War in the Middle East
Israel rejects allegations of genocide
Israel must justify its controversial military operation in Rafah at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. The highest UN court is hearing an application from South Africa. photo
© Peter Dejong/AP/dpa
Israel wants to disempower the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip and destroy its stronghold in Rafah. Does the army deployment amount to genocide? This is being argued before a UN court.
There is now a new route for the urgently needed aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip: For the first time, trucks with humanitarian goods drove into the bombed-out coastal area via a makeshift US military pier. Meanwhile, the Israeli army announced that it had found the body of the German-Israeli Shani Louk in the Gaza Strip. Louk was abducted to the coastal strip in a Hamas terrorist attack on October 7th and was later declared dead.
Rafah the “last refuge”
The South African urgent application before the UN court is specifically directed against the Israeli military operation in Rafah, which has been ongoing for almost two weeks. The city in the south of the coastal strip is the “last refuge for around 1.5 million people,” said South African officials. Her life is in danger. The judges would therefore have to order Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and stop the “ongoing genocide” against the Palestinian population.
Israeli officials vehemently disagreed, saying Rafah was a “military bulwark of Hamas,” which was firing rockets at Israel. Hamas is also still holding numerous hostages who were kidnapped from Israel in a raid on October 7th. Israel also provides humanitarian aid and does everything it can to protect the civilian population. At the end of the hearing, Israel’s legal representative was interrupted by an interruption. “Liar,” a woman shouted. She was led out of the Peace Palace hall by security personnel. It is not clear when the court will decide on the urgent application. The main trial on the genocide charge will drag on for years.
New pier – 90 truckloads of relief supplies per day
Just on Thursday, the US military anchored a floating pier on the coast, through which trucks from ships can now drive across the beach into the Gaza Strip. The background is that there is currently no port in the Gaza Strip that is deep enough for larger cargo ships. According to the Pentagon, around 90 truckloads per day will initially enter the Gaza Strip via the temporary pier. At a later date, up to 150 truckloads are expected daily.
The plan is for freighters to initially bring aid supplies from Cyprus to a floating platform a few kilometers off the coast. Slightly smaller ships then dock at the pier with their loaded trucks. The aid deliveries from aid organizations are received and distributed there. Hundreds of tons of aid are ready for delivery on ships in the eastern Mediterranean, said Admiral Brad Cooper of the US Central Command.
The United Nations agreed to coordinate aid deliveries. “After months of discussions with all relevant authorities, the United Nations has agreed to help receive and organize the delivery of aid from the floating dock to Gaza,” spokesman Farhan Haq said in New York on Friday. The World Food Program (WFP) is responsible for “registration, monitoring the loading and transfer of the goods”.
Fierce fighting also in the north of the Gaza Strip
Distributing food is difficult because there is fighting in many places. The Israeli army said it had increased its attacks against Hamas and other armed groups in the north of the Gaza Strip. Early in the morning, warplanes and other aircraft bombed Hamas weapons depots in the refugee district of Jabalia, the army said. As a result, Israeli troops advanced into the center, where they fought battles with terrorists. In the last few days, around 60 terrorists have been killed and the infrastructure they used has been destroyed. According to the army, an Israeli soldier suffered serious injuries.
Residents of the refugee camp described the Israeli attack as unusually violent. It was also directed against residential buildings and a school overcrowded with refugees. According to reports, which could not be independently verified, the dead were thrown onto the street. The military also continued its operation in Rafah. In the east of the city, the troops destroyed an Islamist rocket launching site, the army said.
Baerbock: “First we need a humanitarian ceasefire”
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed reservations about the Arab League’s call for a UN protection force in the Gaza Strip. “But this first requires a humanitarian ceasefire,” said the Green politician on Friday before a meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.
Such a ceasefire must finally ensure that all held hostages are released, that the suffering of the people in Gaza is alleviated “and that we can get on a political path where the international community, where key actors certainly have to take on an important role for security “Baerbock added. “Otherwise the terrorists’ script will continue to work. And that would be fatal for the people in Gaza. It would also be fatal for the people in Israel.”