Edited by Deepali Verma
Israel under preparation to defend itself on January 11 at the top UN court against accusations of genocide in Gaza, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly disregarded for the first time calls by some right-wing ministers to permanently occupy the enclave.
With continued rage of Israel’s war in Gaza, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, also known as the World Court, was to hold hearings on January 11 and 12 in a case brought by South Africa in December stating that Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza stands in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Spokesperson from Israeli government Eylon Levy on January 10 remarked, “Tomorrow, the State of Israel appears before the International Court of Justice to remove South Africa’s absurd blood libel, as Pretoria provides political and legal cover to the Hamas Rapist Regime.”
The hearings exclusively will look after South Africa’s request for emergency measures ordering Israel to suspend its military actions in Gaza while the court hears the details of the case – a process which could extend for years. Colombia and Brazil extended support to South Africa late January 10.
Israel took over the offensive once Hamas fighters carried out an October 7 cross-border rampage in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 240 abducted.
Over the past couple of months, Israeli forces have laid much of Gaza to waste, with nearly all its 2.3 million people having been driven from their homes at least once, resulting in a humanitarian catastrophe. Over 23,000 Palestinians have been killed.
The eve of the hearings witnessed Netanyahu address for the first time, stating opposition to calls from right-wing members of his government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, for Palestinians to vacate Gaza voluntarily, leaving space for Israelis to settle there.
While the aforementioned stance has been Israel’s official policy, Netanyahu’s previous comments on permanent occupation of Gaza have been inconsistent and at times opaque.
“To make a few points explicit: Israel holds zero intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population,” Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel is engaged in a fight with Hamas terrorists, not the Palestinian population, and while doing so we are in complete compliance with international law.”
The warning from Jordan and Egypt on January 10 against any Israeli reoccupation of the Gaza Strip and appealed for uprooted residents to be allowed to return to their homes as Jordan’s King Abdullah and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi met.
UN Demands Houthis Stop Ship Attacks
The ground in Gaza is a witness to the fighting being as intense as ever. Israeli strikes in southern and central Gaza intensified on January 10 despite a pledge by Israel to pull out some troops and move towards a more targeted campaign, while pleading from its ally Washington to reduce civilian casualties.
Israel’s chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari informed in a televised briefing late on January 11 that the focus of military operations was on Khan Younis and the refugee camps in the centre of the strip.
The three-month-old war spreading saw the latest signs of U.S. and British warships in the Red Sea fend off the biggest attack yet from Yemen’s Houthi movement, which said it is acting to support Gaza. Washington and London reported shooting down 21 drones and missiles targeting the shipping lanes. No one was hurt.
Further, the U.N Security Council in the late hours of January 10 approved a resolution demanding the Houthis immediately cease the shipping attacks.
Israel this week said that it was planning to begin drawing down troops from the northern part of Gaza, after weeks of U.S. pressure to slow down its operations and shift to what Washington calls to be a more targeted campaign.
The World Health Organization cancelled a planned medical aid mission to Gaza owing to security concerns making it the sixth such cancellation in two weeks.
The Palestinian Red Crescent informed about the four of its staffers being killed when their ambulance was hit by an Israeli strike on the main road near Deir al-Balah, located in the central Gaza Strip. Two passengers in the ambulance were wounded and later died.
Palestinian health officials at Abu Yousef Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, reported that four Palestinian children were subject to an Israeli air strike on a house in Rafah.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, visiting for the fourth trip to the region once the war began, went to Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on January 10 and met with Palestinian leaders including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The State Department, informed of Blinken’s expression of support for a Palestinian state and discussed efforts to protect and aid civilians in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority said Abbas told Blinken no Palestinians should be displaced from Gaza or the West Bank.
