Jamal Juma‘a, head of the Stop the Wall campaign, an organisation that fights against apartheid, told Middle East Eye that the Israeli offensive is „clearly aiming to prepare the infrastructure for the annexation of land“ in the West Bank.
Annexation of occupied territory is illegal under international law. The Israeli government prefers to term it as „applying sovereignty“, though that makes little difference legally. Legality hasn‘t stopped Israel from annexation before, however.
(August 28, 2024)
Saleh Hijazi, a BNC adviser on apartheid-free policy, said he expected calls for Israel’s suspension to intensify next month with the opening of the 79th session of the General Assembly. UNGA, as it is known, begins on Sept. 10.
An Israeli law banning the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from operating in Israeli territory took effect Thursday, ushering in a new and uncertain era for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who rely on the organization for basic services in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The implementation of Israel’s legislation on 30 January — curtailing the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) — will undermine the ceasefire and sabotage Gaza’s recovery and political transition, a senior UN official told the Security Council today.
Lazzarini told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the ban would „heighten instability and deepen despair in the occupied Palestinian territory at a critical moment“.
“The relentless assault on UNRWA is harming the lives and future of Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territory,“ he said.
“It is eroding their trust in the international community, jeopardising any prospect for peace and security.”
(October 15, 2024)
One rogue nation cannot declare war on the UN itself and continue to get away with it
This contradictory approach has led to what one senior UN official described as “a train crash waiting to happen.” The suffering of the Palestinian population, particularly in Gaza, will increase dramatically as UNRWA, the backbone of the humanitarian operation, crumbles without an alternative structure in place. The educational and health sector in the West Bank will also fall into dire straits, with no viable alternatives available.
As part of Israel’s expulsion of UNRWA from its East Jerusalem headquarters on Jan. 30, the government will most likely confiscate the agency’s buildings and transform the site into a Jewish settlement, blatantly violating international law.
Israel has ordered the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) to shut down its operations in Jerusalem and vacate all premises by 30 January, according to a letter sent by Israel’s envoy to UN secretary general Antonio Guterres on Friday.
Israel hat das UN-Palästinenserhilfswerk UNRWA aufgefordert, seine Arbeit in Jerusalem bis zum 30. Januar einzustellen und die Stadt zu verlassen. UNRWA sei „verpflichtet, seine Tätigkeit in Jerusalem einzustellen und alle Räumlichkeiten, in denen es in der Stadt tätig ist, bis spätestens 30. Januar 2025 zu räumen“, forderte der israelische UN-Botschafter Danny Danon in einem Brief an UN-Generalsekretär António Guterres. Das Schreiben lag der Deutschen Presse-Agentur vor.
(December 24, 2024)
If you have read this far, then you will know why I am here in Gaza. You will understand why my life has been on hold, to do what I can to spend time with my friends, and report on the continued horrors that have engulfed their lives. Report on the families who scream at us in despair, desperate for information on loved ones who have been detained for months. Report on the bodies we see of people around checkpoints, left to be eaten by packs of dogs. Report on toddlers in hospitals with missing limbs after strikes in “humanitarian zones”. Mona’s brother, killed. Hussein’s daughter, killed. Rajaa’s cousin, killed. Are you keeping up with the death? Because we’re not. Here, you’re considered lucky if you actually know if your family are alive.
The journalists on the ground – risking life and limb every day to show the world the horrors consuming their friends, their families, their neighbours. Is the world still looking?
(August 28, 2024)
Saleh Hijazi, a BNC adviser on apartheid-free policy, said he expected calls for Israel’s suspension to intensify next month with the opening of the 79th session of the General Assembly. UNGA, as it is known, begins on Sept. 10.
Article 96
(1) The General Assembly, the Governing Council or the Security Council may request the International Renewal Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on any legal question.
(2) Other organs of the Renewed United Nations and specialised agencies, which may at any time be so authorised by the Governing Council or by the General Assembly, may also request advisory opinions of the Court on legal questions arising within the scope of their activities.
SECTION 30. All differences arising out of the interpretation or application of the present convention shall be referred to the International Court of Justice, unless in any case it is agreed by the parties to have recourse to another mode of settlement. If a difference arises between the United Nations on the one hand and a Member on the other hand, a request shall be made for an advisory opinion on any legal question involved in accordance with Article 96 of the Charter and Article 65 of the Statute of the Court. The opinion given by the Court shall be accepted as decisive by the parties.
(October 15, 2024)
One rogue nation cannot declare war on the UN itself and continue to get away with it
Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza on 7 October 2023, 258 staff members from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees have lost their lives, and at least 650 attacks on Unrwa facilities have been recorded. Additionally, 20 Unrwa workers have been abducted by Israel.
Lazzarini condemned the ongoing violence, stating, “This cannot become the new standard, and impunity cannot become the new norm.” His remarks highlight the growing frustration over the global community’s lack of action in halting Israel’s aggression which has been widely described by human rights organisation as genocidal.
The 193-member U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) subsequently voted 158-9, with 13 abstentions, for a resolution demanding „an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire, to be respected by all parties,“ and calling for the „immediate and unconditional release of all hostages“ held by Hamas.
The nine countries that opposed the measure are the United States, Israel, Argentina, Czechia, Hungary, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, and Tonga.
In a separate vote Wednesday, 159 UNGA members voted in favor of a resolution affirming the body‘s „full support“ for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Israel and its close ally, the United States, were in a tiny minority speaking and voting against the resolutions. Other opposing both resolutions included Argentina, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay and Tonga.
While Security Council resolutions are legally binding, General Assembly resolutions are not, though they do reflect world opinion. There are no vetoes in the assembly.
(December 6, 2024)
The UN’s top independent expert on Palestinian human rights has repeated a call for Israel to be removed from its membership in the United Nations, citing its “relentless attacks” against the institution’s top aid group for Palestinian refugees.
On Thursday, UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese said on social media that Israel should be unseated, echoing calls from numerous international law experts and advocates for Palestinian rights.
(August 28, 2024)
Saleh Hijazi, a BNC adviser on apartheid-free policy, said he expected calls for Israel’s suspension to intensify next month with the opening of the 79th session of the General Assembly. UNGA, as it is known, begins on Sept. 10.
(The Palestinian delegation at the UN said on Aug. 22 that it was also planning to soon initiate an “actionable resolution” in the General Assembly, “demanding within a time frame the end of this illegal occupation and all other issues contained” in the ICJ advisory opinion.)
(October 15, 2024)
One rogue nation cannot declare war on the UN itself and continue to get away with it
(October 15, 2024)
One rogue nation cannot declare war on the UN itself and continue to get away with it
Article 96
(1) The General Assembly, the Governing Council or the Security Council may request the International Renewal Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on any legal question.
(2) Other organs of the Renewed United Nations and specialised agencies, which may at any time be so authorised by the Governing Council or by the General Assembly, may also request advisory opinions of the Court on legal questions arising within the scope of their activities.
SECTION 30. All differences arising out of the interpretation or application of the present convention shall be referred to the International Court of Justice, unless in any case it is agreed by the parties to have recourse to another mode of settlement. If a difference arises between the United Nations on the one hand and a Member on the other hand, a request shall be made for an advisory opinion on any legal question involved in accordance with Article 96 of the Charter and Article 65 of the Statute of the Court. The opinion given by the Court shall be accepted as decisive by the parties.
I have three urgent requests to prevent this devastating outcome:
First, I ask that Member States act to prevent the implementation of the legislation against UNRWA.
Changes to UNRWA’s mandate are the prerogative of the General Assembly, not individual Member States.
Second, I ask that Member States ensure that any plan for a political transition delineates UNRWA’s role.
The Agency must progressively conclude its mandate within the framework of a political solution, and hand over its services to an empowered Palestinian administration.
Finally, I ask that Member States maintain funding to UNRWA, and do not withhold or divert funds on the assumption that the Agency can no longer operate.
The cost of providing critical services, including education and healthcare, during a transition will be immense.
I must also alert Member States that abruptly dismantling the Agency will cost more than half a billion dollars in staff separation indemnities alone.
(November 6, 2024)
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini addressed the UN General Assembly, describing a critical moment for the agency as new Israeli legislation threatens its operations. Lazzarini urged member states to oppose the legislation, support UNRWA’s continued operation, and ensure sustained funding to prevent a humanitarian disaster.
(November 7, 2024)
“Without intervention by member states, UNRWA will collapse, plunging millions of Palestinians into chaos,” Philippe Lazzarini warned during a special session requested by Palestine after the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, passed on Monday two laws to ban the agency’s activity and any Israeli official’s contacts with it within three months.
(October 15, 2024)
One rogue nation cannot declare war on the UN itself and continue to get away with it
Article 96
(1) The General Assembly, the Governing Council or the Security Council may request the International Renewal Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on any legal question.
(2) Other organs of the Renewed United Nations and specialised agencies, which may at any time be so authorised by the Governing Council or by the General Assembly, may also request advisory opinions of the Court on legal questions arising within the scope of their activities.
SECTION 3. The premises of the United Nations shall be inviolable. The property and assets of the United Nations, wherever located and by whom soever held, shall be immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any other form of interference, whether by executive, administrative, judicial or legislative action.
(…)
SECTION 30. All differences arising out of the interpretation or application of the present convention shall be referred to the International Court of Justice, unless in any case it is agreed by the parties to have recourse to another mode of settlement. If a difference arises between the United Nations on the one hand and a Member on the other hand, a request shall be made for an advisory opinion on any legal question involved in accordance with Article 96 of the Charter and Article 65 of the Statute of the Court. The opinion given by the Court shall be accepted as decisive by the parties.
Article 96
(1) The General Assembly, the Governing Council or the Security Council may request the International Renewal Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on any legal question.
(2) Other organs of the Renewed United Nations and specialised agencies, which may at any time be so authorised by the Governing Council or by the General Assembly, may also request advisory opinions of the Court on legal questions arising within the scope of their activities.
SECTION 30. All differences arising out of the interpretation or application of the present convention shall be referred to the International Court of Justice, unless in any case it is agreed by the parties to have recourse to another mode of settlement. If a difference arises between the United Nations on the one hand and a Member on the other hand, a request shall be made for an advisory opinion on any legal question involved in accordance with Article 96 of the Charter and Article 65 of the Statute of the Court. The opinion given by the Court shall be accepted as decisive by the parties.
Continuation of the Security Council Open Debate.
28 October 2024
Statement of the Secretary-General on Israeli legislation on UNRWA
I am deeply concerned by the adoption today by the Knesset of Israel of two laws concerning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which, if implemented, would likely prevent UNRWA from continuing its essential work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as mandated by the UN General Assembly.
Israel’s parliament has voted to ban a nearly eight-decade-old United Nations agency that provides essential services for Palestinian refugees, a move that could have devastating consequences for millions of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
On Monday, the Knesset passed two bills; one barring UNRWA from activity within Israel, and another banning Israeli authorities from any contact with UNRWA – revoking the 1967 treaty that allows UNRWA to provide services to Palestinian refugees in areas under Israel’s control.
At least five people were killed in another Israeli airstrike on a UN-run school sheltering displaced civilians west of Gaza City on Sunday, a medical source said.
Twenty other people were injured in the attack that targeted Asma School, run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the Shati refugee camp, the source added.
The attack was the second to have targeted the same school within days.
In a post on X, Lazzarini stated that Unrwa staff are struggling to find food, water, or medicine in the war-torn region.
He remarked, “The smell of death is everywhere as bodies are left lying on the roads or under the rubble. Missions to clear the bodies or provide humanitarian assistance are denied.”
Lazzarini emphasised the need for an “immediate truce, even if only for a few hours,” to facilitate safe passage for families seeking refuge.
Israeli soldiers arrested the Jewish-American reporter and three other journalists at a checkpoint in the West Bank on October 8. According to one of the jailed reporters, @the_andrey_x, the soldiers blindfolded them tightly, roughed them up, drawing guns on them at one point, and hauled them off to detention in Jerusalem.
“The soldiers… illegally requested that the journalists hand in their phones, and when they refused, the soldiers pointed a gun at one of the journalists, hit him with their hands and the barrel of a gun, then dragged him out of the car and slammed him onto the concrete. When lying on the ground, they pointed 2 guns at his head. The rest of the journalists exited the car and the military raided it, confiscating phones, cameras, and personal items,” said @the_andrey_x.
Andrey recalled that in the course of abusing the journalists, “The soldiers told the female Israeli photographer that she should have been raped by Hamas.”
While Loffredo’s colleagues were released after 11 hours, the “Judea and Samaria” division of the Israeli police opened an investigation into Loffredo for supposedly “aiding the enemy in a time of war.”
According to Israel Hayom, the free daily newspaper, the Israel Land Authority announced the confiscation of the land in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem.
Dan Iloz, a Likud MP, told the paper that the „expropriation of land in Jerusalem is an important step, but not enough“ and denounced Unrwa as „a hotbed for terrorism under a humanitarian guise“.
Netanyahu has issued statements essentially calling for regime change in both Lebanon and Iran, while Israel’s boosters in the United States see in its expanding wars an opportunity to “remake” the political map of the Middle East.
The UN Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) head, Philippe Lazzarini, on Monday described the situation in Gaza as a “free fall descent into barbarism”, underscoring the desperate need for diplomacy and an end to the violence, Anadolu Agency reports.
On X, he said the Gaza Strip, home to two million people, has been transformed into “an unrecognisable sea of rubble after twelve months of relentless air strikes and warfare.”
In a resolution (A/HRC/55/L.30) on the Human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice, adopted by a vote of 28 in favour, 6 against and 13 abstentions (as orally revised), the Council demands that Israel, the occupying power, end its occupation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem; also demands that Israel immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip and all other forms of collective punishment; calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, for immediate emergency humanitarian access and assistance, and for the urgent restoration of basic necessities to the Palestinian population in Gaza; calls upon all States to take immediate action to prevent the continued forcible transfer of Palestinians within or from Gaza; calls upon all States to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel; urges all States to continue to provide emergency assistance to the Palestinian people and calls upon all States to ensure that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East receives predictable sustained and sufficient funding to fulfil its mandate; invites the General Assembly to recommend that the Government of Switzerland promptly convene the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Convention on measures to enforce the Convention in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem; requests the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel to report on both the direct and indirect transfer or sale of arms, munitions, parts, components and dual use items to Israel, the occupying power, and to analyse the legal consequences of these transfers, and to present its report to the Council at its fifty-ninth session; requests the Secretary-General to ensure the availability of all additional resources, including through voluntary resources, necessary to enable the Commission of Inquiry to carry out its mandate; requests the Office of the High Commissioner to deploy the additional necessary personnel, expertise and logistics to the occupied Palestinian territory country office to document and pursue accountability for violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem; and requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to report on the implementation of the present resolution to the Council at its fifty-eighth session, to be followed by an interactive dialogue; and decides to remain seized of the matter.
The results of the vote are as follows:
In favour (28): Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Burundi, Chile, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Eritrea, Finland, Gambia, Ghana, Honduras, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Qatar, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, and Viet Nam.
Against(6): Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, Malawi, Paraguay and United States.
Abstentions (13): Albania, Benin, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, France, Georgia, India, Japan, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, and Romania.
(05.04.2024)
The UN’s top human rights body adopted a resolution on Friday condemning the alleged “use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in Gaza”, while also calling for an arms embargo on Israel.
(03.04.2024)
Calling Israel “an extension of European colonialism”, Ahmed Abofoul, a Legal Expert at Al-Haq, said that South Africa’s case before the International Court of Justice represents the Global South’s impatience with Western hypocrisy. He criticized the West’s relentless campaign of distorting international law to support their stance — an example is the right to self-defence. There is no doubt that an occupying Power does not have the right to self-defence against the people it is occupying, as those people, according to international humanitarian law, have the right to self-defence. The West’s complicity has made Gaza “not only a graveyard of children but a graveyard of international law”, he asserted. On the UNRWA accusations, he observed that Western democracies moved fast to suspend funding without waiting for evidence, only to discover later that Israel was lying.
In a statement on the eve of the six-month anniversary of the war, Martin Griffiths, the outgoing under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, called for a „collective determination that there be a reckoning for this betrayal of humanity.“
„Each day, this war claims more civilian victims,“ said Griffiths, who will leave his post at the end of June due to health reasons.
„Every second that it continues sows the seeds of a future so deeply obscured by this relentless conflict.“
In a post on social media platform X, Philippe Lazzarini said Israeli authorities informed the UN of the decision, which he called „outrageous“.
„As of today, Unrwa, the main lifeline for Palestine Refugees, is denied from providing lifesaving assistance to northern Gaza,“ Lazzarini said.
-Famine is imminent in the northern Gaza Strip, expected to arrive between now and May.
– Two million people= the entire population of Gaza is facing crisis levels of food insecurity or worse.
– Half the population has completely exhausted food supplies and coping capacities. They are struggling with catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5) and starvation.
– This is the highest number of people ever recorded as facing catastrophic hunger by the IPC system and double the number just three months ago.
– Earlier, UNICEF warned that the # of children under two years old suffering from acute malnutrition has doubled in one month.
– Children are now dying of dehydration & hunger.
@UNRWA has by far the largest presence among all humanitarian organisations in Gaza.
My visit today was supposed to coordinate & improve the humanitarian response.
This man-made starvation under our watch is a stain on our collective humanity.
Too much time was wasted, all land crossings must open now. Famine can be averted with political will.
Germany has been one of Israel’s staunch allies in its war against Hamas.
In a manner akin to the Biden administration, Scholz has a stern message for Netanyahu about the IDF’s conduct during the war, particularly its failure to ensure the distribution of aid, which has led to a hunger crisis in Gaza.
„We cannot stand by and risk Palestinian women and men starving. Much more humanitarian aid must reach Gaza, a way must be found to improve the means of distribution,“ Scholz said, as Western nations increase their criticism of ally Israel.
Still, Scholz reaffirmed his belief that Israel „has a right to defend itself“ without addressing whether that same right is extended to Palestinians.
It is recalled that Nicaragua filed an Application instituting proceedings against Germany concerning alleged violations by Germany of its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, “intransgressible principles of international humanitarian law” and other norms of general international law in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly the Gaza Strip (see press release 2024/19).
The hearings will be devoted to the request for the indication of provisional measures contained in Nicaragua’s Application. Nicaragua asks the Court to indicate provisional measures as a matter of extreme urgency, pending the Court’s determination on the merits of the case, with respect to Germany’s “participation in the ongoing plausible genocide and serious breaches of international
humanitarian law and other peremptory norms of general international law occurring in the Gaza
Strip”.
Am 8. und 9. April wird der Internationale Gerichtshof (IGH) im Verfahren gegen Deutschland verhandeln. Nicaragua wirft der Bundesrepublik Beihilfe zum Völkermord im Gazastreifen vor, indem sie Israel politisch, finanziell und militärisch unterstützt sowie die Mittel für das UN-Palästinenserhilfswerk gestrichen habe.
Im Gazastreifen bestehe seit Oktober 2023 „die anerkannte Gefahr eines Völkermordes am palästinensischen Volk“. Deutschland habe durch seine Unterstützung für Israel gegen seine Verpflichtungen aus der Völkermordkonvention verstoßen, heißt es in der Klage Nicaraguas.
Top UN judges will start listening to submissions next month in the case filed by Nicaragua accusing Berlin of facilitating “genocide” in Gaza because of its support for Israel in the war against Hamas, officials say.
Two weeks ago Nicaragua filed a case against Germany before the International Court of Justice, saying Berlin was “facilitating the commission of genocide and… failed in its obligation to do everything possible to prevent the commission of genocide,” in Gaza.
„Children‘s malnutrition is spreading fast and reaching unprecedented levels in Gaza. Famine is looming. There is no time to waste,“ Unrwa said in a social media post on Saturday.
In recent days, several children have died in Gaza of malnutrition and dehydration.
The UK government will continue to suspend funding to Palestinian relief works agency UNRWA, the Minister for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell has said, despite famine gripping Gaza and crippling food shortages.
The US, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Finland, Australia and the Netherlands will also continue their freeze to critical life saving aid to the UN aid agency for Palestinians until an interim report about Israel allegations that UNRWA aid workers were involved in Hamas‘s 7 October attacks is released, the minister said.
In addition to more videos of snipers shooting #children.
Yet #Biden administration refuses to withhold Aid or weapons, which they have given to Israel over 100 times in last 5 months without Congressional approval
At least five people have been killed in an Israeli attack on a UN aid center in Rafah.
The facility is one of the last operating food distribution centres in Gaza.
anada suspended funding to UNRWA in January after Israel alleged 12 employees of the aid agency were involved in some capacity in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
CBC News first reported on Tuesday that the government intended to resume funding after receiving an interim report from the United Nations investigation of Israel‘s allegations.
The unreleased report, a copy of which CNN obtained, is largely based on the testimony of Gazan detainees held in Israeli prisons and at military sites and released back into Gaza at the Kerem Shalom border crossing between mid-December and mid-February. An UNRWA spokesperson said that when the report was leaked, the agency had not yet decided whether to release it publicly.
The detainees cited in the report gave testimony of beatings, sleep deprivation, sexual abuse and threats of sexual violence against both men and women detained by the Israeli military. Some of the detainees are also reported to have died while in Israeli custody, at times allegedly as a result of the abuse they suffered in detention.
THE HAGUE, 1 March 2024. Nicaragua today filed an Application instituting proceedings against Germany before the International Court of Justice for alleged violations by Germany of its obligations deriving from the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”), the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, “intransgressible principles of international humanitarian law” and other norms of general international law in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly the Gaza Strip.
The Applicant states that “[e]ach and every Contracting Party to the Genocide Convention has a duty under the Convention to do everything possible to prevent the commission of genocide” and that, since October 2023, there has been “a recognised risk of genocide against the Palestinian people, directed first of all against the population of the Gaza Strip”. Nicaragua argues that by providing political, financial and military support to Israel and by defunding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), “Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide and, in any case has failed in its obligation to do everything possible to prevent the commission of genocide”.
Nicaragua has filed a case at the International Court of Justice against Germany for giving financial and military aid to Israel and for defunding the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), the U.N.‘s top court said on Friday.
Nicaragua asked the ICJ, also known as the World Court, to issue emergency measures requiring Berlin to stop its military aid to Israel and reverse its decision to stop funding UNRWA.
It ruled on several provisional measures, including that Israel must abstain from genocidal acts, bring accountability for the normalised genocidal rhetoric from state level to civil society, and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
But just hours after the verdict, not only did Israel resume its indiscriminate attacks, it took it even further by going after UNRWA, the UN agency that serves as a lifeline for millions of people in Gaza.
It is understood UNRWA requested Israel access to the detainees.
Israel possesses concrete evidence tying several dozen UNRWA employees to the October 7 massacre.
For that, they stressed the need for 10 indispensable elements: an immediate ceasefire; protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure; immediate release of hostages; reliable entry points for aid; security assurances and unimpeded access; a functioning humanitarian notification system; roads cleared of explosive ordnance; and a stable communication network.
In addition, they called for the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) to receive the resources it needs to provide life-saving assistance as well as a halt to campaigns seeking to discredit the UN and NGOs doing their best to save lives.
Casualties are being reported from an Israeli bombing of a Unrwa building housing displaced people in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera is reporting.
The intelligence report‘s findings are in stark contrast to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken‘s remarks in January, in which he said that the accusations against UNRWA were “highly, highly credible”.
The Journal also reported that Israel has not “shared the raw intelligence behind its assessments with the US” despite the strong security relationship between the two countries.
Israel has shared a dossier of sorts outlining its accusations, alongside details of where their evidence stems from, with the US and several western news organisations.
Major UNRWA donors, incl the US, have frozen vital funds bcz of Israel‘s allegations.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini says „the UN has never, never, ever received any written dossier, despite our repeated call.“
(16.02.2024)
…while
there’ve been deliberate delays at Israel’s Karem Abu Salem crossing
This is an unprecedented level of destruction and forced displacement, taking place in front of our eyes.