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Forums - Politics Discussion - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

SvennoJ on 20 February 2024

Charity says ‘no respite for children’ after US vetoes ceasefire resolution

The charity Save the Children warns of the price Gaza’s children will pay for the UN Security Council’s most recent failure to adopt a ceasefire resolution due to a US veto. The group says in a statement that Israel’s war in Gaza has killed at least 12,400 children, making it one of the deadliest military campaigns in modern history in regard to its impact on children.

Save the Children said that at least one million children in Gaza remain at risk from fighting, starvation, disease and the mental distress of the war. A recent UNICEF analysis found that 90 percent of children in Gaza under the age of five are suffering from at least one infectious disease.

“We are appalled to hear of this new low in an already deep pit of failures from the international community. After four months of relentless violence, we are running out of words to describe what children and families in Gaza are going through, as well as the tools to respond in any adequate way,” said the group’s director for the occupied Palestinian territories, Jason Lee.

Stopping WFP aid to northern Gaza a ‘death sentence’: Gaza authorities

Gaza’s Government Media Office has decried the UN World Food Programme’s decision to suspend deliveries to northern Gaza, where the security situation is deteriorating. The office said the move “would mean a death sentence for three-quarters of a million people” and will “exponentially worsen the humanitarian situation”.

“We urge all UN agencies to return to the governorates of Gaza and North Gaza immediately and without hesitation instead of complacency and escaping responsibility,” the local authorities said.

They added that the UN would be responsible for the “catastrophic consequences” of famine in the territory. The WFP had cited security risks and the “breakdown of social order” as the reasons behind its decision. Israel is imposing a severe siege on Gaza against international pleas – including from its allies in Europe and the United States – to allow more aid into the territory.


Palestinians carry bags of flour they grabbed from an aid truck near an Israeli checkpoint in Gaza City, February 19, 2024

Gaza’s Government Media Office has warned that more than 700,000 Palestinians in the north of the territory could perish from hunger as Israel restricts humanitarian aid to the area. The office called on Russia, China and Turkey as well as Arab and Muslim nations and “all countries of the free world” to intervene and apply pressure for an end to the “genocide and famine” in Gaza.

“We call for an urgent and immediate end to the genocidal war against civilians, women and children as we call for bringing 10,000 aid trucks over the next two days into Gaza,” the office said in a statement. “We hold the US administration and the international community additionally to Israel fully responsible for this famine.”

The World Food Programme earlier announced a pause in its aid deliveries to northern Gaza, citing a danger to its crews from the “breakdown of social order” caused by mass starvation. Hunger is rampant in northern Gaza as Israel continues to block aid distribution missions there. A recent UN report, whose findings were collected at health centres, found that roughly 15 percent of children there under the age of 2 suffer from malnutrition.

Journalists targeted by Israeli forces in Gaza City

Footage posted to X by the Shehab News Agency, based in Palestine, shows journalists, clearly marked in “Press” ballistics vests, running through the city’s destroyed streets as explosions and small arms fire can be heard in the background. The journalists, Shehab says, were covering the situation in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City.

Earlier, Israeli army radio reported that a military operation had begun in that same neighbourhood.



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SvennoJ on 20 February 2024

Some more insight in why only outside pressure can stop the massacres





And the big stumbling block remains to be the US

US says it continues to believe that genocide has not occurred in Gaza

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has reiterated that the US does not believe Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide, as countries such as South Africa and some experts on international law have suggested.

Asked about recent comments by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva comparing the war in Gaza to the Holocaust, Miller said the US “obviously” disagrees with those comments. “We have been quite clear that we do not believe that genocide has occurred in Gaza,” he added.

Palestinian presidency slams US for blocking UNSC ceasefire measure

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s office says the US veto at the UN Security Council defies the international community and gives Israel “an additional green light for the Israeli occupation to continue its aggression against the people of Gaza and to launch a bloody assault against Rafah”.

The Palestinian presidency also said that it holds the US administration responsible for “supporting and providing protection” to Israel’s “barbaric attacks” against children, women and the elderly in Gaza. “This policy makes the United States a partner in the crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing and the war crimes Israeli forces are committing,” a statement from the office reads.

It added that the US is advancing its own Security Council draft resolution that would call for pauses in the fighting only to justify its veto against the ceasefire proposal.

Palestine UN envoy after US veto: ‘We will keep knocking’ on the UN’s doors

Riyad Mansour tells Al Jazeera that it is “very regrettable” that the US used its veto power to kill yet another UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. “Call it whatever, humanitarian, describe it as you wish, but immediate ceasefire, as requested by the secretary-general of the UN, and almost all humanitarian agencies of the United Nations, and a massive number of countries in the General Assembly,” he said.

“It is the wrong message to be sending by the Security Council to Israel,” he continued, adding that Palestine will not give up its efforts to find sympathy at the UN. “We will continue knocking on the door of the Security Council, the General Assembly, all components of the United Nations,” he said.

When asked for a response to US envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s justification for the veto, that a ceasefire would harm now-stalled negotiations for a truce deal, Mansour was dismissive. “That is not true, because two of those who are involved in these sensitive negotiations the representatives of Qatar and Egypt indicated that that is not so,” he said. “A ceasefire will help the negotiation to move forward swiftly, and to accomplish the objective of the exchange of prisoners, and hostages”.



SvennoJ on 20 February 2024

Israeli attacks kill dozens of people across Gaza: Wafa

The Palestinian state news agency Wafa is reporting that dozens of people were killed on Tuesday as a result of Israeli attacks across Gaza.

Some of the deadliest incidents reported by Wafa include:

  • Eight people were killed, children among them, and more were injured when Israeli forces bombed a house in the al-Geneina neighbourhood, east of Rafah in southern Gaza.
  • Six people were killed and others were injured when Israeli tanks fired shells at displaced Palestinians in the Al Mawasi area near Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
  • The Palestine Red Crescent Society said that it recovered the bodies of two deceased people and eight wounded from an MSF office in the west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
  • “Dozens” of people were killed and others were injured when the Israeli military bombed several homes in the Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood, southeast of Gaza City in northern Gaza. Many people remain under the rubble and rescue services are unable to reach them.

MSF says two people killed as Israel bombs shelter in Al Mawasi

Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) said the Israeli military has bombed a shelter hosting MSF staff in Al Mawasi near Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The medical humanitarian group said that ambulance crews have now reached the site and that at least two family members of its staff have been killed and six people have been injured in the attack.

“We are horrified by what has taken place,” MSF said in a post on X.

Palestinians search for survivors amidst rubble as Israeli bombing persists

Israeli airstrikes have decimated large parts of the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, leaving Palestinians searching for survivors under the rubble. As the bombing continues and famine looms, time is ticking for the international community to act to ensure the safety of civilians caught in the middle of the conflict.

Fears of more patient deaths at Nasser Hospital after Israeli siege, raid, mass arrests

In the 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday afternoon, a further 103 Palestinians were reported killed and 142 injured by Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

A least five patients died in intensive care at the besieged Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis because the World Health Organization (WHO) was twice denied permission by Israeli forces from accessing the medical facility to evacuate the seriously ill, the OCHA said in its latest situation report.

According to the OCHA, the WHO reported on Tuesday that it had transferred 32 patients in critical condition from Nasser to three other hospitals in Gaza amid the Israeli siege of the medical facility and a subsequent raid during which hundreds of people were arrested by Israeli forces.

The WHO said it was concerned for the remaining 130 sick and injured patients at Nasser Hospital – which now has no electricity or running water – and the 15 medical staff still working to provide treatment. Further disruption to medical care at Nasser Hospital would lead to more deaths among the sick and injured, the WHO warned.

Red Crescent says Israel continues to detain 12 of its medics

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said that Israel continues to detain 12 members of its staff, including seven who were arrested during an Israeli raid on Al-Amal Hospital nearly two weeks ago. Israel has faced allegations of disappearing medical workers and doctors throughout the current war.

“PRCS expresses deep concern for the safety of its detained teams, whose fate remains unknown, and calls on the international community to urgently intervene to pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to immediately release our detained teams,” the group said in a social media post.




Clashes reported as Israeli raid on Jenin continues

Israeli forces are destroying infrastructure and firing live rounds in Jenin and the Jenin refugee camp, as raids on dozens of homes continue in the city in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports.

Earlier, we reported that the Israeli military said it had targeted a “terrorist cell” with an air strike in Jenin, killing three people. Palestinian armed groups said they had responded by using explosive devices against Israeli military vehicles.

Raids and arrests have been reported elsewhere in the occupied West Bank in the following locations:

  • The Jalazoun camp, north of Ramallah
  • The town of Kafr al-Dik, west of Salfit
  • The towns of Beit Ummar and Bani Naim, north and east of Hebron
  • The town of Tammoun, south of Tubas
  • The town of Hizma, northeast of occupied East Jerusalem
  • The town of Beita, south of Nablus

Israeli forces also arrested a minor in the town of Al-Khader, south of Bethlehem.

US Muslim group condemns Israeli soldiers looting Gaza

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has described Israeli soldiers’ reported looting of Gaza as a “symptom of genocide and ethnic cleansing”.

“These and other war crimes, which sickeningly seem to be celebrated by the Israeli government, must be condemned by the Biden administration,” said CAIR’s national communications director, Ibrahim Hooper. Israeli soldiers have openly boasted about stealing from homes in Gaza in videos posted on social media.

According to Gaza’s government media office, at least $25 million in cash, gold and valuables were stolen in the first three months of the war.

Israeli soldiers post distressing content out of Gaza

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2024/02/20/exp-israel-soldiers-jeremy-diamond-pkg-022009aseg1-cnni-world.cnn

It seems CNN is only doing videos now, don't know how to embed these.

Brazil’s FM says Israeli counterpart ‘lying’ as diplomatic row escalates

Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira has said that his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz has made comments that are “outrageous” and “unacceptable in their nature and lying in their content”, as a diplomatic spat between the countries escalates. Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva initially drew parallels between Israel’s war on Gaza and the Holocaust, saying that what Israel is doing in Gaza is like “when Hitler decided to kill the Jews”.

“How embarrassing. Your comparison is promiscuous, delusional. Shame on Brazil and spit in the face of Brazilian Jews. It’s not too late to learn history and apologize. Until then – you will remain persona non grata in Israel!” Israel Katz said in a post on X.

On Tuesday, Vieira hit back at Israel. “For a foreign ministry to address a head of state from a friendly country in this way is unusual and revolting,” Vieira told reporters at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. “It is a shameful page in the history of Israel’s diplomacy,” Vieira said, adding that Israel tries to create a smokescreen to cover up what is happening in Gaza. Brazil has recalled its ambassador to Israel and said that it will not be retracting Lula’s comments.

Colombia’s president expresses support for Brazil’s Lula amid spat with Israel

Gustavo Petro has voiced “complete solidarity” with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is feuding with Israel over comments he made comparing Israel’s war on Gaza to the Holocaust.

“I express my complete solidarity to President Lula of Brazil. In Gaza there is a genocide and thousands of children, women and elderly civilians are cowardly murdered,” Petro said in a social media post today. “Lula has only spoken the truth and the truth is defended or barbarism will annihilate us. The entire region must unite to immediately end the violence in Palestine.”



atomicfear on 21 February 2024

Would Hamas be willing to offer up the perpetrators of the Oct 6th attacks as a way to end the war?



SvennoJ on 21 February 2024
atomicfear said:

Would Hamas be willing to offer up the perpetrators of the Oct 6th attacks as a way to end the war?

I doubt it, I doubt they even know who all crossed the border on Oct 7th. It started with a wave of fighters attacking the military outpost, then more regular people started crossing as well.

And even if Hamas somehow could convince all their fighters to surrender, the current war cabinet isn't going to be swayed by that anyway. They made it clear they consider all Palestinians of fighting age to be part of Hamas. Eylon Levy openly states it in the video a few posts above and Netanuyahu has also repeatedly said there are no innocent civilians. They have accused UNWRA, reporters, the PRCS, and attacked basically everyone and everything.

Hamas has tried to negotiate, they had a pretty good plan a month ago for a phased ceasefire with hostage exchange. Yet Netanyahu keeps moving the goal posts and doesn't want the war to end. When the war ends, his political grip on the country ends. They don't want people looking into how October 7th happened and what exactly all happened on the day of Oct 7 with the IDFs military response that day.

They have also stated that the hostages are not a priority, destroying Hamas is the priority. Making sure Oct 7 can never happen again, which in Israel's eyes means total destruction of the Gaza strip to get rid of the claimed 350 to 450 miles of tunnels. (Which is a ludicrous claim, the NY subway, largest in the world, has 650 miles of track... The total length of the London Underground network is 250 miles) They have stated over and over again that a ceasefire would be giving Hamas victory.

So no, giving up the perpetrators nor the hostages (what's left of them, 134 claimed by Israel however the acknowledged at least 31 have died in the war since the temporary ceasefire) will end the war. Hamas likely doesn't even know where all the hostages are anymore. Since Israel uses informants and torture to extract information, they're likely spread out with different groups. They said some are not in their hands instead with other militant groups.

Israel keeps on fighting without any clear goals or day after in mind. At least not any goals that are acceptable. The current actions indicate, total destruction of all infrastructure in Gaza, splitting Gaza in half with highway 749 and a 1 km buffer zone around the highway and inside the borders of Gaza. They want to secure the Philadelphia corridor cutting Gaza off from Egypt, hence they're not planning to stop until taking Rafah and demolishing everything along the Egyptian border. Then the far right has plans for new settlements in Gaza while maintaining military control of the strip.

Meanwhile Israel wants to turn the demographics back in their favor. Currently it's a bit over 7.2 million Jews in Israel, 2 million Arabs, 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza, 3 million in the West Bank. That's 9.4 million Arabs and Palestinians vs 7.2 million Jews. Far right ministers have stated that they would be fine withb a population of a few hundred thousand in the Gaza strip and have been trying to get other countries on board to take Palestinians out of Gaza.

So again no, Hamas is not going to surrender to any of that. The perpetrators of the Oct 7 attacks and Hamas leaders need to be tried in a war crimes tribunal along with the violent Settlers stoking up violence in the Westbank and IDF soldiers and leaders committing war crimes in Gaza.

Expecting Hamas surrender to end the war is no different from expecting Ukraine surrender to end Russia's invasion.



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SvennoJ on 21 February 2024

Knesset majority rejects unilateral recognition of Palestinian state

The Knesset has voted in favour of a measure to reject unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, with a majority of 99. Nine members opposed it, according to Israel’s i24 News broadcaster.

The declaratory statement, regarding “international dictates regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians and the establishment of a Palestinian state”, was proposed on Sunday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Herzog slams Smotrich over comments on importance of Israeli abductees’ release

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has criticised Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who had said that the return of the Israeli captives from Gaza “is not the most important thing”, according to the Israeli Army Radio.

“I call on elected officials to consider the feelings of the families of the abductees, one must know how to act with maximum sensitivity – there are things that should not be said in public,” Herzog said.

Most Israelis think ‘absolute victory’ in Gaza unlikely: Survey

An Israel Democracy Institute poll has found that 51 percent of Jewish respondents and 77.5 percent of Palestinian citizens of Israel believe that there is a low likelihood of the war ending with such a victory. The survey also found that 84 percent of those who identify with the left, 63 percent of centrist respondents and 55 percent of those on the right of the political spectrum agree that the likelihood of “absolute victory” is low.

The poll results follow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks earlier this month that Israel was “within touching distance of absolute victory”.

UK High Court rejects legal challenge to arms sales to Israel

The High Court of Justice in London rejected a petition filed by a group of legal advocacy groups calling for the suspension of British arms exports to Israel.

The group requested a judicial review in January as to whether the UK government was violating its own strategic licencing criteria, which states that weapons should not be sold to actors when there is a clear risk they could be used to violate international humanitarian law. The court ruled against the suspension of arms sales, but lawyers for the coalition, led by Palestinian rights group Al-Haq, have said they will appeal the decision.

World slams US ceasefire veto at UN Security Council

On Tuesday, the US again vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution on Israel’s war in Gaza, prompting widespread criticism. The move was the third US veto of a UNSC resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, and came a day after Washington circulated a resolution that would support a temporary ceasefire linked to the release of all Israeli captives from the Palestinian enclave.

  • China said the move is “nothing different from giving the green light to the continued slaughter”.
  • France’s UN envoy expressed regret that a UNSC ceasefire resolution could not be adopted.
  • Hamas said that “President Joe Biden and his administration bear direct responsibility for derailing the resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza”.
  • Cuba said the US’s veto made it complicit in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians.

Pro-Palestinian groups in Wales call for Israel boycott

Branches of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in Wales say in a statement: “It is time for people of conscience across the world to act” as Israel carries out the “genocide of the Palestinian people”.

“Throughout Wales, we urge a boycott of Israel, including goods, services, academic, cultural and sporting links; local authorities, universities and other investors to end investments in, and purchases from, any company or body complicit in the oppression of Palestinians; and consumer action against companies participating in Israel’s oppression of Palestinians,” the statement read. The movement also called on the Greater Gwent Council Pension Fund to divest from companies supplying weapons and military technology to Israel.

“The three demands are to end the colonisation and occupation of all Palestinian land, and dismantle the apartheid wall; to recognise the fundamental rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and to respect, protect and promote the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties,” it added.



SvennoJ on 21 February 2024

Northern Gaza residents eat animal feed for three weeks: Government media office

Ismail al-Thawabteh, the head of Gaza’s government media office, says that residents of the northern Gaza Strip have been eating animal feed for three consecutive weeks. He warned of a humanitarian catastrophe affecting hundreds of thousands of Palestinians if the world fails to force Israel to allow humanitarian aid into the besieged coastal enclave.

Gaza mother feeds her starving children fried pancakes using animal feed

Um Saher al-Amoudi is being forced to get creative. She is making fried pancakes from ground animal feed, which she seasons with salt and other spices. The woman lives with her eight family members in the playground of an UNRWA school in Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza, after their home was destroyed.

She laments her limited options for feeding her children. “This food is insatiable. My little one wakes up at night screaming from hunger because only bread fills the children’s stomachs. “Today I found this corn flour, and maybe I won’t find it tomorrow … the situation is getting worse day by day, our situation is very miserable.”

Israel orders evacuation from Zeitoun, Turkmen districts

The Israeli army has told all residents of the Zeitoun and Turkmen neighbourhoods in Gaza City to urgently move to al-Mawasi town in the south of the Gaza Strip, calling the town a “humanitarian zone”. They would have to travel more than 30km (19 miles) through bombed roads of the war zone.

Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israeli army, told the Palestinians via X that the evacuation order comes “for your safety”, despite there being no safe place in the war-torn and besieged enclave.



Nasser Hospital has ‘become a place of death’: UN official

An official with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has described “appalling” conditions inside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which have transformed “a place of healing” to “a place of death”. Jonathan Whittall, senior humanitarian affairs officer with the OCHA, made his comments during a mission to the besieged hospital with the WHO and the Palestine Red Crescent to evacuate the most critically ill who have been trapped inside for weeks amid Israeli bombardments.

“There are 150 patients in one of these buildings. They have no food and water, no electricity. There’s very few doctors and nurses that are remaining inside this hospital. The conditions are appalling,” Whittall said in a video posted on social media. “There are dead bodies in the corridors. Patients are in a desperate situation. This has become a place of death, not a place of healing.

“This is a preventable tragedy that should not have happened”.


Situation at Nasser Medical Complex ‘unbearable’

Gaza’s Ministry of Health spokesman, Dr Ashraf Al-Qudra, has just shared the following updates:

  • The situation at Nasser Medical Complex is unbearable and poses a real danger to the lives of staff and patients.
  • Medical teams are unable to provide care to patients due to a lack of oxygen and medical supplies.
  • While 45 patients were transferred to other hospitals, Israeli forces are delaying the evacuation of another 110.
  • Water and oxygen were cut off as a result of the electrical generator stopping.
  • Tonnes of medical and non-medical waste have accumulated in the corridors and courtyards.
  • Sewage water is flooding the emergency and radiology departments.

Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian child in occupied West Bank

According to the official WAFA news agency, Israeli forces shot Fadi Suleiman in the town of Azzun, east of Qalqiliya. The 15-year-old succumbed to his wounds at hospital after he was shot in the chest, medical sources told WAFA.

Ninth Palestinian prisoner dies in Israeli jail since October 7

Khaled Shawish has been identified as the ninth Palestinian prisoner to die in Israeli jails since October 7. The 53-year-old from Tubas in the occupied West Bank was detained in 2007 and given a life sentence for his role in the second Intifada. The father of four was severely wounded and disabled in 2001.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said 247 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since 1967. Israeli authorities have withheld the remains of 17 of them. It added that Israeli forces arrested 30 people from the occupied West Bank overnight, bringing the number of detainees since October 7 to 7,150.

Since October 7, at least 401 Palestinians, including the nine prisoners, have been killed in Israeli army and settler attacks across the occupied West Bank.



SvennoJ on 21 February 2024

Day 3 of the ICJ hearings over the occupation of Palestine

Colombia presents its arguments

Colombia’s representative Andrea Jiménez Herrera opens by expressing “deep concern” over incidents that regularly occur between “the state of Palestine and the state of Israel”, exacerbated after horrific events that have taken place since October 7, 2023.

Colombia reiterates that “the occupation of the Palestinian territory is a violation of international law and is contrary to the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations”, she said.

Colombia highlights “the need to redouble efforts to encourage a negotiated solution on the basis of international law, and with the purpose of the establishment of a fully viable Palestinian state, existing side by side with Israel and its neighbours, fostering peace and security in the region”.

‘Scorched earth policy unleashed by Israel’

Colombia’s representative Andrea Jiménez Herrera describes a “veritable map of horror and devastation” that the Gaza Strip has become as a result of the “scorched earth policy unleashed by the government of Israel”.

Colombia, she says, requests that the UN’s top court “should not underestimate the fact that the situation in Gaza has become more deadly over the past months and, therefore, the legal consequences of such actions must be even more serious today than in the world we were living before this bloodshed started”.

Colombia urges ICJ to consider ‘real and imminent risk’ to Palestinians

In her closing statement, Colombia’s Jimenez Herrera calls upon the ICJ to give the advisory opinion requested by the UN General Assembly. “Ultimately what is at stake here is ensuring the safety and, indeed, the very existence of the Palestinian people,” she says.

Jimenez Herrera asked the court to consider “the real and imminent risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights of Palestinians as a consequence of Israel’s occupation – as has been fully documented by international agencies, United Nations organs, and even recently recognised by the court itself”.

Cuba: International community bears ‘moral responsibility’

Cuban diplomat Anayansi Rodriguez Camejo tells the court “we and you bear the moral responsibility to pronounce ourselves in a clear and transparent way on the ignominious situation of the Palestinian people”.

Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is an “international wrongful act”, she said, “the aggravation of which reiterates the responsibility of the occupying power and the international community”.

“It was agreed by Resolution 242 that Israel’s armed force would withdraw from the territories of 1967, but this was not so. The Palestinian people have the inalienable right to determine their own political, economic and social destiny,” said Rodriguez Camejo.

Cuba: Some countries complicit with Israel to maintain its ‘impunity’

Rodríguez Camejo says some nations “act with complicity” to aid Israel in its “impunity” rather than prevent the ongoing “genocide” against the Palestinian people. Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are changing the demographic composition of the Palestinian territories and “undermine and deny the ability of Palestinians to exercise their right to self-determination”, she said.

The Oslo Accords state no party shall take any steps that could modify the status of Gaza or the West Bank, but the destruction and the appropriation of property unlawfully and arbitrarily constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, she argued.

Israel’s war on Gaza is a ‘low-intensity genocide’, Cuba says

Cuba’s representative says Israel’s war on Gaza “is perpetrated with systematic and effective cruelty”.

She says to qualify Israel’s actions “merely as acts of apartheid would leave out the implicit intention to exterminate the Palestinian people, either in part or as an ethnic and religious group to whom the right to self-determination is denied”.

ICJ shouldn’t wait for ‘complete extermination’ to rule: Cuba

Israel, as the occupying power and its allies, must take responsibility for the “legal implications resulting from the sustained non-compliance” with international law, Rodriguez Camejo says. “The situation that is taking place in the eyes of all confirms the ongoing genocide. Innocent victims – girls, boys, women – number in the thousands.

“Those for years who have supported each and every one of the policies and practices of Israel, which denied the existence of the Palestinian people and their rights, this agenda has advanced over the course of time. “We are convinced this court should not wait for the complete extermination of an entire nation before ruling on the matter.”

‘Shocking some states don’t want court’s legal opinion’: Egypt

Egypt’s legal counsellor Jasmine Moussa has taken the floor. She says the ongoing grave violations of international law are part of a “wider policy aimed at dispossessing Palestinians of their land”, which is “manifestly illegal and renders the occupation as a whole unlawful”.

“It is shocking that some states do not want the court to render its legal opinion. What message does this send on their respect for international justice and the rule of law?” she asked. The court has jurisdiction on the matter, Moussa added. “Rather than prejudicing the peace process, it would serve as an additional, essential element for the UN General Assembly to carry out its role. This is critical given the complete absence of any real prospect for a peaceful solution.”

Palestine subjected to ‘longest protracted occupation in modern history’

Egypt’s Jasmine Moussa says the Middle East “yearns for peace and stability” and a “comprehensive and lasting resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict”.

Cairo wants the “establishment of a viable Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital”, she said. Moussa highlighted the “ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967”.

Egypt’s representative says there is “overwhelming evidence that Israeli support for and maintenance of settlements is intended to permanently alter the demographic composition of the occupied Palestinian territory and extend Israeli sovereignty over it”. “This is coupled with Israel’s mass forcible transfer and forced displacement of the Palestinians in Gaza through its illegal evacuation orders and indiscriminate use of force,” Moussa says.

‘Only one state has attempted to justify Israel’s actions’

“Only one state has attempted to justify Israel’s actions by contesting the Palestinians’ title to the occupied territories and justifying Israel’s expansion,” Moussa says, without mentioning that country by name. International courts recognise that 1967 wasn’t done in self-defence but was an aggressive war.

“The right to self-determination is a cardinal principle in international law and all states have a duty in respecting and protecting this right. The indefinite occupation breaches the Palestinians’ right to determine their political status and to pursue their economic, social and cultural development,” said Moussa.

Israel’s ‘vicious wholesale destruction of Gaza’

Jasmine Moussa says Egypt “firmly denounces the ongoing obstruction of the Palestinian people’s inalienable, permanent and unqualified right to self-determination”.

“One only needs to look at Israel’s vicious wholesale destruction of Gaza today after years of imposing the medieval methods, a siege and blockade, to realise the extent of Israel’s transgression of this principle,” she said.

“Israel’s prolonged occupation is therefore illegal.”

‘History will judge us for how we respond today’

Egypt’s legal representative concludes her arguments: “For how much longer do the Palestinian people need to wait before they’re able to exercise their legitimate rights under international law? For how much longer will the United Nations manage the impacts of Israeli violations without addressing their root cause?” Jasmine Moussa asked.

“History will judge us for how we respond today.”

She called on the court to recognise that Israel, as the occupying power, is obliged to make reparations and end immediately its occupation and unlawful practices including settlements. “There can be no prosperity, no security, no stability, no peace in the Middle East without upholding justice and the rule of law.”

‘International law cannot be an a la carte menu’: UAE

Lana Nusseibeh, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United Nations: “International law cannot be an a la carte menu. It must apply equally to all, and it is all the more essential in the long shadow cast by the Palestinian question and injustice that has persisted for more than seven decades,” she said.

The UAE believes the only path to “just and lasting peace is through the fulfilment of the long-denied right of the Palestinian people to self-determination with an independent and sovereign Palestine based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital”, Nusseibeh added.

Israeli violations ‘worsening at an alarming pace’: UAE

Nusseibeh says the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories has rapidly deteriorated over the past year. “The level of human suffering for people in Gaza is on a level rarely seen in human history. Israel has imposed a policy of collective punishment on the Palestinian people,” she said.

Last year was by far the deadliest year for Palestinian in the occupied West Bank with the highest level of settler violence recorded by the UN, she added. “I raise these recent developments to underline that the violations at the core of the questions posed by the General Assembly are not static. After decades of violent dehumanisation, dispossession and despair, the breaches resulting from the Israeli occupation are worsening at an alarming pace,” she said.

The UAE’s envoy also underlined the unique character of the city of Jerusalem and said it has “given rise to specific legal obligations including specific guarantees of access”.

Israel hinders access for Muslims and Christians to holy places: UAE

“Israel has, in agreements with Jordan and with the Holy See, committed to the historic status quo and freedom of access to the holy places in Jerusalem. It is, therefore, gravely disconcerting that Israel has taken, and continues to take, measures which undermine the special character of Jerusalem and erase its cultural heritage.”

Israel is in breach of its obligations by “repeatedly interfering with the holy places and hindering freedom of access to them”. Since the start of Israel’s occupation in 1967, “Muslims and Christians have been impeded from worshipping at their holiest sites.”

UAE delivers concluding remarks

The UAE’s Nusseibeh requested the following from the ICJ’s advisory:

  • Israel must end its siege of Gaza, let aid in and stop the forcible transfer of the Palestinian population. “In practical terms, it must mean a ceasefire,” she said.
  • Israel must dismantle settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and prevent acts of violence perpetrated by settlers.
  • States must cooperate to bring Israel’s breaches to an end.
  • “Israel’s administration of East Jerusalem constitutes annexation of territory on which the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination. International law is unequivocal in this respect. All measures by Israel that affect or aim to alter the status of East Jerusalem are null and void and have no legal effect.”
  • “Israelis and Palestinians must thrive side by side in their own independent, prosperous and secure states,” she said.


SvennoJ on 21 February 2024

Richard Visek of the US State Department takes the floor

The legal adviser to the US Department of State says that since the UN General Assembly first requested the ICJ’s advisory opinion, the international community has confronted “the horror of the terrorist attacks of October 7” and ensuing war on Gaza that has had “severe, widespread and tragic consequences for Palestinian civilians”.

The United States is “engaging intensively with the Palestinians, with Israel and with other states in the region” not only to address the current crisis but also “to advance a political settlement that will lead to a durable peace in the region that includes lasting security for Israelis and Palestinians and a path to Palestinian statehood”, he said.

“There is broad international support for achieving a negotiated solution to the conflict that will give rise to a Palestinian state,” Visek said.

‘Land for peace’ remains only possible framework: US

Visek argues the UN has already established the principle by which the withdrawal of Israeli forces relies on “the termination of belligerence and respect of Israel’s right to live peacefully in the region”. This principle is recognised as “land for peace” and was also adopted by Israelis and Palestinians in the Oslo Accords, he said. “This remains the only basis to achieve a lasting peace and the framework for ongoing US efforts.”

The World Court can play a role in promoting this framework without “undermining the maintenance of peace and security”, he said.

“The US is by no means suggesting there is no role for the court or that it should not rule on violations of international law, but in exercising its advisory role, it must take into consideration the extent to which the UN Security Council has already taken action to address the matter, including in its Resolution 2720 in December that reiterated the need for a two-state solution,” the State Department official said.

Israel’s ‘very real security needs’ must be considered: US

International law has a central and important role to play within the “established framework” set forth by the UN Security Council and UN General Assembly, the US representative says. The challenge for the court is how to provide its advice in a way that “promotes the framework” rather than “disrupting its balance, potentially making the possibility of negotiations even more difficult”.

Under the established framework, “a movement towards Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza requires consideration of Israel’s very real security needs”, he said. “We were all reminded of those security needs on October 7, and they persist,” Visek told the judges. “Regrettably, those needs have been ignored by many of the participants in asserting how the court should consider the questions before it.”

ICJ shouldn’t find Israel ‘legally obligated to immediately and unconditionally withdraw’

Visek’s concluding remarks:

  • “The lack of meaningful progress in a negotiated end to the conflict cannot and must not persist. This conflict cannot be resolved through violence or unilateral actions. Negotiations are the path to a lasting peace.”
  • “Hamas’s attacks, hostage taking and other atrocities, the ongoing hostilities and suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, and the violence in the West Bank reinforce the United States’s resolve to urgently achieve a final peace that includes the full realization of Palestinian self-determination.”
  • “The current crisis illustrates the vital need to achieve this final peace with a Palestinian state living safely and securely alongside a safe Israel, fully integrated in the region.”
  • “The court should not find that Israel is legally obligated to immediately and unconditionally withdraw from occupied territory.”




US representative offers ‘a lot of dry legal arguments’

The US is one of two states together with Fiji arguing against the idea that the court should declare Israel’s occupation illegal.

The US State Department official Richard Visek was trying to argue the question the court is being asked to consider is one-sided as it only focuses on Israel’s role in the occupation. The focus should instead be on the UN Security Council resolutions that over the decades have affirmed the commitment to the two-state solution, according to Visek.

The US representative also said the allegations that Israel breaches the fourth Geneva Convention by transferring settlers to the occupied Palestinian territories should be addressed by the UN Security Council.

There were a lot of dry legal arguments suggesting that the court shouldn’t be considering this question because it’s biased against Israel.

How would ruling the occupation illegal burden peace negotiations?

The United States defended Israel in a very clever way. Its arguments were sober and sophisticated, but this doesn’t make them any less dishonest.

The overall message of the American representative is that the court should be at the service of the American and Israeli negotiation strategy – not that the American and Israeli negotiation strategy should abide by the court’s ruling.

But a World Court cannot be at the disposal of the US. It is otherwise unclear why a potential ruling by the court that the occupation is illegal would be a burden on the negotiations. On the matter of Israel’s security, who defines what that means? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defines security as Israel taking control of the territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, which would mean accepting the acquisition of territory by force.








Conflict’s main cause ‘needs to be eliminated’: Russia

Russia follows US arguments after a break. The creation of a Palestinian state is the “most reliable” solution for peace in Israel and fighting alone won’t ensure security, Russia said previously.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in October that Moscow had “serious questions” about Western policy on Israel, noting wars and turmoil continue because “the main reason [for the conflict] needs to be eliminated”. “The Palestinian problem should not be delayed further,” Lavrov said at the time.

Russia invited representatives of all Palestinian factions – including Fatah and Hamas – to Moscow for talks on Monday. President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month Moscow could play the role of mediator, thanks to its friendly ties with both Israel and the Palestinians, adding “No one could suspect us of playing up to one party”.

Russia’s representative calls for vicious circle to be broken in Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Vladimir Tarabrin, Russia’s ambassador to the Netherlands, has taken the floor, summarising the suffering of the Palestinian people and condemning the October 7 attack on Israel, but slamming the Israeli retaliation as “collective punishment” that cannot be justified. He said:

  • Images from Gaza are terrifying. Indiscriminate air strikes are killing civilians and erasing whole residential districts … Up to 90 percent of Gazans have been forced to leave their homes and they are living in inhumane conditions. Against the backdrop of tough Israeli blockade the Gaza Strip is experiencing a genuine humanitarian catastrophe.
  • Russia of all countries understands the danger of terrorism. We have faced this evil time and again. Let me use this opportunity to reiterate our heartfelt condolences to the Israelis who lost their loved ones in the attack on the 7th of October. Brutal massacre of innocent people, taking of hostages and other terrorist violence do not have and cannot have any justification.
  • We are convinced the tragic events of the 7th of October cannot justify the collective punishment of more than two million Gazans. We cannot accept the logic of those officials in Israel and some Western countries who try to defend the indiscriminate violence against civilians by referring to Israel’s duty to protect its nationals. Violence can only lead to more violence. Hatred brings hatred. This vicious circle must be broken.

Settlements imperilling two-state solution, Russia says

Tarabrin says Israeli settlements established in breach of international law “are contrary to the principle of inadmissibility of acquisition of territory by force”. The UN Security Council has already determined that these settlements constitute a “flagrant violation of international law and a major obstacle to the two-state solution and a just and lasting peace”, he says.

Israel’s policy of settlement expansion continues unabated in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions and in breach of the right to property, freedom of movement and an adequate standard of living, the ambassador charged. The court would be right to conclude that Israel has a duty to put an end to its current violations and provide reparations, he said.

Russia calls for establishment of Palestinian state

Tarabrin ends his speech, saying:

  • A negotiated two-state solution with an independent and viable Palestinian state peacefully coexisting with Israel will be the best recipe for bringing an end to Israel’s violations, creating guarantees of their non-repetition and redressing the damage.
  • The Russian Federation invites the Court to be guided by the need to contribute to creating conditions for successful final status negotiations. The best contribution would be confirmation by the court that Israel and Palestine are under an obligation to resume such negotiations while all states and organisations shall cooperate in order to make that possible.
  • The continued Israeli occupation of Palestine impedes the realisation of the Palestinian people of its right to self-determination. Israeli settlements are contrary to the principle of the inadmissibility of acquisition of territory by force.



Bunch of hypocrites as all that applies to the Ukraine 'special military operation' as well. But it doesn't make it less right and would also be a roundabout way to put more pressure on Russia for its illegal invasion of Ukraine and occupation of Crimea and Donbas.



SvennoJ on 21 February 2024

France says ICJ opinion must go ‘no further than necessary’

Diego Colas has opened France’s remarks by condemning Hamas’ attack of October 7 and underlining that Israel has a right to defend itself. Israel, however, must do so in compliance with international law.

“Only a two-state solution will meet both Israel’s right to security and the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians for a viable, contiguous, independent state. To this end, France calls for a decisive and credible restarting of the peace process,” Colas says. This will require security arrangements and a state that is capable to take sovereign action. The Palestinian people have a right to live side by side with Israelis within internationally recognised boundaries.

With regards to the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation, France’s believes the scope of the current ICJ proceedings must be “precisely delineated” and that the court should offer an opinion that “goes no further than it is necessary to do so”.

France condemns Israeli calls for expelling Palestinians from Gaza

  • France reiterates its condemnation of illegal settlement policy by Israel, particularly in the current context. Its policy includes eviction of Palestinian families and destruction of properties.
  • The war in Gaza in no way constitutes a pretext to continue to impose on the ground unilateral measures that undermine the prospects for a two-state solution, the only one that can guarantee the just and lasting peace.
  • France reiterates its condemnation of pronouncement of promoting the reinstallation of settlements in Gaza and the transfer of the Palestinian population of Gaza outside this territory.

France calls for restitution or compensation for Palestinians

In his final remarks, Colas said France believes the court’s advisory opinion must demand the following:

  • All damage caused to the Palestinian population as a result of policies and practices illegal under international law must be the object of restitution and, failing that, compensation.
  • Israel must be required to prosecute people responsible for human rights violations.
  • Other states have an obligation not to recognise any form of illegal annexation of territories. France will never recognise the illegal annexation of territories in the West Bank.
  • From an economic standpoint, as requested by the UN all states must make a separation between the Israeli territories and the territories occupied since 1967 and distinguish products depending on that origin.

There is no end in sight to Israel’s occupation: The Gambia

Attorney General Dawda Jallow, agent for the Gambia, has said:

  • The international system is based on certain fundamental principles of law … The international community collectively over many years has found Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories to be illegal … and collectively we have invoked Israel’s responsibility in that regard to end the occupation.
  • Israel’s occupation violates the rights to Palestinian peoples’ self-determination and is therefore illegal.
  • There is no end in sight to Israel’s occupation, already extending more than 56 years.
  • Israel’s current leaders boast with pride of the country’s long-standing efforts to prevent the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

Israel set up ‘apartheid regime’ in Palestinian territories

Jallow says the 1967 war that resulted in the occupation was a violation of the use of force from the onset. Even if the occupation of the Palestinian territories had once been lawful, its protracted nature means it cannot possibly be lawful today.

Israel has since set up an “apartheid regime” where the Palestinians continue to be deprived of their right to self-determination indefinitely, while “there is no reason for Israel’s continued use of force to maintain the occupation if there was ever one to begin with”.

Israel cannot justify its occupation as a response to threats from the occupied Palestinian territories. The maintenance of Israel’s occupation is unnecessary and disproportionate. “It is simply not possible that it has been necessary for Israel to maintain its occupation for over 56 years,” Jallow says.

The representative ended his remarks by asking the court to affirm that the occupation is illegal. The Gambia argued that Israel is under an obligation to end its occupation immediately.

Guyana says Israel’s actions threaten global peace, security and stability

Guyana’s representative Edward Craven tells the ICJ that “although situated far from the Middle East, Guyana has a close interest in the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory”. “Israel’s activities in the occupied territory, which have been brought in sharp focus by the tragic and ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, are a matter of truly global concern,” he said.

Craven added that the occupation has “significant implications not only for the state of Palestine and the Palestinian people but for all states opposed to the acquisition of territory by force”. “Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territory is an offence against this bedrock principle of international law, and it is a serious and a continuing threat to a peaceful, secure and stable world”.

“Guyana’s participation in these proceedings and presence here today reflect its firm conviction that the advisory opinion by the court on the questions posed by the General Assembly will play a valuable and indeed vital role in enabling the United Nations and all of its member states to secure full compliance with international law and ultimately to achieve a permanent, just and peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he said.

Craven also said the countries that advocate against an advisory opinion against Israel’s occupation are wrong. For example, the US argument is based on the assumption that negotiations are ongoing between the Israelis and the Palestinians, which is not the case, Craven argued.

Permanent occupation is military conquest, annexation

Craven is now directly addressing the question of whether the occupation should be considered illegal. He made the following remarks:

  • The conduct of an occupation is governed by international humanitarian law while the legality of the occupation is determined by UN Charter and general international law. The argument advanced by the US that the occupation is governed solely by international humanitarian law leaves no room for the application of the Charter, especially article 2(4) by which the acquisition of territory by force is prohibited.
  • Occupation is “inherently and exclusively a temporary state of affairs”. An occupying power does not acquire “one atom” of the occupied territory and cannot make permanent changes. “Permanent occupation is military conquest, it is annexation, and annexation is of course strictly forbidden under international law,” he said.
  • It is indisputable that Israel’s occupation is unlawful as a whole. Israel has annexed almost all Palestinian territories and has extended the application of its laws to that territory. It is irrefutable that Israel intends its occupation to be permanent.
  • There have been unequivocal declarations on the annexation of East Jerusalem, as well as deliberate demographic manipulation that profoundly changed the character of the Holy City.
  • “Israel’s occupation must end, immediately, comprehensively, irreversibly,” Craven said.

Hungary says ICJ advisory opinion could be considered as provocation in Israel’s war on Gaza

Attila Hidegh, a representative of Hungary, advises the ICJ against issuing an advisory opinion. “The proceedings brought before this esteemed court may directly contribute to the escalation of the conflict,” he said.

“We are of the view that both the present proceedings as well as the proceedings against the State of Israel on application of the Geneva Convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip may be considered as provocations in the ongoing conflict, not contributing to the escalation and the immediate settlement of the conflict,” Hidegh added.

“Potential utilisation of the court in the communication war could create a narrow dividing lines and could continue to fuel tensions in one of the most severe conflicts in recent history.”

‘The court should decline to exercise its jurisdiction’: Hungary

Hungary’s second speaker, Gergo Kocsis, said the ICJ “should decline to exercise its jurisdiction.” While the court has jurisdiction over the case, it has the right to exercise discretion on whether it exercises its jurisdiction. The reasons pertain to the issue of judicial propriety and include: the specifics of the question; the essentially bilateral nature of the dispute and the lack of consent of one of the parties; the already existing legal framework for the resolution of the conflict.

There are compelling reasons why the court should refuse to give an opinion made by the UN General Assembly. Kocsis says the UN General Assembly’s questions posed to the ICJ mention unspecified Israeli practices and legislations but provide a “distinct qualification stating their illegality”. Replying to this would “require an affirmation of these statements operated in the question”.

Rendering opinion would result in ‘politicisation’ of the court: Hungary

Rendering an advisory opinion on this matter would result in the “politicisation” of the court, Kocsis argued, and could “undermine the maintenance of global peace and security”. He added that issuing an opinion would “be tantamount to adjudicating on the Palestine-Israel question”. He said the issue should instead be handled within the “already existing and accepted institutional architecture”, first and foremost: the UN Security Council.

What is needed today is not a new legal interpretation but a “renewed effort to restart peace negotiations implementing all UN Security Council resolutions”, he said. There is no alternative to a political resolution that allows the state of Israel to live side by side with a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.




This case was brought to the ICJ because the UNSC is not making any progress solving the conflict. The case was brought to the court in Januari 2023, well before the current escalation. https://www.icj-cij.org/case/186

REQUEST FOR ADVISORY OPINION
transmitted to the Court pursuant to General Assembly resolution 77/247 of 30 December 2022
LEGAL CONSEQUENCES ARISING FROM THE POLICIES AND PRACTICES OF ISRAEL IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, INCLUDING EAST JERUSALEM


Resolution 77/247
https://www.un.org/unispal/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/A.RES_.77.247_301222.pdf

Which states in the demands

18. Decides, in accordance with Article 96 of the Charter of the United Nations, to request the International Court of Justice, pursuant to Article 6 5 of the Statute of the Court, to render an advisory opinion on the following questions, considering the rules and principles of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, relevant resolutions of the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, and the advisory opinion of the Court of 9 July 2004:

(a) What are the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures?

(b) How do the policies and practices of Israel referred to in paragraph 18 (a) above affect the legal status of the occupation, and what are the legal consequences that arise for all States and the United Nations from this status?

The already existing framework hasn't worked and Netanyahu has vowed never to let a Palestinian state happen since he first came to power in 1996 where he immediately undermined the Oslo Accords from 1993.


This case is not about the Gaza genocide, that's this case https://www.icj-cij.org/case/192
Telling the court not to do their job is what will make things worse. Israel's impunity is what has led to Oct 7 and the current Gaza war.