Israel launched ‘most devastating modern warfare’: Report
ICJ steps in at last
Defeating Hamas impossible: Former Israeli PMs
South Africa has filed an application at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to begin proceedings over allegations of genocide against Israel for its war against Hamas in Gaza, the court said on Friday.
Pretoria accused Tel Aviv of being “in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention” in its application and argues that “acts and omissions by Israel … are genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent … to destroy Palestinians in Gaza,” according to the ICJ.
Moreover, South Africa asked the court to issue provisional or short-term measures ordering Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza, which it said were “necessary in this case to protect against further, severe, and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people”.
Over 21,672 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel’s aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza have caused widespread devastation in the densely-inhabited coastal strip, prompting outcry from aid groups and the international community, CNN reported.
Arabs and Jews rallied together in Tel Aviv in support of a ceasefire in Gaza as Israeli forces step up their bombardment of the besieged Palestinian territory, according to AFP.
More weapons for
Israel
Israeli warplanes struck two urban refugee camps in central Gaza on Saturday, as the Biden administration approved a new emergency weapons sale to Israel despite persistent international cease-fire calls over mounting civilian deaths, hunger, and mass displacement in the enclave.
Residents in the urban refugee camps of Nuseirat and Bureij, two recent hot spots of combat, reported Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Saturday, AP wrote.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Congress he approved a $147.5 million sale for equipment, including fuses, charges, and primers, that is needed for 155 mm shells Israel bought previously.
It marked the second time this month that the Biden administration is bypassing Congress to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel.
Hamas says that with the US administration supplying artillery shells to Israeli forces, it is a participant in the war of extermination against children and civilians in Gaza.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that the war in Gaza “is generating destruction comparable in scale to the most devastating warfare in the modern record”.
In a report published on Saturday, it confirmed that by mid-December Israel had dropped 29,000 bombs, munitions, and shells on the besieged enclave, destroying or damaging nearly 70 percent of Gaza’s homes.
Israeli systems
humiliated, inefficient
Israel says it is determined to pursue its unprecedented air and ground offensive until it has dismantled Hamas, a goal viewed by some as unattainable because of the resistance group’s deep roots in Palestinian society.
On Friday, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak published an opinion article, in which he said “Despite the clear American support and the openness of many countries in the region to study new ideas to solve the problem in Gaza at the beginning of the war, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu systematically avoided any discussion about what will happen here in the end.”
Barak described October 7, 2023, as “the most dangerous event in the history of Israel”, which led to the killing of 1,300 people and the kidnapping of 250 others, in addition to “humiliation, inefficiency, and dysfunction” in Israel’s systems.
An investigation by the New York Times has found that the Israeli army was “undermanned” and “out of position” during the October 7 attack by Hamas.
The Times added that the army was “so poorly organized that soldiers communicated in impromptu WhatsApp groups and relied on social media posts for targeting information”.
“Commandos rushed into battle armed only for brief combat. Helicopter pilots were ordered to look to news reports and Telegram channels to choose targets”.
Earlier on Thursday, Ehud Olmert, another former Israeli prime minister, wrote in an op-ed on Haaretz that “the odds of achieving the complete elimination of Hamas were nil from the moment that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared it the chief goal of the war.”
While Israel has repeatedly vowed to destroy Hamas, Cairo has proposed a plan involving renewable cease-fires, a staggered release of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and ultimately an end to the war, say sources close to Hamas.
Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, a Hamas official said the group’s delegation present in Cairo would “give the response of the Palestinian factions, including several observations” regarding the proposal Egypt recently submitted to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Hamas would seek “guarantees for a complete Israeli military withdrawal” from Gaza, the official said.