these, and other functions as determined by the Security Council, and requests that the Coordinator report to the Security Council on its work, with an initial report within 20 days and thereafter every 90 days through 30 September 2024;
Where is the initial report, some news from Januari 17th
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1145612
Ms. Kaag said she was in Egypt “to see how we can facilitate, accelerate and expedite all areas of the assistance that is so much needed for civilians in Gaza, given the very acute humanitarian conditions that they have to live with”.
Acute but not that acute that we're still at roughly the same level of assistance a month later.
7. Demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address medical needs of all hostages;
This has also not happened, medical aid has been secured for the hostages.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/medical-aid-for-hostages-gazans-to-be-inspected-in-israel-after-pm-sparks-firestorm/
8. Demands the provision of fuel to Gaza at levels that will meet requisite humanitarian needs;
Doctors are still trying to save people illuminated by flash light, without anesthesia, no oxygen. No fuel to keep hospitals operational.
9. Calls for all parties to adhere to international humanitarian law and in this regard deplores all attacks against civilians and civilian objects, as well as all violence and hostilities against civilians, and all acts of terrorism;
Daily news of war crimes and attacks against civilians and civilian objects keeps pouring in.
10. Reaffirms the obligations of all parties under international humanitarian law, including with regard to respecting and protecting civilians and taking constant care to spare civilian objects, including such objects critical to the delivery of essential services to the civilian population, and with regard to refraining from attacking, destroying, removing or rendering useless objects that are indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, as well as respecting and protecting humanitarian personnel and consignments used for humanitarian relief operations;
Hundreds of aid workers killed, arrested, obstructed, no change since December 22nd, if anything it has only gotten worse.
11. Reaffirms that civilian objects, including places of refuge, including within United Nations facilities and their surroundings, are protected under international humanitarian law, and rejects forced displacement of the civilian population, including children, in violation of international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law;
Forced displacement is happening right now, attacks on UN facilities and their surroundings have continued.
12. Reiterates its unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-State solution where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, consistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions, and in this regard stresses the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority;
This seems to be stuck in a deadlock.
13. Demands that all parties to the conflict take all appropriate steps to ensure the safety and security of United Nations and associated personnel, those of its specialized agencies, and all other personnel engaged in humanitarian relief activities consistent with international humanitarian law, without prejudice to their freedom of movement and access, stresses the need not to hinder these efforts, and recalls that humanitarian relief personnel must be respected and protected;
It seems the IDF's idea of accomplishing this is to deny aid convoys access, violating point 2.
14. Demands implementation of resolution 2712 (2023) in full, requests the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council in writing within five working days of the adoption of this resolution on the implementation of resolution 2712 (2023), and thereafter as necessary, and calls upon all parties concerned to make full use of the humanitarian notification and deconfliction mechanisms in place to protect all humanitarian sites, including UN facilities, and to help facilitate the movement of aid convoys, without prejudice to the obligations of the parties to uphold international humanitarian law;
15. Requests the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of this resolution in the regular reporting to the Council;
16. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.
The UNSC did meet again 2 days ago, yet still no action
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1145862
Complete overview of the current situation
https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-102-enarhe
Two dead in Israeli strike on south Lebanon
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, along with local media, are reporting that two people were killed and four wounded when the Israeli army hit a residential home in the southern Lebanese village of Beit Lef.
Local outlet Kawalis Beirut published video from the scene of the strike, which shows civil defence crews digging through rubble in search of survivors. The four wounded people were transported to the hospital, Kawalis Beirut said.
Israel continues to hammer Khan Younis following ICJ ruling
As the world tries to assess the implications of the ICJ ruling earlier on Friday, little has changed on the ground in Gaza. Over the last several hours, Israeli forces have stepped up strikes on Khan Younis, where medical facilities remain under siege.
“There has not been any kind of noticeable development in terms of Israel’s military tactics,” Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum reported from Rafah.
“We’ve been witnessing over the past few hours more Israeli attacks and artillery shelling of the main areas of Khan Younis, as Israeli forces are completely destroying residential buildings,” added Abu Azzoum, noting that fighting is moving closer to Nasser Hospital, making it difficult for medical workers to function inside the facility.
German state broadcaster calls on Israel to allow two workers exit Gaza
The German state broadcaster ARD has said that Israel is blocking two of its long-term Palestinian employees in Gaza from leaving the strip, citing security concerns that the outlet says have no basis in fact. ARD says that it has been asking Israel to allow the workers to leave Gaza, where they fear for their lives, with the support of the German government for more than two months.
One of the two ARD workers, Mohammed Abusaif, has been forced to evacuate eight times since Israel began its offensive and is now living in a tent near Rafah. “This does not make sense because they would not even be stepping onto Israeli soil,” ARD Senior Editor Christian Nitsche told Reuters of Israel’s citation of security concerns. “These colleagues are no security risk.”
US State Department says World Court order consistent with US view
The US says ICJ’s ruling is consistent with Washington’s view that Israel has the right to take action, in accordance with international law, to ensure the October 7 attack cannot be repeated. “We continue to believe that allegations of genocide are unfounded and note the court did not make a finding about genocide or call for a ceasefire in its ruling and that it called for the unconditional, immediate release of all hostages being held by Hamas,” a State Department spokesperson said.
Israeli UN envoy slams UNRWA as agency investigates employee October 7 attack links
Gilad Erdan says on X that “The United Nations is not only being used as a weapon to delegitimize our existence, but also to physically eliminate us.”
Earlier today, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said it has opened an investigation into some employees Israel alleges were involved in the October 7 attacks, and that it has severed ties with those staff members.
More double standards on display. There have been hundreds of claims of IDF soldiers committing war crimes, even filming themselves while committing war crimes, yet not even willing to review any of it while sending more ammo and weapons.
https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts
Israel has agreed to use U.S. weapons only in self-defense. Outside of this, Biden administration officials have said they have not placed further limitations or constraints on how Israel uses U.S. weapons, although they say that Israel should observe international law.
Oh bombing civilians is self-defense, that's ok then.
Same for the settlers in the West Bank.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/23/crowdfunding-us-residents-fund-settlements-west-bank
Israeli protestors continue trying to prevent aid from crossing into Gaza
Israeli demonstrators have again travelled to Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing with Gaza to protest against aid deliveries into the strip, which is reeling under the risk of famine as Israel presses its assault.
“This is the third day that these demonstrations have taken place. We’re told that at one point today, there were actually hundreds of demonstrators. Each day, the number of demonstrators coming out protesting trucks carrying aid into Gaza have been increasing,” said Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem.
“Today, we were told that at one point, these demonstrators broke through police barricades, they put themselves at the crossing, they prevented trucks from going in. We’re told that there were dozens of trucks that had to wait up to seven hours to be able to cross,” he added.
WHO refutes Israeli claims it is in ‘collusion’ with Hamas
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has slammed comments from Israeli authorities accusing the UN agency of colluding with Hamas. “WHO refutes Israel’s accusation at the Executive Board meeting yesterday that WHO is in ‘collusion’ with Hamas and is ‘turning a blind eye’ to the suffering of hostages being held in Gaza,” Tedros said in a social media post.
“Such false claims are harmful and can endanger our staff who are risking their lives to serve the vulnerable. As a United Nations agency, WHO is impartial and is working for the health and well-being of all people.”
Talks about how the balance has shifted, but also shows that the only thing the Israeli war cabinet can do (to save themselves) is to continue the war for as long as possible. Disturbing footage of Israeli propaganda as well :/
Democracy now is more positive the watered down court ruling will lead to something
I'm more pessimistic seeing that the UNSC resolution from December 22nd states the same and has not been enforced nor led to any sanctions.
However Democracy Now thinks the ICJ stating it's possible genocide is taking place might be enough fuel for other court cases to possibly halt military aid to Israel. In particular this one:
Palestinian Americans’ Lawsuit in Oakland Seeks to Halt U.S. Support for Israel
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/26/world/middleeast/oakland-lawsuit-biden-israel-palestinians.html
The case, filed in Federal District Court in Northern California, is unlikely to succeed, given legal precedents regarding foreign policy decisions. But it has energized pro-Palestinian activists.
US court hears civil case accusing Biden of ‘complicity’ in Gaza ‘genocide’
Plaintiffs want the federal court to urge the US to use its influence to get Israel to end its hostilities in Gaza.
A civil case accusing United States President Joe Biden and other senior US officials of being complicit in Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza has begun at a federal court in California. Lawyers representing Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, attended Friday’s proceedings along with the plaintiffs who accuse them of “failure to prevent and complicity in the Israeli government’s unfolding genocide”.
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a US civil liberties group, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the human rights organisation, Defence for Children – Palestine; Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights group based in the occupied West Bank; and eight Palestinians and US citizens with relatives in Gaza.
During Friday’s hearing, the court heard from lawyers, activists and organisers, including doctors in Gaza, about the situation that Palestinians have been facing for nearly four months.
The CCR complaint was first filed in November last year and said Biden, Blinken and Austin “have not only been failing to uphold the country’s obligation to prevent a genocide but have enabled the conditions for its development by providing unconditional military and diplomatic support [to Israel]”.
The CCR is asking the court to “declare that defendants have violated their duty under customary international law, as part of federal common law, to take all measures within their power to prevent Israel from committing genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza”. The group is also calling for the US to use its influence over Israel to end the hostilities against Palestinians in Gaza.
Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds, reporting from the court in Oakland on Friday, said the CCR is arguing that by providing weapons to Israel, the US’s support violates the 1948 Genocide Convention. In response, the lawyers for the Biden administration “are focusing on a very narrow legal argument”, he said. “They are saying the court does not have the authority to rule on this. They’re citing what is called the political doctrine, and it has to do with the separation of powers in the United States,” Reynolds said.
He explained that lawyers are arguing that the conduct of foreign policy, diplomacy, military activities and the relations between allies are in the “political purview of the executive branch, in other words, the president and the cabinet” and, therefore, not amenable to judicial action by other branches of power that make up the US government.
The judge appeared to also question his authority in the case, Reynolds said.
Judge doesn't want to hold the hot potato
Oil tanker ablaze in Gulf of Aden after Houthi missile attack
The Marlin Luanda oil tanker is on fire in the Gulf of Aden after it was struck by a missile, the commodities group Trafigura, said on Friday.
"Earlier on 26th January, the Marlin Luanda, a petroleum products tanker vessel operated on behalf of Trafigura, was struck by a missile in the Gulf of Aden after transiting the Red Sea," the statement said. "Firefighting equipment on board is being deployed to suppress and control the fire caused in one cargo tank on the starboard side."
Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in a statement they fired missiles toward the "British oil tanker" in response to the "American-British aggression against our country [Yemen]" and in support of the Palestinian people.
Occupied West Bank raids continue
Video Al Jazeera verified shows that a new Israeli raid on the city of Qalqilya has begun. The footage, published on Telegram, shows Israeli military vehicles surrounding the Kafr Saba neighbourhood before soldiers exit the vehicles and storm the area. In other video clips of the raid, the sounds of gunfire can be heard.
Earlier, we reported an Israeli raid on the town of Deir Abu Darif, near Jenin. The Palestine Red Crescent says that a Palestinian sustained “critical injury” when they were struck by live ammunition in the town.
US Congresswomen say ICJ ruling puts Biden administration ‘on notice’
Two lawmakers in the US House of Representatives, Palestinian-American Representative Rashida Tlaib and progressive Representative Cori Bush, have released a joint statement saying that the ICJ ruling puts the Biden administration “on notice for enabling violations of the Genocide Convention”.
“This ruling underscores the urgency of the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the Israeli and US governments in Gaza,” the statement reads. “The Biden Administration must not only affirm the legitimacy of this ruling and facilitate an immediate ceasefire – it must comply with federal and international law by suspending military assistance to the Israeli government,” it adds.
Pro-Palestine protesters arrested in front of Israel lobby group office
Hundreds of demonstrators marched through the streets of New York City in the US, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to US aid to Israel. The march stopped in front of the headquarters of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, one of the largest pro-Israel lobbying groups in the US. Video posted to X by a journalist present at the march shows New York City police arresting demonstrators in front of the lobbying group’s office.
Complete power outage reported at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis
Al Jazeera’s correspondent has reported a complete power outage at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Quds News Network also reported the news and shared a video on X showing the electricity blackout.
Heavy clashes around Nasser Hospital
Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Haddad has posted a video on his Instagram showing the Khan Younis hospital, in which the sounds of frequent gunfire and explosions can be heard. He said that a large number of Palestinians in the surrounding areas have fled under the order of the Israeli army and that residents are fearful that an all-out assault on the area is imminent.
Doctors Without Borders says there is ‘no longer a healthcare system’ in Gaza
The group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has said that vital medical services “have collapsed” at Nasser Hospital, the largest functioning health facility in Gaza.
In a statement on Friday, MSF said that there is “no longer a healthcare system in Gaza” and reiterated calls for a ceasefire.
“Most of the hospital’s staff, along with thousands of displaced people who had sought shelter in the hospital, fled in the days leading up to the evacuation order of the surrounding areas by Israeli forces,” the statement reads, adding that between 300 and 350 patients remain in Nasser because evacuation efforts are too dangerous and there are no remaining ambulances.
“These patients have war-related injuries such as open wounds, lacerations from explosions, fractures, and burns,” the statement adds.
Israeli strikes on Gaza kill several civilians, Palestinian news agency says
Wafa reports that Israeli attacks on the southern city of Rafah have killed at least one man and wounded many others. The man was killed when a bomb hit a group of tents sheltering displaced Palestinians, the news agency said.
Elsewhere in central Gaza, Wafa reports, Israeli air strikes killed at least three Palestinians.
Site of Israeli strikes on a mosque and houses, as Palestinians inspect damage, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, January 25, 2024
Israel and us are the cartel this icj ruling won't change anything
| zeldaring said: Israel and us are the cartel this icj ruling won't change anything |
And Canada their cheerleader
Buttu slams Canada’s response to ICJ ruling on Gaza genocide
Diana Buttu, a Palestinian-Canadian lawyer and former spokesperson for the Palestine Liberation Organization, has slammed Canada’s response to the ICJ ruling on alleged genocide perpetrated by Israel in the execution of its war on Gaza.
“Awful statement by Canada re ICJ. Included in it are racist Israeli talking points (re: ‘human shields’) with the added touch of demanding more humanitarian supplies. Disgusting,” Buttu wrote on social media.
Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in the statement: “Our support for the ICJ does not mean that we accept the premise of the case brought by South Africa. It is for the ICJ to make a final decision on the case, which it has not done today.”
“Canada will continue to support Israel’s right to exist and defend itself, in accordance with international law,” Joly said. “Canada continues to support urgent international efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire. This cannot be one-sided. Hamas must release all hostages, stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields, and lay down its arms,” she said.
UK’s Labour Party calls on Israel to comply with ICJ genocide ruling ‘in full’
“The ICJ’s measures align closely with Labour’s longstanding calls for the protection of civilians, urgent humanitarian relief in Gaza and an end to extremist rhetoric. We will press for these orders to be implemented, alongside an immediate humanitarian truce and a sustainable ceasefire.”
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has not commented on the ruling, but the Telegraph newspaper reported that Downing Street referred the its reporter to an earlier speech by Sunak in which he described South Africa’s case against Israel as “completely unjustified”.
The Oakland court case might not go anywhere, just as with the ICJ hearing the genocide case, it's already a great relief for Palestinians to finally be heard in court.
US civil case hearing on Biden administration’s ‘complicity’ in Gaza genocide concludes
Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds reporting from the courthouse in Oakland, California, said the civil case brought by rights groups and Palestinian-Americans has concluded, and Biden’s defence team was hopeful the judge will issue a ruling “within a couple of days”.
“This is a case brought … against President Biden and senior officials in the Biden administration saying that they were complicit in genocide in Israel’s war on Gaza under the 1948 international convention against genocide,” Reynolds said.
Wael Buhaissy, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said their day in court was “historic”. “Today was an incredible day. Indeed, an historic day. For the first time in perhaps 75 years we, the Palestinian community, representing our people in Gaza, got to tell our story and got to share our truth. We talked about our siblings, our cousins, our uncles, our family members that were murdered in Israel’s genocide, and we got the court to hear us,” Buhaissy said.
“We put President Biden and his administration on notice – they are now charged with genocide by us. This is indeed an historic day,” he said.
This is Trumpian-style gaslighting from the Biden State Department. There’s nothing consistent between the view of the ICJ, that South Africa has a case and that the risk of genocide in Gaza is plausible, and the State Department view that South Africa’s case was “meritless” https://t.co/6H1Y1K080l
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) January 26, 2024
I wish I wasn't reading Mehdi's tweets, barf, I detest this guy, but he's obviously right about this. The Trumpian-style rhetoric and level of irresponsibility on the world stage is setting the bar high for Trump himself.
Someone please find me that Nina Turner video in which she got so much flak for saying voting for Biden is like eating a half bowl of shit. She was absolutely right, of course.
From the great @SabrinaSiddiqui https://t.co/IOYxRA1prQ
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) January 26, 2024
Life is so weird people being slaughtered all over the world and then you have a million ways to die here at home, life is so pointless.
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