The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest court of the United Nations, is holding hearings from this Monday on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories since 1967, with an unprecedented number of 52 countries called to bear witness. The United States, Russia and even China will address the judges during a session spread over a week at the Peace Palace in The Hague, headquarters of the ICJ.
On December 31, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution requesting from the ICJ a non-binding “advisory opinion” on the “legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem- East”. The resolution was adopted with 87 votes for, 26 against and 53 abstentions, with Western states divided on the issue while Arab countries unanimously voted in favor. These hearings are entirely separate from South Africa’s recent high-profile applications to the UN’s top judicial body.
Information to remember
⇒ Israel makes Ramadan the deadline for an offensive against Rafah
⇒ Three Palestinians were killed on Sunday in the northern occupied West Bank
⇒ Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused Israel of committing “genocide” of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip
Gaza: Israel makes Ramadan the deadline for an offensive against Rafah
Israel has warned that its army will launch an offensive against Rafah if Israeli hostages held in Gaza are not released by the start of Ramadan, despite international pressure to protect the estimated 1.4 million Palestinians crowded into the area. city. “If by Ramadan, the hostages are not at home, the fighting will continue everywhere, including in the Rafah region,” Israeli Minister Benny Gantz, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, declared in Jerusalem on Sunday. . “Hamas has a choice. They can surrender, free the hostages and the civilians of Gaza will be able to celebrate the Ramadan festival,” added the former army chief in a speech to the Conference of Presidents of the Main American Jewish organizations. Ramadan, the holy month of Muslims, begins around March 10.
As hopes for a truce fade, part of the international community is concerned about the fallout that a military operation would have for the civilian population living in often precarious conditions in Rafah, backed by Egypt’s closed border.
West Bank: three Palestinians killed, including a member of an armed group
Three Palestinians were killed on Sunday in the north of the occupied West Bank, including a member of an armed group during an Israeli raid, according to consistent sources. In Tulkarem, two men, aged 19 and 36, were shot dead following a raid by Israeli forces on the displaced camp, one of the largest in the region, the Ministry of Defense announced. Health of the Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank. At least five other people were injured in this operation, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
The Israeli army explained that soldiers had gone to arrest a man, Mohammed Oufi, suspected of having “participated in attacks against Israeli forces and murders of people suspected of collaborating with them in Tulkarem”. “Terrorists opened fire and threw explosives at Israeli forces, who responded,” killing the suspect who was “armed,” she added, specifying that an Israeli police officer had been “seriously injured and hospitalized.” “. In a statement, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military branch of Fatah, the movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, welcomed the “sacrifice” of the two men, specifying that Mohammed Oufi was one of their executives in the region.
Another Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces during an incident at a checkpoint near Nablus, some 35 km east of Tulkarem, the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry said. Israeli forces confirmed in a statement that they had “neutralized” a man who “got out of a vehicle, walked towards (Israeli) soldiers and continued to advance towards them, giving no response as they ‘challenged’. These incidents occur in a context of high tensions and intensification of violence in the West Bank since the Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7 and the start of the war in the Gaza Strip.
Lula accuses Israel of “genocide” in Gaza
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday accused Israel of committing a “genocide” of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, drawing a parallel with the extermination of the Jews carried out by the Hitler regime. “What is happening in the Gaza Strip is not a war, it is a genocide,” Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told reporters from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he is attending a summit of the African Union.
“This is not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It is a war between a highly prepared army and women and children,” added the Brazilian leader, a veteran of the left. “What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has not happened at any other time in history. In fact, it has happened before: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” he said. he insisted. The 78-year-old leader condemned Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, calling it a “terrorist” act. But he has since been very critical of Israel’s military campaign of retaliation.
“The Brazilian president’s comments are shameful and serious” and “I decided with Foreign Minister Israel Katz to immediately summon the Brazilian ambassador to Israel to strongly lecture him”, reacted in the afternoon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Comparing Israel to the Nazi Holocaust and Hitler is to cross the red line,” added the Israeli Prime Minister in a statement.