At the same time, the Israeli army continues to bomb the Gaza Strip where civilians say they are “exhausted” after nearly three months of war. The United States approved on Friday a new delivery of shells to Israel, to be used in “its war against Hamas”. For its part, South Africa has filed a petition before the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of perpetrating a “genocide” against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Information to remember
⇒ Israel strikes Syria, after rocket fire towards territories under its control
⇒ The United States urgently unblocks the shipment of new shells to Israel
⇒ South Africa accuses Israel of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice
New Israeli strikes in Syria
The Israeli army announced early this Saturday, December 30, that it was carrying out strikes in Syria, after two rockets fell on the territory under its control. The IDF is “currently striking the sources of these shots”, she indicated in a brief message, without however specifying the precise location where these rockets had fallen.
While the Israeli army rarely claims strikes in Syria, it has repeatedly declared that it will not allow its enemy, Iran, to extend its influence in this country, particularly through militias or armed groups like the Lebanese Hezbollah, in a context marked by the conflict between Israel and Hamas. On Thursday, an Israeli strike targeted the area around Damascus, the Syrian capital, according to the Syrian Defense Ministry and state media.
Israel rejects South Africa’s accusations of ‘genocide’
The Israeli government rejects “with disgust” South Africa’s accusations, claiming that Israel is carrying out genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat reacted on X. Pretoria announced in a press release on Friday that it had filed a request before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the main judicial body of the United Nations.
For South Africa, “Israel’s acts and omissions are genocidal because they are accompanied by the specific intent required […] to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza as part of the broader national, racial and ethnic group of Palestinians,” the ICJ, based in The Hague, said in a statement.
Pretoria also asked the Court to pronounce urgent measures to “protect the Palestinian people in Gaza”, in particular ordering Israel to “immediately end all military attacks”. The ICJ, which judges disputes between states, is expected to hold hearings in the coming weeks. But if its decisions are final, it has no way of enforcing them.
US sends new shells to Israel
For its part, the American government announced on Friday that it had approved “urgently”, without going through Congress, the sale to Israel of artillery ammunition for an amount of $147.5 million. These are 155 mm shells and various military equipment taken from the stocks of the United States army, according to a press release from the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency, a federal agency responsible in particular for American military sales to Foreign states.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded “that an emergency exists requiring this immediate sale to the Israeli government”, justified the press release. On December 9, Washington also gave the green light to the sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 tank shells used in its war in Gaza.
Civilians “exhausted” by three months of war
The Israeli army continued its massive bombings in the Gaza Strip on Friday, where the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) denounced the conditions for the delivery of humanitarian aid to the population living in critical conditions.
Deadly strikes, fierce fighting, incessant displacement and humanitarian aid arriving in dribs and drabs: after three months of war, the population of Gaza is exhausted and dreams of the “end” of the clashes. “People celebrate the arrival of the new year, but we cannot. The bombs continue to fall on us every day and every night,” says Oum Louay Abou Khater, 49, displaced by the fighting in Rafah, at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip.
More Palestinians killed in occupied West Bank
Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank on Friday. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported Friday evening about a young Palestinian who died near the village of Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem, saying he was killed “in clashes” with the Israeli army. The latter accused him of having tried to throw a bomb on a military post.
Earlier Friday, a Palestinian suspected of carrying out a vehicular attack according to the IDF was also killed near Hebron, the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry said. The occupied West Bank has experienced a sharp increase in violence since October 7. At least 315 Palestinians have been killed there by soldiers, and in some cases by Israeli settlers, since then, according to a tally by the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry.