On the second and final day of preliminary hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Israel’s legal team insisted that the twin military objectives were to eradicate the existential threat posed by Hamas militants and to free some 136 hostages still held in the war-shattered enclave. “Israel is in a war of defence against…
The development came amid the ongoing and massive Israeli bombardment across the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas-led terror attacks on 7 October that left some 1,200 Israeli and foreign nationals dead in southern Israel and some 250 taken hostage. Laying out their case, the South African legal team told the International Court of Justice…
Mr. Guterres is extremely alarmed by the resumption of hostilities between Israel and Hamas this past Friday, including rocket fire towards Israel from Gaza and Israel’s renewed ground operations and intensified airstrikes, increasingly in the south of the enclave. “The UN continues to appeal to Israeli Forces to avoid further action that would exacerbate the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza…
Volker Türk highlighted the dichotomy at the border crossing, describing it as a “lifeline” for the 2.3 million residents of Gaza over the past month, although “unjustly, outrageously thin.” But it is also “the gates to a living nightmare”, he continued, as people in Gaza “have been suffocating, under persistent bombardment, mourning their families, struggling…
Harmful disinformation about the ongoing conflict in the wake of the 7 October attacks by Hamas against Israel continues to circulate online, with potentially dangerous consequences on the ground. While misinformation refers to the accidental spread of falsehoods, disinformation can be circulated intentionally by State or non-State actors, including during an armed conflict, to influence…
An alert from Gaza’s main hospital in the south of the enclave that lifesaving operations would stop on Wednesday evening because of fuel shortages followed an appeal from UN chief António Guterres for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. A truce was needed, he told the Security Council on Tuesday, “to ease epic suffering, make the delivery…
In a news release, the experts denounced the ruthless attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians starting 7 October. They also stressed their concern for the victims of subsequent counter-terrorism measures by Israeli forces. “We decry the scale of the brutal assault on mothers, children, babies, the elderly and ordinary citizens going about their daily lives…
Over 120,000 people have been internally displaced in Gaza due to concerns over their protection and the destruction of homes, said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, speaking in New York. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA, is sheltering roughly 137,000 people in 83 of its schools across the Gaza Strip. Six health…
“I vehemently condemn this morning’s multi-front assault against Israeli towns and cities near the Gaza Strip and barrage of rockets reaching across central Israel by Hamas militants,” said Tor Wennesland, the UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. Reports of hostages “These events have resulted in horrific scenes of violence and many Israeli…
“Such a peace will go a long way in ending Arab-Israeli conflict and will encourage other Arab States to normalize their relations with Israel,” he said, adding that it will also enhance prospects of peace with the Palestinians. The agreement, he emphasized will “encourage a broader reconciliation between Judaism and Islam, between Jerusalem and Mecca,…
