Crisis in Gaza
Live Reporting
ICJ ruling is a “step in the right direction,” protest organiser says
Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the International Court of Justice in The Hague following the ICJ ruling today, CNN reports.
One of the protest organisers, Nadia Slimi, told CNN she is “very happy” following the ICJ’s ruling imposing provisional measures on Israel over its military operation in Gaza, but was disappointed the court did not rule in favor of an immediate ceasefire.
“It feels like a victory and a significant milestone and a step in the right direction in the liberation of the Palestinian people in a way. It is also very disappointing that the court did not rule in favor for an immediate ceasefire at this time, because I personally believe that that is what the people need,” she said.
FO terms ICJ ruling ‘significant milestone in the pursuit of justice’
— Spokesperson MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) January 26, 2024
President Alvi’s hails ICJ’s ‘outstanding judgment’
President Dr Arif Alvi has welcomed the ICJ ruling on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide in Gaza.
Terming it an “outstanding judgment”, he said Israel must “immediately stop the genocide and bloodshed of the innocent civilians in Gaza”.
— The President of Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan) January 26, 2024
EU says expects immediate implementation of UN court Gaza ruling
The European Union has said it wants “immediate” implementation of a United Nations court ruling that Israel must prevent genocidal acts in Gaza, AFP reports.
“Orders of the International Court of Justice are binding on the parties and they must comply with them. The European Union expects their full, immediate and effective implementation,” Brussels said in a statement.
Reactions to World Court ruling on Israel's war in Gaza
The World Court on Friday ordered Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide as it wages war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, but it stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire as requested by South Africa.
Following are reactions to the ruling by the U.N.-affiliated International Court of Justice in The Hague:
ICJ’s failure to order ceasefire ‘disappointing’, says Maleeha Lodhi
Pakistan’s former ambassador Maleeha Lodhi has termed as “disappointing” the failure of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order a ceasefire in Gaza.
“But to tell Israel to stop the killings and to protect Palestinians, to an extent, this is a big blow to Israel because this is binding,” Lodhi said while speaking to Geo News.
She added that the pressure being put on Israel is “moral pressure”, although there were expectations by the court to do more.
Separately in a post on X, she praised South Africa for “standing up for Palestinians, for law and justice and also becoming the voice of the Global South”.
— Maleeha Lodhi (@LodhiMaleeha) January 26, 2024
PHOTOS: People in Cape Town gather to watch ICJ ruling on case against Israel
Palestinian FM welcomes ICJ interim measures
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki has said Palestine welcomes the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Reuters reports.
“The ICJ judges assessed the facts and the law, they ruled in favor of humanity and international law,” he said in a televised briefing.
Al-Maliki added that Palestine calls on all states to ensure the measures ordered by the court are implemented “including by Israel, the occupying power”.
South Africa’s ANC ruling council cheers UN court Gaza ruling
President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ruling council of South Africa’s ruling party erupted in cheers, singing and dancing after the top UN court ordered Israel to prevent possible genocide in Gaza, AFP reports.
The African National Congress National Executive Committee suspended a meeting to watch a broadcast from the court in the The Hague, and live footage from the event showed senior party and government figures celebrating.
ICJ president takes note of Israeli officials's dehumanising language
On the issue of “dehumanising language” used against Palestinians, the ICJ president says the court has taken note of a number of statements made by senior Israeli officials.
It particularly called attention to statements by Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in ordering a “complete siege” of Gaza and telling troops that they are fighting against “human animals”.
ICJ orders Israel to report to it within one month
The World Court has ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza.
With the reading ongoing, the court said Israel must ensure its forces do not commit genocide and take measures to improve the humanitarian situation.
Israel must report to the court within a month on what it’s doing to uphold the order.
ICJ sees risk of worsening situation in Gaza
ICJ president Judge Donoghue has said the court sees the risk of a worsening situation in Gaza, Reuters reports.
He has said the court recognises the right of Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from genocidal acts.
He added the ICJ notes that the military operation conducted by Israel has resulted in a large number of deaths and injuries, as well as massive destruction of homes, the forcible displacement of the vast majority of the population and extensive damage to civilian infrastructure,
PHOTOS: Palestinians fleeing Israeli onslaught in Khan Younis arrive in Rafah
OCHA: Situation in Gaza Strip ‘brutal, unacceptable and catastrophic’
The representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territories says that the situation in the Gaza Strip is “nothing less than catastrophic”.
“Displaced people in Rafah have no place to stay and are actually living on the streets,” said Ajith Songhai. “The people we interviewed fear that severe violence will spread to Rafah, which will have catastrophic effects on more than 1.3 million people there.”
Songhai added that there is no access to northern Gaza, which remains under Israeli shelling and bombardment, even to provide basic humanitarian assistance.
“Failure to deliver aid violates Israel’s obligations under international law,” Songhai said, adding that continuous attacks continue on medical and UN facilities in Khan Younis, as well as on schools and residential areas.
Siege on Nasser Hospital continues for fifth day
Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesman for the Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip, said that the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis has completely run out of food, anaesthetics, and painkillers as a result of the occupation’s siege imposed on it for the fifth day.
“There are 150 health personnel, 350 patients, and hundreds of displaced families in the Nasser Medical Complex in catastrophic conditions of starvation, targeting, and lack of treatment,” al-Qudra said.
Cold and rainy weather in Gaza making it ‘completely uninhabitable’: UN
The UN’s human rights office has warned that cold and rainy weather in Gaza risks turning the enclave into a “completely uninhabitable” place.
“We’re also very worried about the impact of the rainy, cold weather in Gaza,” said Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
“It was entirely predictable at this time of the year, and risks making an already unsanitary situation completely uninhabitable for the people. Most have no more clothes or blankets.”
Most Palestinians have been internally displaced by Israeli attacks, and many are crammed into overcrowded shelters where they are threatened by the worsening weather, diseases and an accute shortage of food, water and medicine.
Israeli airline to cancel direct flights to Johannesburg: Report
Israeli airline El Al is set to cancel a direct flight between Tel Aviv and the South African city of Johannesburg, Israel’s Channel 12 reports.
El Al flights between the two cities will be cancelled from April 1. The move comes following a drop in customer demand due to tense relations between the two states since South Africa filed a resolution at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.
Judges at the ICJ are set to rule today on whether to issue an order compelling Israel to suspend its operations in Gaza, along with other “emergency measures”.
Message from families of Israeli captives: Make deal with Hamas
The message from the families has been very clear, and that is to strike a deal with Hamas. Families are saying, ‘We don’t care what it takes; we want our family members or loved ones to come home and to come home alive’.
The longer this war goes on, the higher that pressure is mounting. Particularly when we have incidents of, for example, the Israeli army killing three hostages by mistake as they were trying to rescue them inside Gaza.
The longer this war goes on – the captives’ families are saying – the probability of actually getting them out alive goes down.
Over 26,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza
At least 26,083 Palestinians have been killed and 64,487 wounded by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, according to the latest figures published by the enclave’s health ministry.
It added that at least 183 people have been killed and 377 injured in the past 24 hours.
Those chanting ‘from the river to the sea’ are ‘useful idiots’ or worse: Sunak
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has taken aim at a popular pro-Palestinian chant that has been used in rallies across the world.
“Those who chant ‘from the river to the sea’ are either useful idiots who do not understand what they are saying, or worse, people who wish to wipe the Jewish state from the map,” he said during a speech at the British parliamentary group Conservative Friends of Israel.
“We will have zero tolerance for those who promote or glorify terrorism or pedal anti-Semitism on our streets.”
For pro-Palestinian groups, the chant expresses the desire for freedom from oppression across the historical land of Palestine, but Israel backers claim it is a call to violence and anti-Semitic.
Last week, Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “must have control over the entire territory from the river to the sea” in reference to the west of the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
People receiving aid are attacked while 1.1 million face starvation in Gaza
A large group of Palestinians waiting on humanitarian assistance at a roundabout in Gaza City were fired on by Israeli forces on Thursday. At least 20 were killed and 150 injured, many seriously, according to OCHA.
Israel pushes for more fighter jets, attack helicopters, munitions from US
Israel’s Defense Ministry Director-General Eyal Zamir has wrapped up a working visit to Washington, where he discussed the purchase of new squadrons of top-tier, US-made fighter jets and attack helicopters, in addition to munitions for the war on Gaza.
Tel Aviv plans to procure a new 25-strong squadron of F35i stealth fighter jets, a squadron of 25 F-15IA fighter jets, and a squadron of 12 Apache helicopters, according to Israeli media.
The Times of Israel refuted a report by Channel 12 that said a final deal has already been signed but said Israel is pushing to receive the arms sooner.
The senior Israeli official, who met with top Pentagon and State Department officials as well as executives from major US arms manufacturing companies in Washington, also discussed the continued supply of US-made munitions for the war on Gaza.
Snipers target people leaving hospital in Khan Younis
The bombing campaign continued overnight across the city of Khan Younis.
Its small refugee camps and the public facilities across the city have been relentlessly targeted by Israeli artillery shelling as well as the massive air strike that took place around the vicinity of Nasser Hospital.
It’s not only Nasser Hospital, the largest public facility, that is under military siege, but now al-Amal Hospital, which is part of a charitable organisation that runs healthcare facilities across the Gaza Strip. Its headquarters is in Khan Younis
This hospital has been under siege for the past few days and now it’s completely out of service.
But what’s really shocking right now is the fact that there are snipers around the vicinity of this hospital. The buildings of the hospital accommodate hundreds of displaced Palestinians. They’re being shot if they try to leave the buildings.
US lauds Qatar’s ‘irreplaceable’ role in Gaza mediation
Qatar has been an “integral, irreplaceable, key regional partner” for the US since the current conflict between Israel and Hamas erupted on October 7, US State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said.
“What I can just say … is that Qatar has been an integral, irreplaceable, key regional partner.”
Patel’s comments came in response to questions about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allegedly labelling Qatar’s mediation efforts to secure the release of captives from Gaza as “problematic”.
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said Doha was “appalled” by the alleged remarks, which were heard in a leaked recording said to be of Netanyahu.
US lauds Qatar’s ‘irreplaceable’ role in Gaza mediation
Qatar has been an “integral, irreplaceable, key regional partner” for the US since the current conflict between Israel and Hamas erupted on October 7, US State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said.
“What I can just say … is that Qatar has been an integral, irreplaceable, key regional partner.”
Patel’s comments came in response to questions about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allegedly labelling Qatar’s mediation efforts to secure the release of captives from Gaza as “problematic”.
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said Doha was “appalled” by the alleged remarks, which were heard in a leaked recording said to be of Netanyahu.
‘Momentum’ seen in new Gaza ceasefire talks amid reports of high-level meeting
We are seeing some momentum with the news that you have the heads of all the intelligence services – of Israel, Egypt and the US – and also Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister meeting now.
What’s on the table? What we understand is a two-month pause in the fighting. This is something that we had been reporting before.
And all the Israeli captives to be released.
What we understand, initially, is for one Israeli captive to be released for 100 Palestinian prisoners, and as it goes on, that number will increase.
The real sticking point, we understand, is the ceasefire.
This is really about public positions. The Israeli Prime Minister has been very clear this is not going to be an end to the war. Hamas has made it very clear there needs to be a full end to the war before they will release any of the captives.
But, certainly, all the sources and leaks in the media saying that there does seem to be some momentum, that they are now starting to talk about the serious issues.
This is the first time that there seems to be some hope that possibly both sides can come to some form of understanding since the ceasefire collapsed at the beginning of December.
Negotiations could ‘lead someplace’ despite Netanyahu intransigence, says former US official
The upcoming trip of CIA director William Burns to meet with Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials suggests that negotiations between Hamas and Israel could be nearing something concrete, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb told Al Jazeera.
Israelis besiege ambulance centre, hospital, kill civilians awaiting humanitarian aid: UN report
Heavy fighting is under way in the vicinity of Khan Younis’s Al-Aqsa, Nasser, al-Amal and Al Kheir hospitals, and Palestinians who can flee the violence are moving to the southern town of Rafah “despite the lack of safe passage”, the UN reports.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that 200 more Palestinians were killed and 370 injured in a 24-hour period between Wednesday and Thursday afternoon, the UN Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in its latest situation report.
Israeli forces continued to lay siege to the headquarters of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society’s ambulance fleet, and the nearby al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis on Thursday. Earlier in the week, three people were reported killed in an attack on the entrance to the ambulance centre and one was killed in an attack on al-Amal Hospital.
Also on Thursday, a large group of Palestinians waiting on humanitarian assistance at a roundabout in Gaza City were fired on by Israeli forces. At least 20 were killed and 150 injured, many seriously, UNOCHA reports.
Families of Israeli captives want Netanyahu to secure ‘any deal possible’
The issue of the captives is of the utmost importance and sensitivity within Israeli society.
The families of the captives say that the Israeli government is simply not doing enough, and hasn’t been doing enough to secure their release.
They feel that they have been kept in the dark, and they are urging the government to go to the negotiating table to get any sort of deal possible. Even if it means an “all-for-all” type of exchange – all Palestinian prisoners to be released for all of the Israeli captives.
But the Israeli prime minister has been adamant for more than three months, saying military pressure is the only way to bring the captives back, and the only way the war is going to end is if all Israel’s military objectives are achieved.
UNRWA says Khan Younis training centre impacted 22 times since October 7
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) says that its training centre in Khan Younis in southern Gaza has been besieged for five days straight, resulting in repeated fatalities and injuries.
“This shelter has been impacted directly [and] indirectly by military activity 22 times since war began,” it wrote in a statement.
The statement said at least 13 people were killed and 56 people were injured on Wednesday when a building housing 800 displaced Palestinians was hit by “direct fire”. The attack, which UNRWA chief Thomas White has attributed to Israeli tank rounds, was universally condemned.
The Israeli military has said it is conducting an investigation into the incident but added that it has “currently ruled out” that Israeli aircraft or artillery were responsible. It said it was also investigating the possibility that Hamas was responsible for the strike.
UK and US sanction senior Houthis over Red Sea shipping attacks
LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Britain and the United States on Thursday (Jan 25) said they had imposed coordinated sanctions on four key Houthi figures for their roles in supporting or directing attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
Attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis have disrupted global shipping and stoked fears of global inflation. They have also deepened concern that fallout from the Israel-Hamas war could destabilize the Middle East.
Those sanctioned were Houthi Defence Minister Mohamed Nasser al-Atifi, Commander of Houthi Naval Forces Muhammad Fadl Abd Al-Nabi, coastal defence forces chief Muhammad Ali al-Qadiri and Muhammed Ahmad al-Talibi, who the two governments described as the Houthi forces' director of procurement.
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Hamas blasts Israel's plan to create buffer zone in Gaza as a 'crime'
GAZA (Agencies) - Israel is reportedly working to establish a 1km-wide ‘security belt’ around the Gaza Strip amid disapproval from the US and criticism from international experts.
Israel’s efforts to create a buffer zone along its border with Gaza constitute a “crime” and act of “blatant aggression” against the Palestinian people, Hamas official Osama Hamdan has said, following media reports suggesting such a plan is under way.
Hamdan, who is based in Lebanon, told reporters on Thursday that Israel was “looking to establish a security belt along the borders of the Strip by levelling entire residential blocks and by bulldozing farms and civilian infrastructure”.
