ICJ ruling a ‘vindication’ of the struggle of Palestinians, Pakistani PM says

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also welcomed the advisory opinion issued by the World Court that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful, calling it a “vindication of the legitimate struggle of the brave Palestinian people”.

“I urge the international community & UN to implement the ruling, ensuring Palestinian self-determination through a two-state solution in line with relevant UN resolutions,” Sharif wrote on X.

“Proud that Pakistan contributed to the case, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to the Palestinian cause.”

I welcome the historic ICJ Advisory Opinion on Israel's policies in Occupied Palestinian Territory. The ICJ ruling that Israel must end its occupation & illegal settlements is vindication of the legitimate struggle of the brave Palestinian people. I urge the international…

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) July 20, 2024

Hamas hails Pakistani move to declare Netanyahu a ‘terrorist’

Hamas has issued a statement saying it welcomes “the Pakistani government’s decision that Israel is an entity that has committed war crimes and its criminal prime minister is a terrorist”.

On Friday, Pakistan’s government said it considered Netanyahu a “terrorist” and demanded he be brought to justice for war crimes against Palestinians.

“Netanyahu is a terrorist and a perpetrator of war crimes,” said Rana Sanaullah, an adviser to Sharif on political and public affairs.

Pakistan announces committee to boycott companies supporting Israel

Pakistan has announced it is forming a committee to identify companies to boycott for supporting Israel, Wafa reports.

“A committee has also been constituted to identify such companies and products in Pakistan that may be directly or indirectly abetting Israel or forces committing war crimes against Palestinians,” said Rana Sanaullah, adviser on political affairs to the prime minister.

Sanaullah also told reporters in Islamabad that “Pakistan will use every possible means to help Palestinians and condemn Israel as a terrorist country”.

Israel’s Lapid calls on public to join protest for captives

Opposition leader Yair Lapid has called on Israelis to take to the streets this evening to call for the release of captives held in Gaza.

“You are welcome to join me and thousands of patriotic Israelis. We will not give up the kidnapped. We will not give up the country. We will not lose hope,” Lapid wrote on X.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel and Hamas were inside the “10-yard line” and close to agreeing on a ceasefire that could see the return of captives and a cessation of hostilities.

Hezbollah claims attack on Israel’s Dafna settlement

Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group claims its fighters have for the first time attacked northern Israel’s Dafna settlement near Kiryat Shmona with dozens of Katyusha rockets.

The group did not elaborate on the results of the attack but it said in a statement on Telegram that the bombing came in response to the Israeli attack on civilians in the Lebanese town of Burj al-Muluk.

According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, a drone targeted an empty SUV on the outskirts of Burj al-Muluk in the Nabatieh governorate.

The rocket shrapnel injured several Syrians, including children, near the tent they were living in.

Qassam and al-Quds brigades claim series of attacks on Israeli targets

The armed wings of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad say their fighters have:

Air strikes hit Yemen’s Hodeidah port, Houthi media report

Al Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Yemen’s Houthi movement, says a series of air strikes have targeted the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

The attacks targeted oil refineries, the report said.

On Friday, Houthis said they carried out an attack on a building in Tel Aviv with a drone, claiming it was conducted using a new style of drone undetectable by air defence systems and radar.

The attack killed one man and injured 10 people. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised to retaliate.

Houthi attack on Tel Aviv ‘extremely damaging’ to Israelis

Elijah Magnier, a military and political analyst, says Friday’s drone attack on Tel Aviv was “extremely damaging” for the psychology of Israelis as the city was no longer a “safe place”.

“For the Houthis to launch a drone from 2,000km [1,242 miles] and reach the target in Tel Aviv is very significant because it informs all the people of Israel that they have no safe place to go and it is better to stop the war on Gaza,” Magnier told Al Jazeera.

“It is also putting pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose people and political parties are increasing the objection to the continuation of the war,” he said.

One person was killed in the Tel Aviv attack, which was claimed by the Houthis.

Magnier also noted that the so-called “axis of resistance” of Iranian allies, including the Qassam Brigades, Hezbollah and the Houthis, are increasing their attacks on Israel and “enlarging the war”.

Strikes on Hodeidah port cause deaths, injuries: Report

Al Masirah TV says the air strikes on the Yemeni port have led to an unspecified number of deaths and injuries.

The channel said the strikes targeted an electricity station and fuel tanks, leading to power outages throughout the governorate of Hodeidah.

Israeli attack will not stop Yemen from supporting Gaza: Houthis

Mohammed Abdulsalam, the Houthis’ spokesman, has called the Israeli air strikes on the Hodeidah port’s oil tanks and power-generating facility “a brutal Israeli aggression against Yemen that aims to deepen people’s suffering, and to pressure Yemen to stop supporting Gaza”.

In a post on X, Abdulsalam called the attack an Israeli “dream that will not come true. We affirm that this brutal aggression will only increase the determination of the Yemeni people and their valiant armed forces to be steadfast and to continue their support for Gaza”.

He concluded: “The Yemeni people are able to face all challenges for the sake of victory for oppressed Palestine and the people of Gaza, whose cause is the most just on earth.”

Israeli defence minister says Yemen strikes send a message

_{Huge fire in Hodeidah}

Israel’s attack on Hodeidah marks ‘beginning of new stage’

Israel’s attack on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah marks the beginning of a new stage in the Middle East that has the potential of spiralling out of control, military and political analyst Elijah Magnier tells Al Jazeera.

While the statement made by Gallant indicates Israel intended its strike as a deterrent, it is unlikely it will have such an effect, Magnier said.

“Is this going to change the course of action of a nonstate actor that is motivated to support the people of Gaza? Certainly not,” Magnier said. “They’ve been given a perfect reason to increase the attacks.”

The analyst added that the fact the Houthi drone that struck Tel Aviv on Friday went undetected shows Iran has progressively been providing its allies with more sophisticated weapons and will continue to do so.

“We have not seen the end of it – far from it,” he said.

‘We will strike anyone who strikes us,’ Israeli foreign minister says

Israel Katz says the attack on the Houthi port of Hodeidah “delivered a severe blow to the Iranian-backed terror organisation in Yemen”.

“We will strike anyone who strikes us,” he wrote on X. “Iran is the head of the snake – it must be stopped now.”

Israel delivered a severe blow to the Iranian-backed terror organization in Yemen today. We will strike anyone who strikes us. Iran supports, trains, and finances the Houthi terror organization as part of its regional network of terror organizations aimed at attacking Israel.…

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) July 20, 2024

Houthis promise ‘effective response’ to Israeli strike

The Houthi Supreme Political Council says there will be an “effective response” to Israel’s air strikes on Hodeidah.

Earlier, we reported that Israel confirmed it was behind an attack on the Red Sea port that struck oil depots and a power station.

“Our stance for the support and victory of the Palestinian people stems from our principles, beliefs and religion. We will not falter or back down. We will continue this support, God willing, and there will be more significant hits on our enemy,” the council said in a statement.

Army spokesperson says ‘Operation Long Arm’ conducted by Israel alone

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari says the strike on Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah was conducted by Israel alone and the aircraft that carried it out had returned safely to Israel.

Hagari said the attack has been named “Operation Long Arm”.

He was quoted by The Times of Israel as calling on the international community to unite behind his country. “Israel expects the countries of the world to stand on one front. This is a common international interest,” he said.

The international community is not uniting behind your genocide. The US and maybe still the UK as they've been bombing Yemen already.

It's also not a common international interest to bomb oil refineries.

Houthis ‘declare war’ on Israel and its allies

Yousef Mawry, a journalist and political analyst, says the Houthis believe the Israeli attack on Hodeidah was carried out in coordination with the US, UK and other allies, including Arab ones.

The Houthis say that “any state, any Arab regime, any government in the region that helps Israel or the US carry out attacks on Yemen will be met with retaliation”, according to Mawry, who was speaking from Sanaa.

“It’s going to be an all-out attack against all Israeli, US and British military presence across the region – whether that would be in the island of Socotra here in Yemen, US military bases in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Jordan,” he told Al Jazeera.

The Houthis “are basically declaring war on Israel, the US, the British government and any Arab regime considered an ally of Israel”.

Houthis say they will not hesitate to attack ‘vital targets’ in Israel

Yemen’s Houthis will not hesitate in attacking “vital targets” in Israel, a military spokesman for the movement says after Israel carried out air strikes on the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

Earlier, Netanyahu said the port struck by Israeli fighter jets in Yemen was used as an entry point for Houthis to receive Iranian weapons.

Netanyahu said the strike, about 1,800km (1,120 miles) from Israel’s borders, was a reminder to enemies that there was no place Israel could not reach.

Hezbollah: Israel’s Yemen strikes herald ‘new, dangerous phase’

Lebanon’s Hezbollah says the air strikes by Israel on the armed group’s Yemeni allies, the Houthi rebels, mark a dangerous turn more than nine months into the war on Gaza.

“The foolish step taken by the Zionist enemy heralds a new, dangerous phase of a very important confrontation across the entire region,” the group said in a statement.

Netanyahu vows: ‘We will defend ourselves by all means’

The Israeli prime minister has warned that Israel will “defend ourselves by all means”, hours after fighter jets struck a Houthi-controlled port in Yemen in retaliation for a deadly drone attack on Tel Aviv.

“I have a message for Israel’s enemies: Make no mistake. We will defend ourselves by all means, on all fronts. Anyone who harms us will pay a very heavy price for their aggression,” he said in a televised address the day after a drone killed a civilian in Israel’s second largest city.

Health Ministry says 80 wounded in Israeli strikes on Yemen

At least 80 people were wounded in Israeli strikes that hit the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah earlier today, the Health Ministry run by the Houthis has said.

The strikes, which triggered a massive blaze in the port area, left “80 wounded, most of them with severe burns,” the ministry said in a statement carried by Houthi media. It did not report any deaths.

Iran condemns Israel’s air strikes on Yemen

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman has warned about the possibility of a wider regional war due to Israel’s “dangerous adventurism”.

“Quiet will not return to the region so long as Israeli attacks on Palestine, especially in the Gaza Strip, continue,” the spokesman said.

Israel and “its allies, especially Washington, are responsible for the dangerous repercussions of the attacks on Yemen”.

Ceasefire in Gaza key to regional de-escalation

Israel’s attack on Yemen’s port of Hodeidah is the latest demonstration that fears of a regional escalation are grounded, says HA Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

“Israel may think that it can retaliate just this one time without taking it up a notch, but the Houthis have said that they will retaliate and respond,” Hellyer told Al Jazeera.

“This attack doesn’t remove the Houthis’ resolve or establish Israeli deterrence. All it does is present the Houthis as a worthwhile adversary and they might make a lot out of that.”

The analyst said the Houthis made it clear that they will only stop when a ceasefire deal is achieved in Gaza. Their conduct during a temporary reprieve in fighting in the Strip earlier this year suggests they take the pledge seriously.

Therefore, “the key to unlocking a de-escalation is a ceasefire in Gaza”, Hellyer said.

Herzog says Israel has ‘fundamental duty’ to act against its enemies

Israeli President Isaac Herzog says Israel has a “fundamental duty” to act against its enemies and that its attack on the Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah sends them “a clear message”.

“Israel has shown maximum restraint for many months in the face of repeated attacks by the Houthis against our citizens,” he wrote on X.

“Israel has every right to defend itself and its people, and indeed a fundamental duty to act against anyone who undermines its sovereignty.”

I spoke this evening with Air Force Commander, Major General Tomer Bar, and thanked him and the pilots, technicians, control and intelligence personnel, and all the IDF officers and servicemen and women from the various units, for the robust and precise operation against the…

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) July 20, 2024

Israeli senior ministers boycotted vote to approve Yemen strike: Report

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Justice Minister Yariv Levin have boycotted a security cabinet meeting in which the decision to strike Yemen’s Hodeidah port was made, Israeli media have reported, saying they were not informed of the plan ahead of time.

Channel 12 reported that the ministers refused to attend after being summoned to the meeting just 45 minutes in advance. The Walla news outlet said relevant information was sent from the defence establishment to the Knesset as the attack was already under way.

Disagreements within the Israeli coalition governments have simmered since the onset of the war on Gaza.

US criticises ICJ opinion that Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal

The United States has criticised “the breadth” of the top UN court’s opinion in which the International Court of Justice said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal, with Washington saying it will complicate efforts to resolve the conflict.

“We have been clear that Israel’s programme of government support for settlements is both inconsistent with international law and obstructs the cause of peace,” a US State Department spokesperson said in an email to Reuters.

“However, we are concerned that the breadth of the court’s opinion will complicate efforts to resolve the conflict and bring about an urgently needed just and lasting peace, with two states living side-by-side in peace and security,” the spokesperson wrote.

Enough with US' lies. The Abraham accords are proof the US isn't interested in a two state solution, effectively sidelining a Palestinian state. Both Trump and Biden support the accords.

The US has been complicating efforts to resolve the conflict for many decades.



EU backs ICJ ruling on illegal Israeli occupation

The top UN court’s ruling that Israel’s 57-year occupation of Palestinian land is illegal is “largely consistent with EU positions”, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, says.

The sweeping opinion on Friday by The Hague-based ICJ, which called for the occupation to end as soon as possible, was immediately slammed as a “decision of lies” by Israel.

But Borrell said the bloc had taken “good note” of the court’s ruling and urged further backing for the court’s opinion.

“In a world of constant and increasing violations of international law, it is our moral duty to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to all ICJ decisions in a consistent manner, irrespective of the subject in question,” he said.

Borrell added in a statement that the opinion “will need to be analysed more thoroughly, including in view of its implications for EU policy”.