Normal view

There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.
Before yesterdayMain stream

‘We are divided’: unity in Israel fades as war in Gaza approaches ninth month

Morale is dropping as talks to free hostages collapse and more believe ‘total victory’ over Hamas is impossible

In what appears to be a burnt-out building in Gaza, with Hebrew graffiti on the walls reading “Kach” and “Kahane”, references to an infamous Jewish supremacist and his outlawed political party, a masked soldier addresses Israel’s defence minister.

“Yoav Gallant, you can’t win the war. Quit. You can’t command us,” the man says in a long clip posted to social media on Saturday, in which he pledges loyalty to the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Another 100,000 reservists would mutiny, he warned, if wavering elements of the government such as Gallant scuppered Netanyahu’s goal of “complete victory” over Hamas.

Continue reading...

💾

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

💾

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Israel continues Rafah operation as hostage bodies are recovered

Offensive appears to go ahead despite ICJ ruling

Israel appears to be forging ahead with its offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite a new ruling from the UN’s top court to halt the assault, which it said is worsening an already “disastrous” humanitarian crisis.

About 900,000 people have fled Rafah, previously the shelter of last resort for 85% of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million population, since the Israeli ground operation in the area began on 6 May. At the same time, deliveries of humanitarian supplies and fuel to the Palestinian territory have slowed to a trickle, with the two main aid crossings – Rafah, on the border with Egypt, and nearby Kerem Shalom, a goods crossing linking Gaza with Israel – effectively blocked by the fighting.

Continue reading...

💾

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

💾

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Call to prosecute Netanyahu for war crimes exposes the west’s moral doublethink | Simon Tisdall

25 May 2024 at 10:07

US and Britain condemn Hamas and Putin, yet balk at attempts to hold Israel’s leaders to account. But no one should be above the law

Indignant protests by Israeli and US leaders over last week’s decision by the prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) to seek Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest for alleged war crimes shone new light on an old reality: for those at the top who wield decisive political power, all people are equal – but some are more equal than others.

At the heart of objections to Karim Khan’s gutsy move is the unspoken implication that violence against Palestinians, a dispossessed, marginalised and largely voiceless people, is less wrong, or somehow more acceptable, than violence against Israelis, the privileged, protected citizens of an established nation state. To demur is to be accused, inanely yet inevitably, of antisemitism.

Continue reading...

💾

© Photograph: Abir Sultan/AP

💾

© Photograph: Abir Sultan/AP

Israel-Gaza war live: Fresh protests in Tel Aviv and across Israel as thousands demand end to war and return of hostages

Demonstrations stretch into evening, and include calling for resignation of Benjamin Netanyahu and an early election

Al Jazeera are reporting that an Israeli military strike has targeted a family home in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood, killing a woman and injuring other people. It attributes the information to “colleagues on the ground”.

The publication, citing the Palestinian news agency Wafa, reports that “numerous other neighbourhoods of Gaza City have come under heavy artillery shelling … including Sheikh Ajlin, Tal al-Hawa and Zeitoun”.

Continue reading...

💾

© Photograph: Marko Đurica/Reuters

💾

© Photograph: Marko Đurica/Reuters

Unless it stops an Israeli invasion of Rafah, the US could be a global pariah | Mohamad Bazzi

24 May 2024 at 16:33

The international court of justice has ordered Israel to halt its attack on Rafah. The US has a last chance to stop this bloodshed

The international court of justice (ICJ) on Friday ordered Israel to halt its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where about half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have taken refuge in recent months. The ruling is the closest that the UN’s top court has come to ordering a ceasefire, and it further exposes Israel and its closest supporters, especially the US and the UK, for their disregard of international law and institutions.

For much of the world, Israel is now a pariah state that has repeatedly ignored pressure from international bodies to end its brutal war in Gaza, stop using starvation as a weapon of war, and allow more aid into the besieged territory. On Monday, the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC), a separate tribunalalso based in The Hague, announced he was seeking arrest warrants for senior Hamas and Israeli leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 7 October attack by Hamas and the ensuing war in Gaza. The prosecutor is seeking warrants against the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as three top Hamas leaders.

Mohamad Bazzi is director of the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor at New York University

Continue reading...

💾

© Photograph: Anadolu Agency

💾

© Photograph: Anadolu Agency

UN’s top court orders Israel to immediately halt Rafah offensive

ICJ president says humanitarian situation in Gaza’s southernmost city is now classified as ‘disastrous’

The UN’s top court has ordered Israel to halt its assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah in a ruling that will ratchet up the pressure on the increasingly isolated country.

The president of the international court of justice, Nawaf Salam, said the humanitarian situation in Rafah had deteriorated further and was now classified as “disastrous”, meaning the ICJ’s previously issued provisional measures were insufficient.

Continue reading...

💾

© Photograph: Hollandse Hoogte/REX/Shutterstock

💾

© Photograph: Hollandse Hoogte/REX/Shutterstock

Israel-Gaza war live: Israeli opposition leader calls ICJ ruling ordering halt to Rafah offensive ‘a moral disaster’

The international court of justice says it is ‘not convinced’ that evacuation of Rafah and other measures by Israel are alleviating suffering of Palestinians

Power outages have forced the shutdown of the generators at Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital in Deri el-Balah in the Gaza Strip. A hospital spokesperson, Khalil al-Deqran, told Al Jazeera that doctors are unable to use many of its facilities and are treating patients manually.

“This will lead to the death of so many sick and wounded people”, said al-Deqran, who said that some of the patients are being treated on the floor.

Continue reading...

💾

© Photograph: Johanna Geron/Reuters

💾

© Photograph: Johanna Geron/Reuters

ICJ expected to make new ruling on Israel’s war in Gaza

Court may order a halt to offensive, in what would be another sign of growing international isolation for Benjamin Netanyahu

The international court of justice is expected to issue a new ruling on Israel’s conduct of its war in Gaza at 3pm (1400 BST) on Friday, as the US expressed concern over Israel’s growing diplomatic isolation among countries that have traditionally supported it.

Amid speculation that the ICJ could order a halt to Israel’s offensive, a second top global court – the international criminal court – identified the three judges who will hear a request for arrest warrants against Hamas leaders, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and its defence minister, Yoav Gallant.

Continue reading...

💾

© Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters

💾

© Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters

What it takes to prove genocide – video

South Africa's case against Israel over allegations of genocide before the international court of justice has raised a central question of international law: what is genocide and how do you prove it? It is one of three genocide cases being considered by the UN's world court, but since the genocide convention was approved in 1948, only three instances have been legally recognised as genocide. Josh Toussaint-Strauss looks back on these historical cases to find out why the crime is so much harder to prove than other atrocities, and what bearing this has on South Africa's case against Israel and future cases

Continue reading...

💾

© Photograph: Guardian Design

💾

© Photograph: Guardian Design

❌
❌