Skip next section Top UN court starts hearing in Gaza genocide case brought by South AfricaJanuary 11, 2024
Top UN court starts hearing in Gaza genocide case brought by South AfricaThe International Court of Justice (ICJ) has begun hearing South Africa’s arguments in a case accusing Israel of carrying out genocide in the Gaza Strip as it carries out an offensive against Hamas militants in the Palestinian territory.
The court will hear Israel’s response to the allegations on Friday.
South Africa is first up demanding an emergency suspension of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, with a ruling on the genocide allegations likely to take years.
In opening comments, South African representatives said the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants in southern Israel, in which more than 1,100 Israelis, mostly civilians, died and during which multiple atrocities were committed, was no justification for Israel’s current actions.
Israel has rejected South Africa’s allegationsImage: Thilo Schmuelgen/REUTERS They said at least some of the acts committed by Israeli forces in Gaza went against the UN Genocide Convention, and that those acts could not be considered an appropriate response to the October 7 attacks.
“No armed attack on a state territory no matter how serious. .. can provide any justification for or defense to breaches of the convention,” said Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s justice minister.
Among other things, South African representatives said, the extent of bombing by Israel was unparalleled and that Israel had made the Gaza Strip virtually uninhabitable.
The hearing is being accompanied by protests from both sides of the case.
Israel has rejected the accusations of genocide as baseless and accused Pretoria of playing “advocate of the devil” for Hamas, which is deemed a terrorist organization by Israel, the US, the EU and Germany, among other governments.
https://p.dw.com/p/4b6t0Skip next section Oil tanker in Gulf of Oman reportedly boarded by ‘unauthorized people’January 11, 2024
Oil tanker in Gulf of Oman reportedly boarded by ‘unauthorized people'”Unauthorized people” in military uniforms reportedly boarded an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman early on Thursday morning.
The incident was reported by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which is run by the British military and a private intelligence firm.
It occurred in an area used by ships coming in and out of the Strait of Hormuz. About a fifth of the planet’s oil consumption is traded through the strait on a daily basis.
Since the collapse of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, waters around the strait have seen a series of ship seizures by Iran. The incident also comes amid a spate of attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen on ships in the Red Sea as Israel continues its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
UKMTO said it was unable to make further contact with the vessel at this time and that authorities were investigating the incident.
The private intelligence firm Ambrey said that “six military men” had boarded the ship, which it identified as the oil tanker St. Nikolas, formerly called Suez Rajan and associated with the Greek shipping company Empire Navigation.
In September, Empire Navigation pleaded guilty to smuggling sanctioned Iranian crude oil on the tanker Suez Rajan and paid a $2.4 million (€2.19 million) fine.
https://p.dw.com/p/4b6Z3Skip next section UN relief chief says deadly strike on ambulance ‘devastating’January 11, 2024
UN relief chief says deadly strike on ambulance ‘devastating’UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said the rules of war must be upheld, after the Palestinian Red Crescent announcement that four paramedics were killed in an Israeli airstrike on an ambulance in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
“The rules of war are clear: Parties must protect civilians, including humanitarian workers,” he posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The Red Crescent ambulance was hit on Salah al-Din Street, a major north-south axis in central Gaza.
Two passengers in the ambulance were wounded and later died.
Israel’s military did not immediately comment on the incident.
https://p.dw.com/p/4b6NmSkip next section Houthis defend Red Sea attacks after UN Security Council resolutionJanuary 11, 2024
Houthis defend Red Sea attacks after UN Security Council resolutionThe UN Security Council approved a resolution Wednesday demanding an immediate end of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on ships in the Red Sea.
The resolution, sponsored by the United States and Japan, condemned “in the strongest terms” at least two dozen attacks carried out by the Iran-backed rebels on merchant and commercial vessels.
Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of Yemen’s Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, described the actions as self-defense.
“We call on the Security Council to immediately release 2.3 Million people from the Israeli-American siege in Gaza,” he said in a post on social media.
Since war erupted between Israel and Hamas on October 7, the Houthis have launched 26attacks on ships in the Red Sea in support of their Islamist allies in Hamas.
https://p.dw.com/p/4b6HRSkip next section South Africa takes Israel to ICJ over ‘genocide’ accusationJanuary 11, 2024
South Africa takes Israel to ICJ over ‘genocide’ accusationThe International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, also known as the World Court, will begin two days of hearings on Thursday in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of not complying with its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
South Africa will get to make its case on Thursday that Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza was “intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group.”
Israel has chosen to defend itself, and will be given a change on Friday of “using self defense… under international humanitarian law.”
South Africa claims Israel’s war against the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas in Gaza violates the 1948 Genocide Convention.
South Africa has acknowledged the “particular weight of responsibility” of accusing Israel of genocide and “unequivocally” condemned the Hamas attacks that touched off the war in Gaza.
It has asked the court to order a series of emergency measures including a suspension of military action in Gaza while the court hears the case on the merits.
“Tomorrow, the State of Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice to dispel South Africa’s absurd blood libel, as Pretoria gives political and legal cover to the Hamas Rapist Regime,” Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said on Wednesday.
Israeli forces launched its military operation in Gaza after Hamas militants carried out a cross-border terror attack on Israel on October 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and 240 abducted.
Since then more than 23,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory has said.
While the Health Ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths, international humanitarian agencies consider the numbers provided by the body to be broadly reliable.
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https://p.dw.com/p/4b6HQSkip next section Netanyahu says Gaza war ‘in full compliance’ with international law January 11, 2024
Netanyahu says Gaza war ‘in full compliance’ with international law Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country’s war in Gaza is in “full compliance” with international law.
He also said Israel had no intention of permanently occupying the Gaza Strip or expelling the civilian population.
“Our goal is to rid Gaza of Hamas terrorists and free our hostages. Once this is achieved, Gaza can be demilitarized and de-radicalized,” Netanyahu said.
He made the remarks a day before the International Court of Justice begins a hearing on a South African complaint that Israel is committing genocide.
“The IDF is doing its utmost to minimize civilian casualties, while Hamas is doing its utmost to maximize them by using Palestinian civilians as human shields,” Netanyahu said.
Meanwhile, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa described the case as a matter of principle.
“Our opposition to the ongoing slaughter of the people of Gaza has driven us as a country to approach the ICJ,” he said on Wednesday.
“As a people who once tasted the bitter fruits of dispossession, discrimination, racism and state-sponsored violence, we are clear that we will stand on the right side of history,” he said.
rmt/lo (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
https://p.dw.com/p/4b6NH
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