New American strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, Rafah under threat of an offensive, violence in the West Bank...
Le Figaro
takes stock, Monday February 19, of the latest events linked to the conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.
Israel makes Ramadan the deadline for an offensive against Rafah
Israeli Minister Benny Gantz, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet, warned on Sunday that Israel would launch an offensive against the city of Rafah if Israeli hostages held in Gaza were not released by Ramadan.
“
The world must know and
Hamas leaders
must know: if by Ramadan, the hostages are not at home, the fighting will continue everywhere, including in the Rafah region
,” said the former head of Hamas. the Israeli army.
“
To those who say the price is too high, I say clearly: Hamas has a choice.
They can surrender, free the hostages and the civilians of Gaza will thus be able to celebrate the holiday of Ramadan
,” he added in a speech to the Conference of Presidents of the Main American Jewish Organizations, meeting in Jerusalem.
Ramadan, the holy month of Muslims, begins around March 10.
Despite calls from part of the international community, Benjamin Netanyahu's government is determined to launch an offensive against the city of Rafah, backed by Egypt's closed border, where 1.4 million people are crowded together. .
Most of the displaced people live there in very harsh conditions.
Benny Gantz affirmed that an offensive would be carried out, in a coordinated manner and within the framework of a dialogue with the Americans and Egyptians, “
by facilitating the evacuation of civilians
” to minimize “
as much as possible
” the number of victims in their ranks. .
New US strikes against Yemen's Houthis
The US military announced on Sunday that it had carried out new strikes the day before against missiles, a drone and a submarine of Yemen's Houthi rebels.
The army “
successfully carried out five self-defense strikes against three mobile anti-ship missile systems, an autonomous submarine and a naval surface drone
” on Saturday between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time (12 p.m. and 5 p.m. GMT), the United States Middle East military command, Centcom, said in a statement.
“
This is the first time that (the army) has detected the Houthis’ use of an autonomous submarine since the attacks began on October 23
,” Centcom added.
Furthermore, the security company specializing in maritime transport Ambrey reported a new attack in the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which targeted a cargo ship on Sunday.
The Houthis say they are attacking ships linked according to them to Israel, of which the United States is the main military ally, claiming to support the Palestinians in Gaza.
West Bank: three Palestinians killed, including a member of an armed group
Three Palestinians were killed on Sunday in the north of the occupied West Bank, including a member of an armed group during an Israeli raid, we learned from reliable sources.
These incidents occur in a context of high tensions and intensification of violence in this Palestinian territory since the Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7 and the start of the war in the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell estimated that tensions in the West Bank, including the increase in attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, were “
the real obstacle
” to a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.
In Tulkarem, two men, aged 19 and 36, were shot dead following a raid by Israeli forces on the displaced camp, one of the largest in the region, the Ministry of Defense announced. Health of the Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank.
At least five other people were injured in this operation, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
The Israeli army explained that soldiers had gone to arrest a man, Mohammed Oufi, suspected of having “
participated in attacks against Israeli forces and murders of people suspected of collaborating with them in Tulkarem
”.
“
Terrorists opened fire and threw explosives at Israeli forces, who responded
,” killing the suspect who was “
armed
,” she added, specifying that an Israeli police officer had been “
seriously injured and hospitalized.”
".
In a statement, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military branch of Fatah, the movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, welcomed the “sacrifice” of the two men, specifying that Mohammed Oufi was one of their executives in the region.
The ICJ consulted on the consequences of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
The highest court of the United Nations is holding hearings from Monday on the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories since 1967, with an unprecedented number of 52 countries called to testify.
The United States, Russia and China will address the judges during a session spread over a week at the Peace Palace in The Hague, seat of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
On December 31, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution requesting from the ICJ a
non-binding “
advisory opinion ” on the “
legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem- East
".
The resolution was adopted with 87 votes in favor, 26 against and 53 abstentions, with Western states divided on the issue while Arab countries unanimously voted in favor.
These hearings are entirely separate from South Africa's recent high-profile applications to the UN's top judicial body.
Read alsoIsrael-Hamas war: accused of genocide in Gaza, the Jewish state defends itself before the International Court of Justice