South Gaza battles rage as heavy rain hits displaced further north

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Written by northsouth

Category: MENA

Published: 27 January 2024

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By Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Fadi Shana

DOHA/GAZA - Israel pressed ahead on Saturday with its campaign against Hamas in Gaza's Khan Younis area, while bad weather hit displaced Palestinians seeking refuge further north in the battered enclave.

Residents reported heavy aerial and tank fire across Khan Younis, a part of southern Gaza that has become the focus of Israel's ground offensive against Hamas, and around two main hospitals there.
Hamas said its fighters fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli tank in southwest Khan Younis.

The Israeli military said it killed at least 11 gunmen who were trying to plant explosives near troops and others firing rifles and rocket-propelled grenades at soldiers in Khan Younis. Over the past week, it added, commandos killed more than 100 militants and raided weapons warehouses.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, allied with Hamas, said its fighters were engaging Israeli forces in the area and had fired rockets into Israel.

The Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli strikes hit near the largest functioning medical facility in the south, Nasser Hospital, and Al-Amal Hospital, where one person was killed in the courtyard, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

The Israeli bombardment was compromising healthcare and endangering the lives of doctors, patients and displaced people, said ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra.

The Israeli military says it is in contact with hospital directors and medical staff by phone and on the ground to make sure that they are running and accessible. Israel says Hamas operates in and around medical facilities, an allegation the group denies.

In a ruling on Friday, the World Court stopped short of ordering a ceasefire but ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians and do more to help civilians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said afterwards that the war aimed at eliminating Hamas would continue.

In the southern city of Rafah, Zainab Khalil, 57, displaced with her family several times until reaching shelter not far from the border with Egypt, said the International Court of Justice's ruling was important but not enough. "We want a ceasefire now," she said.

UNRWA PROBE

Israel launched its air, sea and land offensive after militants from the Hamas group that rules Gaza stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting 253.

Some 26,257 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 65,000 wounded so far, including 174 killed in the last 24 hours, Gaza health authorities said on Saturday. The majority of the enclave's 2.3 million population has been displaced.

Israel says 220 soldiers have died since it launched its ground offensive. It says it has killed at least 9,000 Gaza militants so far, a figure that Hamas has dismissed.

Residents and Hamas militants reported fighting on Saturday in the central and northern parts of the enclave, where heavy rain flooded tents of those displaced, forcing some to seek alternative shelter in the middle of the night.

On Friday, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said it had opened an investigation into several employees suspected of involvement in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and that it had severed ties with those staff members.

The Palestinian foreign ministry criticised what it described as an Israeli campaign against UNRWA, and Hamas condemned the termination of employee contracts "based on information derived from the Zionist enemy".

In Rafah, where over half of Gaza's people are now taking cover in shelters and tents, the Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli air strike killed three people in a house there.

It was not immediately clear who the casualties were and there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

In the occupied West Bank, one man was killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli forces near Jenin, residents said.

ICJ orders Israel to prevent genocide in Gaza but stops short of demanding ceasefire

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Written by northsouth

Category: MENA

Published: 26 January 2024

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THE HAGUE - UN judges today said that Israel must ensure its forces do not commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

In a hearing at The Hague on Friday, the 17-strong panel of judges said it would not throw out the genocide case against Israel and that it must provide basic humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip but stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.

South Africa had asked for the court to order Israel to halt its operation, which has laid waste to much of the enclave and killed more than 25,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

But the court instead urged Israel to try and contain death and damage in its military offensive, which is still ongoing and has prompted a humanitarian crisis.

The ruling comes as a blow to Israel, as it conveyed a powerful rebuke of the country’s conduct during the war and said that it must change substantially.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the genocide case is “outrageous” and Israel will continue to do “what is necessary” to defend itself.

“Like every country, Israel has an inherent right to defend itself,” he said in a statement. “The vile attempt to deny Israel this fundamental right is blatant discrimination against the Jewish state, and it was justly rejected,” he said.

Friday’s ICJ findings also put pressure on Israel’s allies, such as the US, the UK and Germany, to ensure that the country abides by the court’s measures.

In a hearing heavy with complex legal arguments, the UN top court:

- Refused to throw out South Africa’s case and said that claims of genocide were “plausible”

- Said that Palestinians appeared to be a protected group under the 1948 Genocide Convention

- Condemned “dehumanising” language from Israeli officials

- Said Israel must do all it can to prevent genocide, including refraining from killing Palestinians or causing them harm

- Told the country it needed to prevent publishing comments that could be considered incitement to commit genocide

- Ruled Israel urgently needs to get basic aid to people in Gaza

Joan E Donoghue, the court’s president, who read out the ruling, opened the case by noting that Israel’s war against Hamas “is causing massive civilian casualties, extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure and the displacement of the overwhelming majority of the population in Gaza.”

“The court is acutely aware of the extent of the human tragedy that is unfolding in the region and is deeply concerned about the continuing loss of life and human suffering,” the judge said.

Writing in The Independent, Tory grandee Sir Malcolm Rifkind praised the UN judges, arguing that they had reached “no view on whether there has been genocide in Gaza – nor did they call for a permanent ceasefire – but they have treated the case with the seriousness it deserves”.

Overall, the court ordered six provisional measures to protect Palestinians in Gaza and said that Israel must submit a report on its progress to meet the rulings within a month.

Following the ruling, a crowd of pro-Palestinian supporters that had gathered outside the building in The Hague waved Palestinian flags and chanted “Ceasefire now!” and “Free, Free Palestine!”

The South African government said it welcomed the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ, whereas Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s security minister responded by tweeting: “Hague Shmague”.

The Palestinian foreign ministry said it welcomed the findings and said the ICJ had ruled “in favour of humanity and international law”.

In a statement, it said: “We call on all states to ensure that all provisional measures ordered by the court are implemented, including by Israel, the occupying power. This is a binding legal obligation.

“States now have clear legal obligations to stop Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinian people in Gaza and to make sure that they are not complicit.

“The ICJ order is an important reminder that no state is above the law. It should serve as a wake-up call for Israel and actors who enabled its entrenched impunity.

“Palestine reaffirms its eternal gratitude to the people and government of South Africa for taking this bold step of active solidarity and will continue to work closely with South Africa and other countries to ensure that justice is served.”

Humanitarian organisations also welcomed the ruling on Friday, saying it was an important step in rectifying “the unparalleled catastrophic situation in Gaza”.

Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said: “The world court’s landmark decision puts Israel and its allies on notice that immediate action is needed to prevent genocide and further atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza,

“Lives hang in the balance, and governments need to urgently use their leverage to ensure that the order is enforced. The scale and gravity of civilian suffering in Gaza driven by Israeli war crimes demands nothing less.”

And Halima Begum, CEO of ActionAid UK, said: “These measures – which include taking all measures to prevent acts of genocide, such as the killing of and causing of serious bodily or mental harm to Palestinians – are potent steps toward rectifying the unparalleled catastrophic situation in Gaza where more than 26,000 people have been killed, at least two-thirds being women and children, and UN human rights experts report that all children under five – 335,000 – are at high risk of severe malnutrition as the risk of famine conditions increase by the day.

“We celebrate South Africa’s petition, and the 88 countries from the global South who supported it and see it as a bold display of moral courage borne out of its lived experience of colonisation and the horrors of apartheid.”

Friday’s decision is only an interim one and it could take years for the full case brought by South Africa to be considered.

Israel has called South Africa’s allegations false and “grossly distorted”, and said it makes the utmost efforts to avoid civilian casualties.

Israel began its offensive in Gaza after a terror attack by Hamas militants killed an estimated 1,200 people across southern Israel on 7 October.

The air and ground assault on Gaza, accompanied by a blockade on supplies entering the Strip, started in northern Gaza City before spreading to the south and is now focused on the city of Khan Younis.

More than 26,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its operation, according to the Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilian and militant casualties.

Israel strongly denies targeting civilians but many of the victims of the more than three-months-long war have been women and children. Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to fight on until his country achieves a “complete victory” with the eradication of Hamas.

Israel has faced growing pressure in recent weeks from even its closest international allies, with the US president Joe Biden saying last month that Tel Aviv was losing global support due to its “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza.

Gaza: UN rights office condemns ‘chaotic’ Israeli mass evacuation orders

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Written by northsouth

Category: MENA

Published: 26 January 2024

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GENEVA - Mass evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military to the people of Gaza continue to push them “into ever smaller areas” amid “ever-intensifying violence” in likely violation of international humanitarian law, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Friday.

The OHCHR warning came nearly four months into the war which has seen widespread Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in response to Hamas-led attacks on Israeli communities beginning 7 October in which some 1,200 people were massacred and more than 250 taken hostage.

“Attacks on hospitals, schools, and other places of refuge have repeatedly displaced Palestinians into ever smaller areas, with ever-decreasing access to the essentials needed to sustain life,” said Ajith Sunghay, Head of the UN Human Rights Office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “Such a failure violates Israel’s obligations under international law.”

No ‘safe’ space

Mr. Sunghay told journalists in Geneva that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) shelling had continued in areas “unilaterally designated” as “safe” including Al Mawasi in western Khan Younis.

“Even after explosions were reported in Al Mawasi on 22 and 23 January, the IDF continued to order residents of western Khan Younis to move there,” he maintained.

That order was reissued “repeatedly” on 23, 24 and 25 January and reportedly impacted more than half a million people as well as three hospitals which have been under heavy attacks and siege - Nasser Hospital, Al Amal Hospital and the Jordanian Field Hospital - Mr. Sunghay continued.

“I have very grave concerns that these chaotic and mass evacuation orders are ineffective in ensuring the safety of Palestinian civilians, instead placing them in increasingly vulnerable, dangerous, situations.”

Health under attack

Amid Israeli airstrikes and street-to-street fighting between IDF soldiers and Palestinian armed groups, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) also reiterated serious concerns for healthcare workers and patients caught up in the violence.

Since war erupted in Gaza there have been 318 attacks on healthcare in the enclave causing 615 fatalities and 778 injuries, latest WHO data indicates. The violence has impacted 95 healthcare facilities and only 14 hospitals out of 36 still function - seven in the south and seven in the north.

Latest data from Gaza’s health authorities cited by WHO reports that more than 26,000 people have been killed, a full 75 per cent children and women. There have been at least 60,000 registered injuries, but over 8,000 people are missing presumed dead under the rubble, said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier.

“The few functioning hospitals in Gaza are in absolutely dire circumstances,” he added, noting that the hostilities had prevented access for patients and supplies many times.

Dread of not knowing

“(It’s) like in Nasser hospital right now; people shelter in the area outside under attack, the hospital is basically under siege, nobody can go in, nobody can go out, people not knowing what the next minutes will bring, fearing for their lives,” the WHO spokesperson said.

“As they are in a hospital it should be a refuge for those seeking help, for those injured, for those wounded, for those with diseases.”

In parallel with the violence impacting healthcare in Gaza, the WHO spokesperson noted spiking attacks on healthcare in the West Bank, where there have been 358 attacks in the West Bank resulting in seven fatalities and 59 injuries – more than in Gaza . “The attacks have affected 44 health facilities, including 15 mobile clinics and 245 ambulances,” WHO said in a situation update.

Desperation in Khan Younis, Rafah

Meanwhile, in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis, OHCHR officer Mr. Sunghay described scenes of desperation that risked spilling over.

“I met with people who were frustrated, angry and understandably wary… their schools have been destroyed, as have their universities, destroying their hopes for the future,” he said.

Speaking from Amman, Jordan, the OHCHR officer noted that “near-continuous attacks” in recent days have not spared medical facilities and schools in Khan Younis, nor UN facilities and residential areas.

OHCHR and partners also remain seriously concerned about the situation in Rafah, in the far south of the Strip. “I saw displaced people who had been ordered by Israeli authorities to leave their homes, with no provision for their accommodation, literally living on the street, with sewage running in the streets and conditions of desperation conducive to a complete breakdown in order,” Mr. Sunghay said.

“The people I spoke to fear the extreme violence is spilling into Rafah – which will have catastrophic implications for the more than 1.3 million people already crowded there.”