Status: 02.01.2024, 05:31 a.m.
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The danger of an escalation of the Gaza war is growing. © Leo Correa/AP/dpa
It is not only in Gaza or on the border with Lebanon that Israel is fighting. A court decision on the controversial judicial reform is also causing a stir domestically. The news at a glance.
Tel Aviv/Beirut/Damascus/Geneva - While Israel's army continues to fight fierce battles with the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, a state crisis is looming in its own country.
Israel's Supreme Court has dealt another domestic blow to the already ailing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with its decision on Monday to overturn a core element of the country's controversial judicial reform. Whether this will affect further warfare is uncertain. In any case, the army is preparing for a long struggle against Hamas, even if it is withdrawing some of its reservists from the front for the time being.
Netanyahu's party criticizes court decision
"The court's decision contradicts the people's will for unity, especially in times of war," criticized Netanyahu's right-wing conservative Likud party. The court had previously annulled an amendment to the government's constitution that had deprived it of the opportunity to challenge "inappropriate" government decisions. Critics saw this as a threat to Israel's democracy. Mass protests had been going on for months. Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Monday that Hamas may have carried out its raid on October 7 because it believed Israeli society was in chaos.
Israel's Army Responds to Rocket Fire
Meanwhile, the army said it fired back in response to renewed rocket fire from Syria and Lebanon. As she announced Monday evening, five rockets launched from Syria flew into Israel and fell in open terrain. Fighter jets then attacked the launch sites. On Israel's northern border, a fighter plane also hit "terrorist infrastructure" of the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. From there, rockets were fired in the direction of a northern Israeli settlement on Monday, it said.
Since the start of the Gaza war following the massacre of terrorists from the Islamist Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7, there have been repeated confrontations between Israel's army and Hezbollah in the border region. The security situation throughout the region has been very tense since the beginning of the Gaza war. The risk of an escalation of the conflict is also growing. The U.S. has urged Israel to move from an intense period of heavy bombing in Gaza to more targeted strikes against Hamas.
Has a new phase in the Gaza war begun?
The newspaper "New York Times" quoted military analysts and US officials on Tuesday night as saying that the withdrawal of some reservists from the front announced by Israel's army, at least temporarily, probably signals that such a phase change has now begun. In view of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the sealed coastal area and the high number of civilian casualties, Israel has recently come under increasing international criticism.
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Commissioner for Human Rights: Evidence of war crimes
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, sees in the war signs of war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity. On the Palestinian side, he cites the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 and 8, the indiscriminate firing of projectiles at Israel and the military action from civilian facilities. Regarding Israel, Türk told the German Press Agency in Geneva: "If you look at how Israel has reacted to this, I have serious concerns about the observance of both human rights and international humanitarian law."
In the case of the heavy Israeli bombings, 70 percent of those affected are women and minors. "It can be assumed that the majority of those who have been hit are civilians," the Austrian told dpa. "Moreover, collective punishment of the Palestinians is a war crime. Of course, it is ultimately up to the courts to judge who committed which crimes."
The number of Palestinians killed is 21,978, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. The figures cannot be independently verified. According to the latest figures from the UN Palestine Relief and Works Agency, 40 percent of the people in the area sealed off by Israel are at risk of famine.
What will be important on Tuesday
After the Supreme Court's ruling against part of the controversial judicial reform, the question is whether Netanyahu will accept the decision or not. Dpa