The ICJ decision gave new strength to South Africa’s groundbreaking accomplishment — demolishing the taboo against holding Israel accountable for its crimes. As South Africa’s foreign ministry put it, ​“Today marks a decisive victory for the international rule of law and a significant milestone in the search for justice for the Palestinian people.”

Halt to investigation into 7 October

The Israeli chief of staff, Major General Herzi Halevi, has decided to freeze external committees which he had originally planned to establish in order to investigate the 7 October attack on Israel, until the Israeli army completed its internal investigations, according to Yediot Ahronoth and Ynet News.

The chief of staff reportedly contacted the state comptroller, Matanyahu Engelman, and warned him that his request to investigate the attack could harm the functioning of the army operating in Gaza

Jerusalem – Amid ongoing heavy fighting and bombing in Khan Younis, south Gaza, Palestine/OPT, vital medical services have collapsed at Nasser hospital, currently the largest functioning health facility in the enclave. Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) deplores a situation in which people have been left with no options to go for treatment in case of a large influx of war wounded.

Most of the hospital’s staff, along with thousands of displaced people who had sought shelter in the hospital, fled in the days leading up to the evacuation order of the surrounding areas by Israeli forces. The hospital’s surgical capacity is now almost non-existent, and the handful of medical staff remaining in the hospital must contend with very low supplies that are insufficient to handle mass casualty events – large influxes of wounded people.

Michigan's Arab American leaders shun Biden campaign, ahead of president's visit

A group of Arab American leaders in Dearborn, Michigan has skipped a meeting with President Joe Biden's campaign manager that was organised ahead of a possible visit to the battleground state by Biden on February 1, two participants and two sources said.

All judges from Western states found it to be plausible that Israel is violating the Genocide Convention. Those judges come from the United States, France, Germany, Australia, Slovakia and Japan.

Because those judges come from Israel’s staunchest defenders on the world stage, Israel’s apologists have no basis on which to dismiss the ICJ’s decision as a product of ‘anti-Israel bias’.

The court called on Israel “to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide.” It demanded Israel “take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance.” It ordered Israel to protect Palestinian civilians. It called on Israel to protect the some 50,000 women giving birth in Gaza. It ordered Israel to take “effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of acts within the scope of Article II and Article III of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide against members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip.”

“The numbers are heavily relied up for official briefings on civilian casualties because with the exception of strikes on high-value targets, where senior officials are briefed on collateral damage, no civilian casualty figures or estimates are collected,” said the Israeli official, who cannot be identified in the media. “A lot of targets have been hit without prior analysis or estimates and there’s never any follow up collection.”

The court found that “at least some of the acts and omissions alleged by South Africa to have been committed by Isreal in Gaza, appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the [Genocide] convention. In light of the following, the court concludes that — prima fascia —- it has jurisdiction … to entertain the case,” and, “cannot accede to Israel’s request that the case be removed from the [court’s] general list.”

The intense fighting came as the United Nations’ top court on Friday stopped short of ordering a cease-fire in Gaza, as sought by South Africa, which has accused Israel of genocide in its military offensive. Instead the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, demanded that Israel try to contain death and damage. The court also rejected a request by Israel, which rejects the genocide accusation, that the case be thrown out

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/7926620

Palestinian Resistance Rejects “Ceasefire” Terms; Iraqi Resistance Launches Stage 2 of Operations

The Palestinian Hamas Resistance movement rejected the statements of US National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby who said that the future of Gaza, after the Zionist aggression against it, cannot include Hamas.

Hamas declared today in a statement, “The American statement and other positions similar to those belonging to the administration of President Biden are blatant interference in the affairs of the Palestinian people and a continuation of the custodianship approach it uses to maintain its control over the decisions and choices of the people.”

The movement stressed that it is “an authentic component of the Palestinian people who are steadfast in the face of the occupation and Nazism supported by the American administration, and we will not allow them or anyone else to impose tutelage over the free people of Palestine, who have the final say in choosing their leadership and determining their fate.”

Yesterday, Kirby said in a press conference at the White House that his country “also rejects any role for Hamas and its leaders in any form of governance in Gaza after the war.”

Hamas has also reportedly rejected a Zionist proposal for a two-month ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of all remaining Zionist detainees held be the Resistance.

Reports state the the occupation entity had proposed a pause in fighting to allow for the more than 130 Zionist prisoners to be freed, in return for the release of Palestinians held in barbaric captivity by the Zionist regime.

Top Hamas leaders in Gaza would also be forced to leave the Gaza Strip according to the “proposal.”

Of course the Resistance rejected the proposal, insisting the conditions for a ceasefire are the removal of all occupation forces from the Strip and total end of the offensive.

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