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The Government of South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice to monitor whether the decision announced by Israel to expand its military operation on the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza, could lead to new violations of Palestinian rights.
In its request, the South African Executive states that it is “deeply concerned” that the Israeli offensive will lead to more killings of civilians and large-scale destruction in the area, where more than 1 million Gazans, mobilized in the previous phases of the war.
Meanwhile, representatives of Israel's foreign intelligence service and the CIA have traveled to Cairo to join negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
For its part, France has sent Beirut a proposal with a plan to cease hostilities on the border between Israel and Lebanon.
After the start of the offensive in the Strip, clashes in that area have killed 200 Lebanese and 10 Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli offensive continues, now focused on the south of the enclave.
Photogallery |
The bombings on Rafah
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The US announces that it is reviewing whether Israel has violated international humanitarian law in Gaza
The United States is inspecting whether Israel has failed to comply with a set of guidelines in Gaza intended to ensure that countries that receive American weapons conduct military operations in accordance with international humanitarian law, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday.
The announcement is made after President Joe Biden stated in a press conference that Israel “is going too far” in its military operations in the Palestinian enclave.
Even earlier, inside and outside the United States, the Biden administration had received harsh criticism for supplying weapons to Israel as accusations mounted that American-made weapons had been used in attacks that have killed or injured civilians.
Miller has assured reporters that a process is underway under the State Department's Civilian Injury Incident Response Guide (CHIRG) to assess incidents in the current conflict.
However, the spokesperson has warned that “this process is not intended to function as a rapid response mechanism.
Rather, it is designed to systematically assess incidents that cause harm to civilians and develop appropriate policy responses to reduce the risk of such incidents recurring in the future and to encourage partners to conduct military operations in accordance with the law. humanitarian international.
(Reuters)
ACT.13 FEB 2024 - 22:52
The country
Three Palestinians killed and 10 wounded by Israeli snipers in Gaza hospital, Hamas says
At least three Palestinians have been killed and another 10 wounded this Tuesday by Israeli sniper fire at the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza, the Palestinian Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas, said in a statement.
(Reuters)
ACT.13 FEB 2024 - 22:01
The country
A UNRWA executive criticizes the withdrawal of funds: "This cannot happen in one of the worst humanitarian crises"
The director for Europe of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Marta Lorenzo, asked this Tuesday the governments that have suspended funds to the organization to reverse their decision;
Lorenzo believes that the organization cannot stop operating in Palestine and the Middle East “due to accusations against 12 of its members.”
“For 75 years, UNRWA has worked to fulfill one of the most difficult missions ever given to the UN: providing vital, government-like services in a region affected by instability, insecurity and war. ”, said Lorenzo during a speech in the European Parliament.
“This may not continue happening due to accusations against 12 members of the organization.
This cannot happen in one of the worst humanitarian crises,” Lorenzo added.
UNRWA has warned that it will run out of funds starting in March, as around twenty countries, including key donors such as the United States, have suspended their support amid accusations that a dozen former agency workers cooperated with the Islamist group Hamas in the October 7 attack on Israel in which more than 1,200 people died.
“The consequences of the suspension of funds have a human face,” said Lorenzo, who denounced that if the situation is not reversed, two million people in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon will be left without UNRWA support.
Furthermore, he added that the impact is not only humanitarian, but that in the region it is perceived as "a withdrawal of international support for a just and peaceful solution to the conflict" between Israel and Palestine.
Lorenzo thanked the European Union for continuing to support UNRWA.
In a press conference, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, said yesterday that Brussels will maintain its support for the agency for the duration of the investigation analyzing Israel's accusations against UNRWA.
(Efe)
ACT.13 FEB 2024 - 21:54
The country
Morocco has evacuated 289 citizens from Gaza since November
A total of 289 Moroccans have been able to leave the Gaza Strip since November thanks to Morocco's coordination with the Egyptian and Israeli authorities, as reported this Tuesday by the Moroccan Foreign Ministry.
The ministry detailed in a statement that Moroccan citizens residing in Gaza left the Palestinian enclave through the Rafah border crossing, towards Egyptian territory.
The evacuation was carried out in four stages, the last on January 30.
The Moroccan embassy in Cairo provided consular and logistical assistance to the evacuees and ensured their transportation by road to Cairo or other destinations.
For its part, the Moroccan embassy in Ramallah, in the West Bank, maintains permanent contact with Moroccans who remain in the enclave.
The statement indicates that the Moroccan authorities have not recorded, so far, any deaths among Moroccans residing in Gaza, while there was only one serious injury who was transferred to Egypt for medical treatment.
(Efe)
ACT.13 FEB 2024 - 21:26
Two injured in northern Israel due to attacks by Lebanese militias
A 15-year-old teenager and his 47-year-old mother were seriously injured this Tuesday in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, after an attack by Lebanese militias.
“A 15-year-old male and a 47-year-old female are being evacuated to Rambam Hospital by helicopter in serious condition,” said the Israeli emergency service (Magen David Adom, MDA).
The emergency services went to the border region of Kiryat Shmona after the air raid sirens were activated and found the two victims "conscious, lying in the center of the road, with serious injuries to their lower limbs, abdomen and face," they said. detailed from the MDA.
According to local media, it is a mother and son.
An Israeli Army spokesman confirmed that two anti-tank missiles had been fired towards that area in northern Israel.
In retaliation, Israeli warplanes attacked Hezbollah “infrastructure and observation posts” in the southern Lebanese cities of Houla, Qalaat Debba, Yaroun, Meis al Jabal, Yarine and Chihine.
The Shiite militia Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for three attacks towards northern Israel this Tuesday: one of them against a police building in Kiryat Shmona;
another against a spy team in Hadab Yarin;
and the last, against soldiers in Hunin Castle.
Hezbollah and other pro-Palestinian militias in Lebanon began attacks on northern Israel on October 8, after war broke out in the Gaza Strip.
More than four months of daily crossfire has claimed the lives of some 260 people, most on the Lebanese side and in the ranks of Hezbollah.
On the Israeli side, 18 people have also died on the northern border, including 12 soldiers and six civilians.
(Efe)
ACT.13 FEB 2024 - 20:54
The country
War between Israel and Gaza
Germany warns Israel that it must fight “against terrorism and not against the innocent civilian population”
Almudena de Cabo
Germany, one of the EU countries that has most vehemently supported Israel's response to the Hamas attacks of October 7, is slowly modulating its message, with greater insistence on the need to respect the human rights of the Gazans.
“The fight is against terrorism and not against the innocent civilian population,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Tuesday.
The Greens leader recalled that hundreds of thousands of people sought protection in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, following the instructions of Israel and that these people "must continue to find protection there."
The Foreign Minister raises the tone on the responsibility of the Israeli army to ensure the safe evacuation of Gazans in Rafah
ACT.13 FEB 2024 - 20:27
The country
What has happened in the last few hours
These are the latest news on the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza at 8:00 p.m. this Tuesday, February 13:
South Africa asks the International Court of Justice to urgently examine Israel's offensive in Rafah.
The Government of South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice to monitor whether the decision announced by Israel to expand its military operation on the city of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, could lead to new violations of Palestinian rights.
The South African Executive says it is “deeply concerned” that the Israeli Army will produce more murders of civilians and large-scale destruction in the area, where more than a million people take refuge.
The delegations of Israel and the United States try to promote a ceasefire in Gaza in Egypt.
The arrival in Cairo of top officials of the secret services of Israel and the United States has generated certain expectations about the possibility of a new ceasefire in the war ravaging Gaza.
The UN will not cooperate with any forced evacuation of Rafah.
“Regardless, the UN does not participate in non-voluntary forced evacuations,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office (OCHA).
The agency has not received any communication from Israel about a plan to evacuate the Rafah area.
Brazil warns of "serious consequences" for civilians due to the offensive in southern Gaza.
The Brazilian Government has warned that the ground offensive that Israel intends to carry out in the south of the Gaza Strip will have "serious consequences" for the civilian population, with "new victims" and "hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians."
France sanctions Israeli settlers who attack Palestinians.
The French Foreign Ministry has announced that it will impose sanctions on Israeli settlers who use violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
“Colonization is illegal under international law and must stop,” Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
“Its continuation is incompatible with the creation of a viable Palestinian State, which is the only solution so that Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security,” they added.
They have also detailed that “sanctions will be imposed on extremist Israeli settlers who are guilty of violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.”
In addition, France will ban 28 Israeli settlers from entering the country, whom it accuses of attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and whose names have not been revealed.
Palestinians fear the ineffectiveness of Western sanctions against Israeli settlers.
US, British and French sanctions against Jewish settlers accused of political violence do not improve the lives of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
In fact, they claim that the attacks persist in collusion with the Israeli security forces, who if they do not unite, look the other way.
Hezbollah leader will maintain attacks in northern Israel until the "aggression" on Gaza ends.
The leader of the armed group Hezbollah has stated that his faction's bombing of Israel will only stop when the Israeli "aggression" in the Gaza Strip ends.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has warned that if the Israeli army expands the war, his group will do the same.
The leader of Yemen's Houthis celebrates a week without the passage of ships linked to Israel to the Red Sea.
The leader of Yemen's Houthi militia, Abdelmalik Al Huthi, said this Tuesday that the group he leads, of Shiite faith and aligned with Iran, had managed to prevent ships linked to Israel from passing through the Gulf of Aden during the last week.
“This is a true victory,” Al Huthi said in a televised speech.
ACT.13 FEB 2024 - 20:00
The country
'Kibbutz Blinken': the camp that demands a ceasefire in front of the Secretary of State's house
A group of pro-Palestinian activists have been camping for three weeks in front of the house of the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, whom they blame for the "genocide" in Gaza and demand that he intercede for a ceasefire.
Named
Kibbutz Blinken
, in reference to the Israeli agricultural communes, the camp was installed on January 25 on the side of the road where the residence of the head of American diplomacy is located, on the outskirts of Washington.
About twenty people wait every morning for the convoy that takes Blinken to the State Department to scold him and throw red paint at him that emulates the blood of the Palestinian victims of the conflict.
“Gaza has been under barbaric and savage bombardment for almost 130 days.
There have been massive atrocities, loss of human life, 13,000 children murdered,” Hazami Barmada, organizer of the protest, declared this Tuesday.
“We are in front of the house of the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, because he spreads propaganda that justifies the violence and atrocities that are occurring,” added this American activist of Palestinian origin, in the midst of intense snowfall.
The protesters shout slogans in which they call the head of US diplomacy “bloodthirsty Blinken” or “secretary of genocide” or who they accuse of having “blood on their hands.”
As they pass, some vehicles sound their horns as a sign of support for the protest, to which more people usually join on weekends.
Blinken, one of the most visible faces of the Administration of the President of the United States, Joe Biden, has carried out six tours in the Middle East since the start of the conflict, on October 7.
The latest, seeking an Israeli ceasefire deal in exchange for the release of Hamas hostages in Gaza, concluded last week.
As the days have passed, the police have increased the security perimeter of the politician's house, installed new surveillance cameras and barricaded the five tents that make up the pro-Palestinian camp.
“The secret service is afraid of us.
It is obvious that Blinken and his team are extremely uncomfortable with our presence,” noted Barmada, who spends 24 hours a day there.
(Efe)
ACT.13 FEB 2024 - 19:23
The country
Yemen Houthi leader welcomes blockade of Israeli-linked ships to Red Sea
The leader of Yemen's Houthi militia, Abdelmalik Al Huthi, said this Tuesday that the group he leads, of Shiite faith and aligned with Iran, had managed to prevent ships linked to Israel from passing through the Gulf of Aden during the last week.
“This is a true victory,” Al Huthi said in a televised speech.
Yemen's Houthi rebels hold global trade in check from the Gulf of Aden.
Their incessant attacks on vessels in the Red Sea have multiplied tension in one of the most unstable and militarized regions on the planet, and have drastically reduced traffic through a vital sea route for the global transport of goods and hydrocarbons.
The volatility and geostrategic importance of the area are reflected in the permanent presence of troops from almost all military powers;
and in the Kremlin's desire to establish a base in the Red Sea after several failed attempts.
The civil wars ravaging its coasts, the resurgence of piracy and Ethiopia's fixation on gaining access to the sea, further raise the temperature of already hot waters.
Disruptions to maritime traffic in the Red Sea, considered safe for decades, began at the beginning of the century with the emergence of Somali piracy.
Starting in 2015, the war in Yemen transformed the southern sea into an armed conflict zone, and the wave of attacks by the Houthi militia, in retaliation for the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, threatens to make it impassable.
The critical point is the Bab el Mandeb Strait (Gate of Tears—or Lamentations—in Arabic), which connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean and through which, until a few weeks ago, around 30% passed. of container shipping and 12% of world oil trade.
(Reuters)
ACT.13 FEB 2024 - 18:58
The country
Palestinians fear the ineffectiveness of Western sanctions against Israeli settlers
US, British and French sanctions against Jewish settlers accused of political violence do not improve the lives of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
In fact, they claim that the attacks persist in collusion with the Israeli security forces, who if they do not unite, look the other way.
On Monday night, between 20 and 30 men stormed the village of Asira al-Qibiliya.
They all came from a nearby Israeli settlement.
The Israeli military described the incident as a “riot” between Palestinians and settlers.
Two Palestinians suffered gunshot wounds.
The assailants were not harmed;
No arrests were made either.
“We thought that the army would drive them [the settlers] away;
“We were surprised to see them coming en masse,” said a resident of the attacked town.
He has also detailed that the assault lasted two hours, it began when the Jewish settlers threw a Molotov cocktail at a car to continue with a house.
Then, violent clashes occurred with the town's inhabitants.
“All settlements are illegal and all settlers should be treated accordingly.
All products from the settlements and the companies that benefit from them must be sanctioned,” said Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian Mission in London, in a message on X (formerly Twitter).
Zomlot welcomed the announcement of sanctions, although he regretted that the attacks will not stop: the settlers "don't care at all."
(Reuters)
ACT.13 FEB 2024 - 18:34
The country
War between Israel and Gaza
Egypt shields its border with Gaza in the face of the Israeli threat to assault Rafah
Marc Spanish
The Egyptian authorities are rushing to shield and militarily reinforce their border area with Gaza while Israel studies extending its devastating military operation to the city of Rafah, the southernmost urban center of the Strip and the only one that has not yet been assaulted by the forces. Israeli land forces.
The reinforcements ordered by Cairo have been especially notable since the beginning of this month.
They seek to strengthen their position on the border and avoid a massive expulsion of Palestinians to their territory.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, estimated in the first days of February that around two-thirds of the 1.7 million displaced people in the Strip (75% of them) were overcrowded in the Rafah governorate. its population).
The humanitarian situation in the area is marked by an acute shortage of drinking water, food, medicine and shelter, which has pushed thousands of Gazans to settle in tents erected a few meters from the border fence with Egypt, at the last confines of the enclave.
Despite the fragile humanitarian situation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Saturday that he had ordered planning an assault on Rafah, but so far no plan has been detailed to evacuate those trapped there.
Cairo, fearful of a massive expulsion of Palestinians to its territory, deploys military forces near the Strip and reinforces the separation barriers
ACT.13 FEB 2024 - 18:07
The country
France sanctions Israeli settlers who attack Palestinians
The French Foreign Ministry announced this Tuesday that it will impose sanctions on Israeli settlers who use violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
“Colonization is illegal under international law and must stop,” Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
“Its continuation is incompatible with the creation of a viable Palestinian State, which is the only solution so that Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security,” they added.
They have also detailed that “sanctions will be imposed on extremist Israeli settlers who are guilty of violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.”
In addition, France will ban 28 Israeli settlers from entering the country, whom it accuses of attacking Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and whose names have not been revealed.
“These measures are taken due to the increase in violence perpetrated by settlers against the Palestinian population in recent months.
“France reaffirms its firm condemnation of this unacceptable violence,” the ministry stressed.
UN figures show that daily attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians have more than doubled since October 7, when Hamas made a surprise attack on Israel.
European officials have also expressed growing concern about violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The United States and Great Britain have expressed themselves in similar terms and have already imposed sanctions on several violent settlers.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in December that he would propose similar measures.
The Paris announcement could accelerate the establishment of a European position.
Thus, yesterday, the foreign ministers of France, Poland and Germany stressed in a joint statement that settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank was unacceptable: “It must be sanctioned.”
EU efforts have so far stalled due to objections from Hungary and the Czech Republic, diplomatic sources have detailed.
(Reuters)
ACT.13 FEB 2024 - 17:48