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SvennoJ on 21 February 2024

US congressman tells pro-Palestine activist ‘we should kill ’em all’



‘We should kill them all’ and other anti-Palestinian remarks by US politicians

Republican Congressman Andy Ogles, who said “we should kill them all” when confronted about the growing casualties amongst Palestinian children, is only the latest US politician to make such comments. Since the outbreak of the war on October 7, several lawmakers and officials in Washington have used what activists say is dehumanising language against Palestinians and Gaza.

Here are some of their comments:

  • Senator Lindsey Graham: “We are in a religious war here. I am with Israel. Do whatever the hell you have to do to defend yourselves. Level the place.”
  • Congressman Max Miller: “They [Palestine] are a territory that’s about to probably get eviscerated and go away here shortly, as we’re going to turn that into a parking lot.”
  • Congressman Brian Mast: “There are very few innocent Palestinian civilians.”
  • Presidential candidate Nikki Haley: “Finish them. Finish them.”
  • Florida state legislator Michelle Salzman when asked how many Palestinians need to be killed: “All of them.”
  • President Joe Biden: “I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war.”

Massive uptick in attempts to quell advocacy for Palestine in the US

According to the Center for Constitutional Rights and Palestine Legal, since October 7, attempts to quash advocacy for Palestine in the US have increased, including demands to deploy “terrorism” laws against student activists, “a dangerous attack on constitutionally protected speech and association”.

In a paper written jointly, the legal rights groups reconstruct the history of a joint US-Israeli effort to suppress all forms of Palestinian opposition to Israel’s colonisation of Palestine. “Attacks on advocacy for Palestine also represent the culmination of a decades-long campaign by Israel-aligned organizations, including the ADL, to expand US antiterrorism law to turn it against advocates for Palestinian liberation,” the groups said, referring to the Anti-Defamation League.



Scottish first minister calls for ceasefire in Gaza after Parliament row

After members of the Scottish National Party (SNP) walked out of the UK’s Parliament during an intense debate over competing measures calling for a pause and an end to the fighting in Gaza, the party’s leader has taken to social media to reiterate demands for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

“This suffering has to end. … Enough is enough,” Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister and the SNP’s leader, said on X.

Here’s what happened at the UK parliament’s chaotic ceasefire vote

The speaker of the British House of Commons has drawn fury from critics after he broke with precedent to allow the Labour Party to put forward its own measure for a ceasefire in Gaza over a motion by the Scottish National Party (SNP), which included stronger criticism of Israel.

The tumult reflected the deepening division in British politics over London’s backing of Israel. The original motion, which was put forward on a designated SNP opposition day, risked a rebellion within Labour against party leader Keir Starmer – a staunch Israel supporter.

But with the help of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle, Starmer – who is widely expected to become the UK’s next prime minister – was able to avoid the dissent from MPs pledging to vote for the SNP measure. Hoyle allowed Labour to introduce its own amendment to the SNP motion, removing references to Israel’s “collective punishment” of Palestinians, and adding language saying that Israel cannot be expected to end the war “if Hamas continues with violence”.

SNP leaders were furious at the decision, and the party’s MPs along with Conservatives, walked out of the chamber. Eventually, the Labour-amended motion calling for a ceasefire was adopted. Early in the war, Starmer said that Israel “does have that right” to cut off water and electricity in Gaza, but he added that the country should act within international law.




UN committee calls on Israel to facilitate aid operations in Gaza

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), which facilitates cooperation between UN and non-UN humanitarian groups, has called on Israel to fulfil its “legal obligation” to provide food and medical supplies to Gaza and allow aid operations to move forward. Israel has blocked large portions of aid from being delivered in Gaza and targeted humanitarian convoys, even as the Strip faces the risk of widespread famine.

In a statement today, the group said that 10 requirements need to be met in order to provide “the bare essentials” in Gaza. Among the steps are an immediate ceasefire, security assurances for aid delivery efforts, the restoration of necessary resources for UNRWA, and the release of the remaining captives in Gaza.

“Humanitarian agencies remain committed, despite the risks. But they cannot be left to pick up the pieces,” the statement reads. “We are calling on Israel to fulfil its legal obligation, under international humanitarian and human rights law, to provide food and medical supplies and facilitate aid operations, and on the world’s leaders to prevent an even worse catastrophe from happening.”



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SvennoJ on 21 February 2024

Israeli forces strike residential building in Rafah

Israeli forces have carried out a series of strikes in Rafah, including one that struck a residential building, injuring one person. A Palestinian was also killed and three injured in a strike on a vehicle earlier today, according to an Al Jazeera reporter.

“This is absolutely terrifying in a densely populated area. Right now, Rafah has been a centre for Israeli attacks,” Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum reported from Rafah in southern Gaza.

Human rights lawyer killed by Israeli shelling in Rafah

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights says that one of its lawyers, Nour Naser Abu al-Nour, was killed last night along with seven of her family members, including her two-year-old daughter, in an Israeli attack on her home in Rafah, in the far south of the Gaza Strip.

Abo al-Nour spent her career and the duration of the still-ongoing war documenting human rights violations and fighting injustice, the organisation says.

Red Crescent still retrieving corpses from hospital vicinity

The PRCS says its teams retrieved a decomposed body from the vicinity of al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis. In pictures it posted on X, the shrouded body of an unknown male can be seen as staff pray before burial as is customary in Muslim tradition.

Israeli attacks kill 12 in Gaza, including journalist: Wafa

At least 12 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli army bombardment of the Nuseirat refugee camp and the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, reports Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing medical sources. In Zeitoun, medical sources told Wafa that journalist Ihab Nasrallah and his wife were killed after being targeted by Israeli forces. Their three children were also badly burned.

In Nuseirat, in central Gaza, air strikes on the home of the al-Daalis family killed 10 people and wounded dozens of others, who were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in neighbouring Deir el-Balah, Wafa said. Fighting has been raging in recent days in the central Gaza Strip, an area the Israeli army once said had been cleared of major Hamas military infrastructure.

Earlier today, the Israeli army told all residents of the Zeitoun and Turkmen neighbourhoods of Gaza City to urgently move to al-Mawasi in the south of the Gaza Strip, calling the town a “humanitarian zone”.

Doctors Without Borders condemns Israeli attack on ‘clearly marked’ shelter in al-Mawasi

The group Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) has confirmed an Israeli attack on an MSF shelter in al-Mawasi yesterday that killed two of the group’s staff family members and injured six. Al Jazeera earlier reported that Israeli forces had attacked the shelter.

According to the statement, an Israeli tank fired on a home sheltering 64 MSF employees and family members, killing the wife and daughter-in-law of an MSF worker. MSF says Israeli forces had been “clearly informed of the precise location of this MSF shelter in al-Mawasi”, and that the building was additionally identified with a large MSF flag.

The group says that bullets were also fired at the “clearly marked” MSF shelter and that nearby shelling prevented an ambulance from reaching the facility to assist the wounded for more than two hours. “These killings underscore the grim reality that nowhere in Gaza is safe, that promises of safe areas are empty and deconfliction mechanisms unreliable,” said MSF general director Meinie Nicolai. “The amount of force being used in densely populated urban environments is staggering, and targeting a building knowing it is full of humanitarian workers and their families is unconscionable.”

Ten captives were killed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza: Report

A report on the independent Israeli website Hamkom says that 10 captives have been killed by Israeli air raids in Gaza – some even as the Israeli military had intelligence that they were in buildings that were targeted. The Israeli army reported they “died in Hamas captivity”.

Israel tightening restrictions against Palestinians in Jerusalem: Activist

Advocate and researcher Fakhri Abu Diab says that since October 7, Israel has been pursuing an “iron fist” policy against Palestinian Jerusalemites and subjecting them to collective punishment. “The occupation has militarised Jerusalem, cutting off its connections. Demolitions have increased, and so have arrests and interrogations. Almost every family has had a member called in for questioning over old and new cases – all of this is to scare Jerusalemites,” Abu Diab told Al Jazeera.

He added that local Israeli authorities are intensifying their tax collection efforts, raiding businesses and enforcing municipal codes in a draconian way – fining people over minor offences. “The goal from this is to insult and oppress the people of Jerusalem,” Abu Diab said. He said since October 7, Israeli authorities have not granted building permits for Palestinians in East Jerusalem while demolishing 217 structures.

Israeli forces set up checkpoint for Palestinians at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem

Al Jazeera correspondent Hamdah Salhut has reported that Israeli authorities have set up a checkpoint for Palestinians at Damascus Gate in occupied East Jerusalem, a central entry point for Palestinians trying to reach the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

“Israeli forces set up a checkpoint at Damascus Gate for Palestinians, while Israelis bypassed the security check,” Salhut said in a social media post. “Palestinians at the gate told me this is “the reality of life under occupation.”

‘Everyone knows that soldiers are taking things’: Israeli NGO

An Israeli veterans’ organisation says soldiers in Gaza are publishing videos of items they’ve looted from Gaza. But there’s nothing new about looting by Israeli soldiers, says the organisation. “We’ve collected many testimonies over the years from different areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which occurred in varying circumstances. But these past few months have been different.”

The organisation says that “Looting has never been normalised in the way it has over the last four months. It’s never been done with such glee, knowing that the Israeli public and the world are watching – and all with such little interest from the military’s top brass, not to mention our politicians.”

In Gaza, ‘total collapse of civil order’: UN special rapporteur

Francesca Albanese says, “That’s the situation that Israel has created in Gaza”, in reference to the World Food Programme pausing food deliveries to northern Gaza. The UN agency has said the decision was not taken lightly as staff faced huge, hungry crowds, gunfire and looting.

“Imagine as a parent having to fight to get food for your child who is dying of hunger … Shame on all of us for allowing this betrayal of humanity,” Albanese said.


St. Philip’s Church in Gaza City, which has been turned into a treatment center, February 13, 2024



SvennoJ on 21 February 2024

Satellite images show hundreds of trucks waiting at Rafah border crossing

According to the latest data from the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) only four trucks carrying vital humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Wednesday.

On average, 47 trucks carrying aid entered Gaza each day between February 9 and 15, a steep decline compared with 133 trucks per day the week before that, OCHA data also shows.

“Between 1 January and 15 February, less than 20 per cent of missions (15 out of 77) planned by humanitarian partners to deliver aid and undertake assessments in areas to the north of Wadi Gaza were facilitated by the Israeli authorities fully or partially and 51 per cent were denied (39 out of 77),” OCHA reports.

“Access of missions to support hospitals and facilities providing water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH) services was among those overwhelmingly denied” by Israel, OCHA added.


This handout satellite image taken and released on Wednesday, by Maxar Technologies, shows trucks queueing at the Rafah border crossing, on Egypt’s border with Gaza


Hundreds of trucks carrying vital supplies can be seen waiting on roads leading to the Israeli-controlled checkpoint and in a holding area


Israeli authorities have closed most entry points into the Gaza Strip and tightly control what enters through the only two open crossings, both in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip

Brazil blasts UNSC ‘paralysis’ on Gaza at tense G20 meeting

Brazil has criticised the “paralysis” of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on the wars in Gaza and Ukraine at the opening of a G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

Launching the two-day meeting on Wednesday, Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said the explosion of global conflicts shows international institutions such as the UN were not working, the AFP news agency reports. “Multilateral institutions are not properly equipped to deal with the current challenges, as has been demonstrated by the Security Council’s unacceptable paralysis on the ongoing conflicts,” Vieira said, adding the situation was costing “innocent lives”, according to AFP.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken were said to have had a “frank exchange” in their more than 90-minute meeting on Wednesday in Brasilia ahead of the meeting. Lula has accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and compared Israel’s war on the Palestinian territory to Hitler during the Holocaust.

A senior US State Department official told journalists after the meeting that it was “made clear we disagree with [his] comments”. However, a State Department statement said only that Blinken had discussed with Lula “US engagement on the conflict in Gaza”, which included facilitating the release of Israeli captives, increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza, and that the protection of Palestinian civilians “improve”.

Protest in Fiji over government’s support for Israel at ICJ

Pro-Palestinian supporters in Fiji are protesting their government’s written statement in support of Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). On Monday. Palestine’s legal representative Paul Reichler told the court that written submissions from Fiji and the United States were the “two outliers” in support of Israel.

“Of all the states that submitted written statements to the Court, only Fiji attempted to defend the occupation as lawful,” Reichler said.



SvennoJ on 22 February 2024

Hamas is not the real target, just as the hostages are not a priority.
It has always been about taking control back of the Gaza strip while reducing its population.



None of what Israel is doing right now is making it any safer for its citizens, in fact the opposite.


It's also making life more difficult for its citizens in the short term

https://www.timesofisrael.com/war-battered-economy-plunged-almost-20-marking-sharpest-contraction-since-pandemic/

The tourist industry is practically dead, building is at a standstill since all the Palestinian labor is locked up in the West Bank, education is taking a huge hit on both sides while reservists are being called upon to commit war crimes.

https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2024/01/israels-peoples-army-at-war.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/10/israel-military-draft-reservists/

Israel drafted some 360 thousand reservists, 4% of the population uprooted from their daily lives. The longer this goes on, the more Israel will destroy its own economy as well.



SvennoJ on 22 February 2024

Calls for resignation of UK parliament speaker grow after Gaza ceasefire debate

The Scottish National Party, the third-largest party in the UK Parliament, officially said it had no longer any confidence in Lindsay Hoyle to carry on in his role as the speaker of the House of Commons, accusing him of partisan politics in favour of Labour during the debate (on the Gaza ceasefire).

He came to the House earlier today and apologised again for the decision-making on Wednesday. But he said that it was out of concern for MPs safety. He said he never wanted to pick up a phone to find that one of his friends from either side of the House had been “murdered by terrorists”. That follows the killing of an MP in 2021, it follows a number of death threats that a lot of MPs had been talking about.

The Labour leader Keir Starmer has also been talking and he was accused by the Conservative party of having lent on the speaker of the House to ensure that his amendment was able to be voted on to try to stem any potential rebellion within his ranks. He denied having threatened the speaker that he did



Clashes erupt at Karem Abu Salem crossing amid protests against aid to Gaza

Clashes have erupted at the Israel-controlled Karem Abu Salem border crossing as Israeli security forces attempt to disperse a crowd of protesters blocking the entrance to the Gaza Strip, according to local media.

Israeli protesters gathered at the crossing – known in Israel as Kerem Shalom – to block the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza until all captives held by Hamas are freed, the Times of Israel reported. One of the protesters required medical attention after a soldier slammed a rock into the back of his head, according to the newspaper.



Three killed, 8 wounded in shooting attack near Jerusalem

At least three people have been killed and at least eight people wounded during a shooting attack near occupied East Jerusalem, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting. Israeli police say one officer was killed after three gunmen fired at cars stuck in traffic on a highway near the Maale Adumim settlement in the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces have killed two of the gunmen and the third has been arrested.

Footage shows Israeli forces arresting man at site of shooting near Jerusalem

Footage verified by Al Jazeera shows Israeli forces arresting a man at the site of a shooting near the Maale Adumim settlement in the occupied West Bank. At least three people were killed and eight wounded during the shooting this morning near occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli police say two gunmen were killed and the third arrested.

Israeli army conducting arrests in Zatara after Maale Adumim shooting

Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari has said that the Israeli military and its secret services are interrogating and detaining “suspects” in the village of Zatara, near Bethlehem, where the Palestinian men responsible for this morning’s shooting in Maale Adumim hailed from.

The Israeli army also said on X that its forces were preparing to deploy across the West Bank “to thwart terrorist activities and protect the citizens of the State of Israel”.

Israeli forces storm Beit Ta’amr village after checkpoint shooting

Israeli occupation forces have stormed the village of Beit Ta’amr, east of Bethlehem, raiding the homes of the suspects in the Maale Adumim settlement attack that killed an Israeli soldier and injured eight others. The forces forced their way into the family home of two brothers, Muhammad Zawahra and Kazem Zawahra.There are about 20 to 25 military vehicles in the village.

Israel’s Smotrich demands settlement expansion in response to Maale Adumim shooting

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has demanded the approval of a plan to build thousands of new illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank’s Maale Adumim and nearby areas in response to the shooting that killed one person and wounded eight others earlier today.

“The serious attack on Maale Adumim must have a decisive security response but also an answer from the settlements,” he wrote on X. “I demand the prime minister approve the convening of the higher planning council and immediately approve plans for thousands of housing units in Maale Adumim and the entire region,” he said. “Our enemies know that any harm to us will lead to more construction and more development and more of our control across the entire country.”

Israeli minister says ‘our right to life overrides the Palestinians’ freedom of movement’

Israel’s Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir has said Palestinians’ freedom of movement should be restricted, following a shooting attack on a highway near the Maale Adumim settlement in the occupied West Bank that we reported on earlier.

“Our right to life overrides the Palestinians’ freedom of movement,” Ben-Gvir said, according to Israeli media reports. “I will fight for barriers around the villages that will limit the freedom of movement of the residents of the Palestinian Authority.” At least three people were killed and eight wounded during the shooting this morning, with Israeli police saying two gunmen were killed and a third arrested.



Propaganda at work

Israel claims its soldiers ‘found copies of Mein Kampf’ in Gaza

Israel’s Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz has equated Hamas with Germany’s Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler that was responsible for the genocide of European Jews during World War II. He warned that leaving Gaza without defeating the armed group would harm the Jewish community around the world.

“Hamas are the new Nazis,” Katz told the conference of presidents of major Jewish organisations, according to Israel National News. “In many houses in Gaza, our soldiers found copies of Mein Kampf. We all know what that means.”

“We must win this war against the front of evil run by Iran,” he said. “If we do not win this war, it will harm Jewish communities all over the world. If we stay united, we will overcome and defeat all our enemies and secure the Jewish state and the Jewish people.”


Where would they even get them... But thanks for pointing out another part of the occupation

https://mondoweiss.net/2022/07/the-book-shortage-in-gaza-no-one-is-talking-about/

In Gaza, Palestinian authors don’t get to read the books they write. As for the readers, they would do well to become practiced in the art of re-reading what they already have. Palestinian bookshop owners? Hardly a lucrative occupation. I spoke to one such owner about the dramatic rise in Israeli restrictions on international mail delivery to Gaza. “Only ten books may arrive in the entire city every 2-3 months,” he told me.

“My livelihood has been collapsing because of these cruel and restrictive policies. My income is not what you might think of a bookshop owner.”

Since my early adulthood, I have been passionate about reading and writing. But I spend more time waiting for books to arrive from the outside world than I do actually reading them–which is always a short-lived affair.



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SvennoJ on 22 February 2024

Israel plans ‘humanitarian pockets’ in Gaza

Reuters news agency has quoted an unnamed senior Israeli official as saying that Israel is planning “humanitarian pockets” in districts of the Gaza Strip from which Hamas has been expelled as part of its plan for the post-war administration of the enclave. Israel is seeking Palestinians who are not affiliated with Hamas to manage civilian affairs in these areas of the Gaza Strip, designed as testing grounds.

“We’re looking for the right people to step up to the plate,” the official told the news outlet. “But it is clear that this will take time, as no one will come forward if they think Hamas will put a bullet in their head.”

Hamas said the plan, which would also exclude anybody on the payroll of the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority, would amount to an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and was doomed to failure.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the Zeitoun neighbourhood of northern Gaza City was a candidate for implementation of the plan.




Gaza’s north faces famine, south continues to be bombed


An intense bombing campaign across Rafah city stretched into the early hours of this morning. In the last 45 minutes, loud explosions could be heard from the northern part of the city. The sound is coming from the systematic demolition of homes.

Overnight, we’re looking at attacks in the eastern part, the northern part and even the western part where literally hundreds of thousands of people have been sheltering. A mosque nearby was destroyed completely, and we are looking at least three to four homes within its vicinity that have been severely damaged.

Another home was targeted and destroyed and five people were killed.




Palestinians recover bodies of victims after Israeli attacks hit Deir el-Balah

A doctor of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital was killed today in an Israeli attack in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza. Khalid Abu-Owaimer was at his relatives’ house when it was shelled. He was one of the few medics to keep working at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, refusing to leave despite intense bombardment last month.

I had seen him as recently as Friday at the hospital, he was a neighbour. We have known each other a long time. We used to pray together side by side. We used to talk about our love for Chelsea Football Club. Dr Khalid Abu-Habel, Abu-Owaimer’s colleague, said, “It’s a huge loss for us. He has been working for at least 80 hours a week. Over our suffering at the hospital, we are losing our staff. That’s unbearable.”



Casualties reported in Israeli bombing of UNWRA building in Jabalia

Casualties are being reported from an Israeli bombing of a UNRWA building housing displaced people in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. An Israeli raid was targeting a Palestinian vehicle east of the camp at the time.

Footage of the incident, verified by Al Jazeera, indicated the death of at least one person as well as the injuries of several others. “An Israeli reconnaissance plane bombed the car, and we found martyrs and wounded in the street,” one witness said.


Israel pushing ahead with Rafah plan without precise strategy: Report

Israel is determined to carry out an attack on Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, even though officials acknowledge in private they have no precise strategy for it and don’t know how long it will take or where the people in the city will be relocated to, Bloomberg News reports.

The report quoted former national security adviser Yaakov Amidror as saying Israeli forces would move into Rafah in March and estimating that the fighting would last until the end of April. “We can then move to a configuration of smaller forces like we have in the north,” Amidror was quoted as saying.

No ‘plan B’ once funds end in March: Head of UNRWA’s Lebanon office

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees has no “plan B” past March should donor countries that withheld funding following Israeli allegations uphold their suspensions, according to the head of its Lebanon office, Dorothee Klaus.

“We hope that as many donors as possible indicate to the agency that they are reconsidering the funding freeze, and that funding will be restored to the agency, hopefully in such a way that we don’t have a cash flow issue, and services continue uninterrupted,” she said. “We do not have a plan B.”

Already, her office may not be able to finance its quarterly cash distribution to 65 percent of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. “This will be the first indicator to the community that UNRWA is cash-strapped, and this would be the first service that we will not be able to provide in quarter one,” Klaus said.



SvennoJ on 22 February 2024

Day 4 of the ICJ hearing, 12 countries presenting arguments today



China calls for two-state solution at ICJ

Ma Xinmin, a Foreign Ministry legal adviser, says that China “has consistently supported the just cause of the Palestinian people in restoring their legitimate right”.

“Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed on multiple occasions that China calls for a comprehensive ceasefire and the early solution to the question of Palestine on the basis of a two-state solution through negotiation,” he said. “In pursuit of the right to self-determination”, he states, the Palestinian people’s use of force to “resist foreign oppression” and complete the establishment of an independent state is an “inalienable right”.

China’s remarks highlight Palestinians’ right to resist

In its remarks at the ICJ, China said that Palestinians, as the occupied people, have a right to resist, which is a particularly important point because we don’t hear it very often. It also clarified that the court’s opinion would help, not hinder, future or present negotiations and diplomacy.

This is in stark contrast with the position expressed by the US. The Americans insisted yesterday that the two parties will figure it out through diplomacy, but US-brokered negotiations have been biased towards Israel. The US has used Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories to stay relevant in the Middle East and it invests in the occupation of the Palestinian people, using it as leverage. Therefore, the US cannot be considered a neutral mediator.

China counters US point by point at ICJ

China very well listened to what the United States had to say a day earlier, its representative basically countered all the arguments that the US brought forward. The US said the UN and the ICJ should stay out of a bilateral issue between Israel and Palestine. According to China, it was definitely a matter for the UN to talk about the self-determination of the Palestinian people.

And also the argument the US made, Israel’s right to self-defence and that’s why the occupation has to continue. The Chinese representative said Israel is a foreign nation occupying Palestine, so the right to self-defence lies more with the Palestinians than with the Israelis. China said it is actually very important to have the advisory opinion coming from the world’s highest court because it will guide any future negotiations.


Iran says ICJ opinion can set ground for saving thousands of innocent people

Raza Najafi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, says at the ICJ that “we remain at a turning point in the history” of humanity.

“The opinion of this court can set the ground for saving the lives of thousands of innocent women and children and contribute to the legitimate demand of the people deprived of their inherent right to self-determination,” he said. Najafi then listed a series of measures that, he said, constitute the ongoing violation by the Israeli occupying regime:

  • Prolonged occupation
  • Altering demographic composition in the occupied territories
  • Altering the character and the status of the Holy City
  • Discriminatory measures
  • Violations of the rights of Palestinian people to permanent sovereignty over their natural resources

Iran says UNSC responsible for Israeli atrocities

In his closing remarks at the ICJ, Iran’s representative Najafi has said that “the inaction or insufficient action of the Security Council” is one of the “main causes of prolonged occupation of the Palestinians”. “All the atrocities and crimes committed by the Israeli regime in the past almost eight years are a consequence of such inaction,” he said.

Even today, he added, the UNSC is “paralysed due to the stalemate” caused by a “certain permanent member”. He finished by saying the court was expected to provide its advisory opinion in a manner “that effectively and practically consolidates the rule of law” and brought “hope to Palestinians that justice will ultimately prevail”.

“We should not leave them alone and let them down” he said, when Palestinians need the support and assistance of humanity the most. “This is a collective legal and moral responsibility, and we must fulfil it responsibly,” he added.


Iraq calls on ICJ to stop Israel’s ‘campaign of mass murder’

Hayder Shiya Al-Barrak, the representative of Iraq at the ICJ, calls on the World Court to respect previous court orders against Israel, such as the provisions ordered after South Africa’s genocide case, to “stop the systematic killing machine against the Palestinian people”.

“We hope that the court’s commitment to justice will lead to additional decisions … affirming its dedication to ending the campaign of mass murder and preventing acts of genocide as well as policies of harassment, blockade and starvation against the Palestinian people,” he said.

Israel must be held accountable for ‘war crimes’: Iraq to ICJ

Iraq’s representative has ended his presentation to the ICJ by saying that his country “is deeply concerned about the humanitarian suffering inflicted on the Palestinians throughout the state of Palestine, particularly in the Gaza Strip”.

Al-Barrak highlighted “the barbaric acts” committed by Israel, including “air strikes and rocket attacks targeting civilians”. “These acts constitute war crimes executed with a criminal intent” and are serious violations of the laws of war, he said, adding that Israel “must be held accountable”.

Al-Barrak concluded by calling on the ICJ to make decisions “that safeguard the lives of the Palestinian men, women, children and elders, allowing them to enjoy a dignified and secure life where all human rights are achieved”.


Israel ‘exceeded’ the limits of self-defence after October 7: Ireland

Over at the ICJ, Ireland’s representative opens his presentation by condemning the October 7 attacks by Hamas. Attorney General Rossa Fanning then reminds the court that international law limits the use of force in self-defence to “no more than what is necessary and proportionate”.

Ireland’s view is that Israel has “exceeded these limits” in its military response, he said. “Ireland has repeatedly called for a ceasefire. And we are dismayed by the implications that these latest hostilities in Gaza may have for the prospect of resolving the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Ireland has been a consistent and vocal supporter of a comprehensive two-state solution to the conflict. We lament the lack of progress made towards achieving that objective” he says.

Israel has ‘altered the demographics of the West Bank’

The “defining feature” of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Ireland’s representative at the ICJ says, has been “continuous settlement activity”. Israel has used different means to take and exercise control for non-military purposes over as much Palestinian land as possible, Fanning states.

“Once in control, Israel has undertaken permanent construction on this land, in particular developing or encouraging the development of permanent settlements, onto which it has incentivised large numbers of its own citizens to transfer. “Through its actions, Israel has fundamentally altered the demographics of the West Bank,” he says.

Israel has committed ‘serious breaches’ of international law: Ireland

Ireland has concluded that “by its prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory, and the settlement activities it has conducted there for more than half a century, Israel has committed serious breaches of a number of peremptory norms of general international law”.

Ireland’s representative adds that Israel also breached the basic rules of international humanitarian law, including the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people and the prohibition of acquisition of territory, by force.

Japan calls for creation of state for Palestinians to live in ‘peace and dignity’

Tomohiro Mikanagi, a legal adviser of Japan’s Foreign Ministry, has told the ICJ that his country believes a “two-state solution where Israel and the future independent Palestinian state live side by side in peace and dignity remains the only viable path for both peoples”.

“Japan emphasises the conflict between the Israeli side and Palestinian side should be solved not through any violent acts or unilateral action but through negotiations and efforts for mutual trust among the parties concerned while respecting international law,” he added.

The international law about the inadmissibility of acquiring any territory by force applies to even the land within the borders that are not recognised internationally. Japan brought two legal specialists to argue this point.

‘No country must be allowed to be above the law’: Jordan

Jordan’s representative at the ICJ, Ayman Safadi, opens his presentation to the court by stating: “Israeli aggression on Gaza, which your esteemed court has indicated warrants examination of plausible genocide, rages on.” This aggression, he said, has to end and those responsible for it must face justice.

“No country must be allowed to be above the law,” he added. “Israel is acting and has been allowed to act in complete disregard of international law. That cannot continue. “The occupation is unlawful, it is inhumane, it must end, yet Israel has been systematically consolidating the occupation that is blatantly denying Palestinians’ right to self-determination.”

Israeli attacks on holy sites ‘threaten their integrity’: Jordan

Jordan’s second representative, Minister of Justice Ahmad Ziadat, says Israeli violations of Muslim and Christian holy sites run contrary to international law. Ziadet referenced multiple raids, attacks and closures of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

He added that attacks on holy sites in Jerusalem “threaten their integrity”. “They inflame the global religious tension and create confrontations along religious lines,” he said.

Israeli occupation must end ‘as a matter of urgency’: Jordan

Michael Wood, representing Jordan, says at the ICJ hearing that “the only way for the [Palestinian] right to self-determination to be exercised is for the [Israeli] occupation to come to an end”. He also said:

  • Israel’s policies and practices violate the law of occupation, which applies throughout the occupied Palestinian territory. Israel has engaged in a policy of progressively establishing settlements in so-called outposts.
  • Israeli settlements undermine the establishment of a sovereign, independent, contiguous and viable Palestinian state.
  • Israel’s policies and practices when considered in their entirety leave no doubt as to Israel’s intention to annex occupied Palestinian territory.
  • Israel’s occupation is being carried out for purposes contrary to international law.
  • Israel must end its occupation across all Palestinian territory – that is for the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza. This must be done as a matter of urgency and as rapidly as possible.

‘Why does the victim continue to be portrayed as the killer?’: Kuwait

Kuwait’s Ambassador Ali Ahmad Ebraheem al-Dafiri has asked the ICJ to put an end to decades of injustice and declare the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories illegal.

“Why does the victim continue to be portrayed as the killer?” al-Dafiri said as he opened the afternoon session. “The occupying power has waged an illegitimate war on the Palestinians in Gaza characterised by numerous international law violations.” The war, he argued, is the result of 57 years of illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories. “And it must stop,” he added.



SvennoJ on 22 February 2024

Libya presents legal arguments at ICJ

Libya’s representative, Ahmed El Jahani, made the following remarks at the ICJ:

  • The court has jurisdiction on the matter of the legality of the Israeli occupation and is entitled to issue an advisory opinion. Its statute stipulates that the court is entitled to give an opinion on any legal question following a request by the UN General Assembly.
  • The Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the occupied Palestinian territories, despite Israel’s claims to the contrary.
  • The prohibition against the threat or use of force is enshrined in the UN Charter and is a cornerstone of the international legal order.
  • The right to self-determination is one of the essential principles of contemporary international law.
  • All states are called to ensure that the right to self-determination is upheld.

Lebanon urges ICJ to help bring peace in Middle East

Abdel Sattar Issa, Lebanon’s representative, has said his country urges the ICJ “to help in giving justice to the Palestinian people so we can have peace in the Middle East”. He also said:

  • It was wrong of some countries to ask the ICJ not to hand out its advisory opinion to the UN General Assembly “with a perverse argument” that this would get in the way of bilateral negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. “The law is the framework which prevents the political slippage, be it public or private level,” Issa said.
  • “Were Israel to seize its occupation of the Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and accept the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, all the other violations would disappear,” Issa said.
  • “Since 1967, Israel has been committing a crime of aggression, illegally occupying territories before annexing them.”
  • “Some may question the application of the norm prohibiting the use of force [to acquire territory] on the basis that it is an inter-state norm. That would imply that the OPT  [Occupied Palestinian Territory] is not part of a state … Lebanon and more than 140 members of the UN have recognised the State of Palestine and East Jerusalem as its capital.”
  • “Israel must dismantle its settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and withdraw therefrom … It must also seize all violations of Palestinian peoples’ right to self-determination … It must also issue reparations.”

Israel’s ‘colonisation activities’ are not self-defence: Luxembourg

Luxembourg’s Alain Germeaux has made the following remarks at the ICJ:

  • The right to self-determination is a fundamental human right.
  • Settlements greatly undermine the rights of the Palestinian people to a viable Palestinian state, “whose prospects recede with the continuing infringement of the integrity of the Palestinian territory.”
  • The rules of occupation require that occupation is temporary and that no permanent changes are made changes to the occupied territory. This has not been the case, and the principle of the protection of people is also not being respected.
  • Israel transferred part of its population to the occupied territories, which is unlawful according to the Fourth Geneva Convention. It continues to unlawfully destroy Palestinian property and subject Palestinians to violence.
  • Illegal settlements are a major impediment to the achievement of a two-state solution and a “just and lasting and comprehensive peace”.
  • Israel’s “activities of colonisation cannot be justified under self-defence.” Settlement activities are not proportionate or necessary measures.

Israel must immediately end occupation and offer compensation: Malaysia to ICJ

Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad bin Haji Hasan, Malaysia’s foreign minister, has told the ICJ that Israel “must withdraw immediately from the Occupied Palestinian Territory [OPT]”.

“Second, Israel must offer assurances and guarantees of non-repetition and third, Israel is under obligation to offer full reparations – annulment or repeal of all offending legislative and regulatory measures it has adopted for the [occupied Palestinian territories],” he said.

“Israel must also offer compensation for all the material and moral damage caused by the breach of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination,” he added. Malaysia’s representative also said:

  • As I speak, Gaza is facing devastation … The West Bank is also at risk. Safeguarding Palestine from destruction is crucial, especially in light of Israel’s noncompliance with the provisional measures of this court …
  • The Palestinian people have long suffered dehumanisation, demonisation, brutal collective punishment. They have endured and are still enduring the denial of their right to self-determination due to the policies and practices of Israel in the OPT. It is incumbent on each of us to do our part in ending their decades-long suffering.
  • With a firm belief in this court’s rule, as the custodian of international law, we remain confident that justice and peace will prevail for the Palestinian people.
  • Israel’s transfer of settlers to the OPT constitutes a war crime. Israel’s policies and practices that aim to change the demographic composition of the OPT – along with the creation of enclaves and demolition of Palestinians’ homes; and the limitation of their freedom of movement, including the blockade and siege of the Gaza Strip – constitute violations of international humanitarian law and the international human rights law.

Mauritius draws parallel with British colonisation in address to ICJ

Representatives of Mauritius have made the following remarks at the ICJ:

  • Mauritius cited the court’s opinion on the country’s decolonisation from Britain and in particular the case of the Chagos Archipelago’s unlawful detachment and its incorporation into a new colony.
  • In its advisory opinion delivered in 2019, the ICJ concluded that “the process of decolonisation of Mauritius was not lawfully completed when that country acceded to independence” and that Britain was “under an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible”.
  • Like the Palestinian territories, the Chagos Archipelago had been under long-lasting occupation.
  • The prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the territories occupied since 1967 must end and all states and the UN have a duty to ensure that Israel respects Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
  • Mauritius believes the court’s opinion would be beneficial to negotiations and to achieving a two-state solution.


Tomorrow: Namibia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Indonesia, Qatar, UK, Slovenia, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria and Tunesia

Countries combat US arguments in remarks before the ICJ

There is a consensus today. Countries from the West, the East, the North, the South, all agree on one thing: that this occupation is illegal and that is has to stop, that it turns Palestinians into second-class citizens, that discriminatory rules apply to the Palestinian people, imposed by Israel.

Today we have heard already from 31 countries making their arguments here at the highest court. What also stood out is that all the countries who have been speaking today, countries like Jordan, Ireland, and China, have been countering the arguments brought by the United States, that this isn’t the right forum to have an opinion, that the highest court shouldn’t rule on this matter because it’s a bilateral matter between Israel and the Palestinians.

But countries are saying that this court is now in a position to speak, because all of the negotiations, all of the diplomatic efforts that we’ve seen over the years, have completely failed.



SvennoJ on 22 February 2024

European diplomats warn of dire humanitarian consequences of Rafah assault

In a joint statement co-signed by the foreign ministers of 26 European countries, officials expressed concern that an Israeli assault on Rafah, where more than one million displaced Palestinians are hemmed in with nowhere to go, would “worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian situation and prevent the urgently needed provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance”.

”This requires an immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a sustainable cease-fire, the unconditional release of all hostages and the provision of humanitarian assistance,” says the statement, released by Sweden today.

Incidents of anti-Muslim hate more than tripled in the UK: Monitor group

The group Tell MAMA, which monitors incidents of anti-Muslim hate in the United Kingdom, has said the uptick has occurred since the outbreak of the war on Gaza. The group says it recorded 2,010 cases in the four months after October 7, up from 600 incidents during the same period in 2022-2023, or a rise of 335 percent.

“We are deeply concerned about the impacts that the Israel and Gaza war are having on hate crimes and on social cohesion in the UK,” Tell MAMA director Iman Atta said in a statement. “This rise in anti-Muslim hate is unacceptable and we hope that political leaders speak out to send a clear message that anti-Muslim hate, like anti-Semitism, is unacceptable in our country.”

UN trade body says Suez Canal container traffic has dropped by two-thirds

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has reported that weekly container ship traffic through the Suez Canal has dropped by 67 percent from peak levels, following a campaign of Houthi raids in the Red Sea that have pushed shipping companies to seek other routes. The Yemen-based group says the attacks are a means of exerting pressure to end the war in Gaza.

Overall traffic through the Suez, a source of important revenue for Egypt, has fallen by 42 percent. UNCTAD says that the disruptions have also impacted countries such as Djibouti, Kenya and Tanzania, which benefit from the transportation of goods through the canal. Neither ongoing air strikes by the United States and United Kingdom on Houthi positions inside Yemen nor a US-led maritime coalition to protect commercial shipping appear to have boosted trade traffic through the Suez Canal.

Gaza remains focus at G20 summit in Brazil


People take part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration, amid a meeting of foreign ministers as part of Brazil’s presidency of the G20, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Palestine continues to loom large at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Brazil, with the host nation calling for reforms to the UN Security Council (UNSC), citing the body’s lack of action on the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.

“Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira was very critical of the United Nations Security Council’s ‘paralysis’,” Al Jazeera correspondent Teresa Bo reported from Rio De Janeiro, with a group of protesters marching in solidarity with Palestine in the background. “He said the UNSC has failed to act on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine because of Russia’s veto power, and has also failed to address or call for a ceasefire in Gaza because of the US veto power.”


Irish solidarity with Palestinians will continue ‘as long as necessary’: Ireland politician

Daithi Doolan, a Sinn Fein legislator in Dublin, asserts that the Republic of Ireland’s enduring support for the Palestinians stems from its shared experience of suffering from “colonisation” and “imperialism” in its own history. “Our deep solidarity with the Palestinian people will continue long into the future as long as necessary, until there is a united Ireland and a free, united Palestine,” he told Al Jazeera.

“We were proud to stand shoulder to shoulder against apartheid in South Africa. And once again, we are going to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinian people,” he noted, adding that support for Palestinians in Ireland goes back decades.

Moreover, the Irish legislator called on his government to take several actions immediately: a ban on all exports from illegal settlements, joining South Africa in its genocide case against Israel and recognising the state of Palestine. “I am surprised that they [three steps] haven’t been taken yet by the government. I think they’re not controversial,” Doolan added.

“We are telling them to get in line with the Irish people. They are tone deaf not only to the people in Gaza … but the Irish people, too.”


‘Many in Gaza survive on just one meal a day, others find none’: UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has highlighted the hunger crisis in Gaza, noting that drinking water has also been scarce in the territory. “Over 4 months of violence in Gaza have led to a humanitarian crisis,” UNICEF said in a social media post. “Children need ceasefire now!”



SvennoJ on 22 February 2024

Waving white flags, Palestinians trying to flee Gaza City shelled by Israeli army

Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive video of dozens of Palestinians who attempted to flee south from Gaza City this morning and said they were attacked by the Israeli army.

The families made their way on al-Rasheed Street, a corridor the Israeli army has in the past designated for the safe travel of the displaced. They were shelled by Israeli army vehicles, which they said killed and wounded a number of them. They then fled back to Gaza City, where fighting has been raging for a number of days, particularly in the Zeitoun neighbourhood.  

The families carried white flags in an attempt to prevent attack by the Israeli army.They said they decided to leave Gaza City because of the extreme lack of food and humanitarian aid. “We went out because of hunger, the price of a bag of flour is 3,000 shekels (about $825), and we don’t have money,” said one man who was part of the group. “We don’t know where to go, we are tired … Israel is targeting everyone, even the animals have not been spared. The situation is very difficult, we have no words to say. I have a son for 38 days whose fate I do not know,” said another.


Palestinians gather in the hopes of getting bags of flour loaded on aid trucks near an Israeli checkpoint in Gaza City, February 19, 2024



Israel withdrew from Nasser Hospital but continues to besiege it: Ministry

Gaza’s Health Ministry has said Israeli troops have taken up positions around the hospital and continue to prohibit movement in and out of the facility. The Ministry of Health also said sewage water has flooded the ground floors of the hospital, and staff and patients are “without water to drink or personal hygiene, without food, without electricity, without oxygen and without medical equipment”.

Medics at the hospital have buried 13 patients who died due to lack of oxygen and electricity after the power generators stopped working, it added. According to the ministry, Israeli forces are still preventing the repair of the hospital’s generators and water tanks.

The ministry said Israeli forces have also continued to besiege and attack al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis.

WHO says 50 patients have been evacuated from besieged Nasser Hospital

The World Health Organization has said that it evacuated 50 patients from Nasser Hospital, according to the Associated Press. About 140 patients remain inside the facility, which has been besieged and attacked by Israeli forces.

Ayadil Saparbekov, WHO Health Emergencies team lead in the Palestinian territories, says that the agency has thus far helped evacuate 51 patients in three separate missions. “We still have around 140 patients remaining in the hospital but these figures unfortunately change every hour,” he said, adding that some patients died from injuries and others have tried to flee. Israel has targeted numerous medical facilities across Gaza over the course of the war.

Israeli forces re-invade Nasser Hospital: Health Ministry

Four Israeli troop carriers have entered the medical centre, the Gaza ministry said in a brief statement, without providing further details. Earlier, the Health Ministry said Israeli troops had withdrawn from the hospital but had taken up positions around it, keeping it under siege.




Israeli attack on central Gaza kills 23: Health Ministry

The ministry said the deceased arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, warning that the death toll from the bombing could rise.

Several dead and dozens injured in Israeli attack in central Gaza

A video shared on social media, and verified by Al Jazeera fact-checking unit Sanad, shows dead bodies and injured people being brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after several homes were targeted by Israeli forces. Al Jazeera’s correspondents report heavy shelling of the central Strip for the past several hours.

The attacks took place in the Deir al-Balah and al-Zawaida areas of the region.

 

Israel raids occupied West Bank village after checkpoint attack

Aseed Amrana, a Bethlehem-based journalist, says 15 Israeli military vehicles have stormed the village of Bayt Ta’mar near the city. Israel had accused three young men from the village of carrying out an attack against an Israeli checkpoint outside Jerusalem. Two of the suspected assailants, who were brothers, were killed in the attack. The third was severely injured.

Still, Israeli troops raided three homes in the village and ransacked them. They also detained several family members of the suspected attackers. The raid lasted for about two hours. According to Amrana, Israeli forces also stormed the village of al-Dawha near Bethlehem and raided a car rental company there.

Israel detains two children in occupied West Bank village: Local official

Bahaa Fuqaha, the deputy mayor of Sinjil near Ramallah, says the two children, age 10, have been held along with two adult relatives, and that they remain in the village amid efforts by local officials to secure their release. According to Fuqaha, the children were playing outside their house and have been accused of throwing rocks towards Israeli forces – a claim that he says is false.

Fuqaha described their detention as “barbaric”. Israel has a long history of detaining and imprisoning Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank.



It seems CNN isn't doing any coverage of the Israel - Hamas war anymore, last updates were 4 days ago. Now they're just posting some Israeli news. For example this is their coverage on the shooting at a checkpoint.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/22/middleeast/jerusalem-shooting-attack-intl-hnk/index.html

Police referred to the gunmen as terrorists and residents of the Bethlehem area, but no further information was given as to who the shooters were. Security forces “neutralized” two of the shooters at the scene and another “who tried to escape,” it added.

There has been a spate of terror attacks against Israelis in the occupied West Bank in recent weeks. At least seven were killed in a shooting near a synagogue in Jerusalem in late January 2023, which police chief Yaakov Shabtai described as “one of the worst terror attacks in the past few years.”

Correction: This story has been updated to clarify the shooting near a synagogue in Jerusalem took place in January 2023.

At least CNN clarified that they had to go back to Januari for their "spate of terror" attacks