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International-UN-NGOs
At World Court hearing, US backs Israel’s right to ban UNRWA from Gaza
2025-05-01
[IsraelTimes] Legal adviser to administration argues international law gives Israel the right to decide which organizations run relief operations in Strip

Israel cannot be forced to allow the United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
Paleostinian refugee agency, UNRWA, to operate in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
, the United States argued Wednesday at an International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing in The Hague.

Israel last year passed a law that banned UNRWA from operating in the country, as it said the organization had employed members of Hamas
..always the voice of sweet reason...
who took part in the October 7, 2023, onslaught, among a series of other accusations including that the organization runs schools that incite to terrorism and perpetuates Paleostinians’ refugee status by passing it by generation unlike the rest of the world’s refugees.

The ban officially came into effect in late January, prohibiting the agency from operating on Israeli soil and forbidding contact between it and Israeli officials.

Despite the ban, The Times of Israel reported in early April that, according to Paleostinian sources and UNRWA itself, the agency was still operating in East Jerusalem almost entirely uninterrupted. Additionally, the legislation was seen as having had little effect on UNRWA operations in other areas where Israeli cooperation was required.

The UN said in August 2024 that nine UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the devastating Hamas assault and had been fired. Another Hamas commander, confirmed by UNRWA as one of its employees, was killed in Gaza last October, according to Israel.

The UN General Assembly in December 2024 asked the agency’s top court to give an advisory opinion on Israel’s obligations to facilitate aid to Paleostinians that is delivered by states and international groups, including the UN.

The ICJ, also known as the World Court, on Monday opened a week of hearings on Israel’s humanitarian obligations toward the Paleostinians, more than 50 days into its blockade on aid entering war-ravaged Gaza, which is aimed at pressuring Hamas to release the 59 hostages it is holding, 24 of whom are believed alive.

On the third day of hearings on the matter, the US said Israel had the right to determine which organizations could provide basic needs to the population of Gaza and the West Bank.

"An occupational power retains a margin of appreciation concerning which relief schemes to permit," US State Department legal adviser Joshua Simmons said.

"Even if an organization offering relief is an impartial humanitarian organization, and even if it is a major actor, occupation law does not compel an occupational power to allow and facilitate that specific actor’s relief operations."

Simmons also stressed the "serious concerns" Israel has about UNRWA’s impartiality.

UN and Paleostinian representatives at the opening of hearings on Monday had accused Israel of breaking international law by refusing to let aid into Gaza.

Since March 2, Israel has completely cut off all supplies to the 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip, and food stockpiled during a ceasefire at the start of the year has all but run out.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said in Jerusalem on Monday that Israel had submitted its position in writing to the hearings, which he described as a "circus."

Israel was absent from the hearing, which included scheduled participation from 40 countries and four international organizations.

The court will likely take months to rule. Experts say the decision, though not legally binding, could profoundly impact international jurisprudence and public opinion.
Related:
International Court of Justice: 2025-04-29 As ICJ holds hearings on aid for Palestinians, Sa’ar says Israel-UNRWA cooperation ‘won’t happen’
International Court of Justice: 2025-04-22 Irish band Kneecap projects ‘F*ck Israel’ on Coachella music festival stage, Nova Festival responds
International Court of Justice: 2025-03-31 High Court says petitioners ‘not even close’ to showing Israel starving Gazan civilians
Link


International-UN-NGOs
As ICJ holds hearings on aid for Palestinians, Sa’ar says Israel-UNRWA cooperation ‘won’t happen’
2025-04-29
[IsraelTimes] Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar lays out accusations against the United Nations and the organization’s Relief and Work Agency, at a press conference taking place as the UN’s International Court of Justice opens a week of hearings on Israel’s humanitarian obligations toward Palestinians.

“At this very moment, the ICJ is beginning the deliberations in another shameful proceeding against Israel,” says the foreign minister, adding that Israel chose not to attend the oral proceedings so as “not to take part in this circus.”

“It is not Israel that should be on trial,” says Sa’ar, but rather the UN and UNRWA, the latter of which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza.

Sa’ar calls UNRWA “an organization infiltrated beyond repair by terrorism.”

The foreign minister criticizes past rulings of the ICJ, noting that “this is the fourth proceeding relating to Israel in the court since the October 7 massacre.”

“Now, they are abusing the courts, once again, to try and force Israel to cooperate with an organization that is infested with Hamas terrorists, and it won’t happen,” says the foreign minister.

“UNRWA employed over 1,400 known terrorists, many of whom took an active part in the October 7 atrocities,” continues Sa’ar, citing UNRWA employee Mohammed Abu Itiwi, a Hamas Nukhba Force commander, as one example.

“[Abu Itiwi] was caught on video participating in the murder and kidnapping of Israelis near Kibbutz Re’im [on October 7, 2023], including Hersh Goldberg-Polin,” who was taken hostage and then murdered in captivity, says Sa’ar.

“I accuse,” says Sa’ar, “I accuse UNRWA. I accuse the UN. I accuse the Secretary General, I accuse all those that weaponize international law and its institutions in order to deprive the most attacked country in the world, Israel, of its most basic right to defend itself.”

Behind Sa’ar, a large screen displays the faces of UN Secretary-General António Guterres and UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, alongside the bold headline “J’Accuse” (“I Accuse” in French), referencing an 1898 open letter written by French author Émile Zola during the Dreyfus Affair.

The UN has asked judges to clarify in this week’s proceedings Israel’s legal obligations toward the UN and its agencies, international organizations or third-party states to “ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population.”

Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid for the 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

It halted aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2 after the collapse of a ceasefire and hostage release deal. The war in Gaza was sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and massacre in southern Israel.


WATCH: International Court of Justice opens hearings on Israel’s aid obligations to Palestinians

[IsraelTimes] The UN’s top court opens a week of hearings on Israel’s humanitarian obligations toward Palestinians, more than 50 days into its blockade on aid entering war-ravaged Gaza.

The hearings can be watched here:



The UN’s General Assembly approved a resolution in December asking the ICJ for an advisory opinion on the matter “on a priority basis and with the utmost urgency.”

The resolution, spearheaded by Norway, was adopted by a large majority.

The UN has asked judges to clarify Israel’s legal obligations toward the UN and its agencies, international organizations or third-party states to “ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population.”

Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid vital for the 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

It halted aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2 amid the collapse of a ceasefire and hostage release deal. The war in Gaza was sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and massacre in southern Israel, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and seized 251 as hostages.

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “we’ve got to be good to Gaza” as he pushed the Israeli premier to get more food and medicine into the Strip.

The revelation of the discussion between Netanyahu and Trump came shortly after the World Food Programme said it had run out of food stocks in Gaza due to the sustained closure of crossings into the enclave.
More from the Israel Times:
The UN’s top court will open a week of hearings on Israel’s humanitarian obligations toward Gazans, more than 50 days into its blockade on aid entering war-ravaged Gaza.

United Nations representatives will start the five days of sittings at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, followed by a Palestinian submission.

Another 38 countries will then address the 15-judge panel, including the United States, China, France, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

The League of Arab States, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the African Union will also make submissions.
Link


International-UN-NGOs
Ugandan judge who backed Israel in genocide claim ruling said set to replace Lebanon’s Salam as ICJ chief
2025-01-17
[IsraelTimes] Justice Julia Sebutinde of Uganda is set to be appointed president of the International Court of Justice, according to media reports, after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun summoned Nawaf Salam, the head of the ICJ, to designate him prime minister earlier this week.

An ICJ statement released on Tuesday announcing Salam’s resignation does not mention Sebutinde, but as the court’s current vice president, she is expected to be promoted to the top spot.

Sebutinde was the only judge on the 17-member ICJ panel to vote against all six measures adopted by the court last year in a ruling ordering Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide as it fought Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

She was also one of only two judges to oppose the court’s assertion that some Israeli actions in the war against Hamas may violate the Genocide Convention. The other was Israeli Justice Aharon Barak.
Related:
International Court of Justice: 2025-01-15 Israeli FM: ICJ president tapped to be Lebanon PM called Israel ‘enemy,’ proving court’s bias
International Court of Justice: 2025-01-14 Nawaf Salam named PM with sweeping 84 votes as Hezbollah decries ''exclusion'' — Naharnet
International Court of Justice: 2024-12-16 Hamas Official: ''October 7 Ruined Us''
Related:
Julia Sebutinde 05/25/2024 Four ICJ judges argue court order does not require IDF to stop all Rafah operations
Julia Sebutinde 01/28/2024 Uganda disowns Judge Julia Sebutinde for voting in support of Israel at ICJ
Julia Sebutinde 07/20/2007 Sierra Leone war crimes court hands out sentences

Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli FM: ICJ president tapped to be Lebanon PM called Israel ‘enemy,’ proving court’s bias
2025-01-15
[IsraelTimes] Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says that comments earlier today by Nawaf Salam, the newly appointed prime minister of Lebanon, who served as the president of the International Court of Justice, prove that the ICJ is biased against Israel and its decisions must be invalidated.

“The president of the ICJ, just appointed prime minister of Lebanon, has called Israel an enemy,” says Sa’ar. “This is the president of a court presiding over a case related to Israel — someone who is supposed to remain impartial and neutral. Yet, he refers to Israel as an enemy.”

In his first speech as premier earlier today, Salam — referring to Israel — said he would work to “impose the complete withdrawal of the enemy from the last occupied inch of our land.”

“How can such a person be expected to judge Israel fairly?” asks Sa’ar. “President Salam’s decisions regarding Israel must be disqualified immediately. Otherwise, they might as well take the ‘J’ out of the ICJ.”

Salam, who resigned from the court today, began his role as ICJ president in February 2024 and has served as a member since 2018. He has been presiding over South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide, and took part in rulings, including, in January 2024, saying there is “plausibility” that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and in July 2024 calling Israel’s presence in the West Bank “illegal.”
Related:
Nawaf Salam 01/14/2025 Nawaf Salam named PM with sweeping 84 votes as Hezbollah decries ''exclusion'' — Naharnet
Nawaf Salam 05/26/2024 'When genocidal terrorists praise ruling, justice was not served'
Nawaf Salam 03/21/2023 Franjieh: A 'life-or-death' candidate for Speaker Berri


Related:
International Court of Justice: 2025-01-14 Nawaf Salam named PM with sweeping 84 votes as Hezbollah decries ''exclusion'' — Naharnet
International Court of Justice: 2024-12-16 Hamas Official: ''October 7 Ruined Us''
International Court of Justice: 2024-12-09 Giorgia Meloni 'assassination plot' foiled: Police arrest 12 neo-Nazis who 'planned to shoot Italian PM in the head from a hotel room and spark civil war'
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF presses ahead with Rafah offensive after World Court’s ambiguous halt order
2024-05-26
[IsraelTimes] Officials say ruling allows Israel to continue operations in Gaza’s southernmost city; soldier seriously hurt in northern Strip as IDF battles Hamas across the enclave

Israeli troops on Saturday engaged in festivities with Paleostinian button men across the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
Strip, including Rafah, a day after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to halt operations in the enclave’s southernmost city that would risk destroying the civilian population.

A statement from the Israel Defense Forces said that a cell in Rafah that shot up troops was killed, and several tunnel shafts were found and destroyed, alongside caches of weapons.

The fighting came after Paleostinian media on Friday evening reported a large Israeli Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
in Rafah’s Shaboura area, one of the neighborhoods located about halfway between the Israeli border and the coast where the IDF began operating against Hamas
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
earlier in the week.

The IDF operation in Rafah, which it asserts is Hamas’s last major stronghold, has fueled further international criticism of Israel over the war in Gaza, with the ICJ issuing a significant but somewhat ambiguous ruling instructing Israel to stop military activities that could result in the destruction of the civilian population sheltering there.

Israeli officials said they consider the ICJ order to allow room for some operations in Rafah, rejecting interpretations that the court ruling required Israel halt the offensive altogether.

"What they are asking us, is not to commit genocide in Rafah. We did not commit genocide and we will not commit genocide," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, told Channel 12 news.

Asked whether the Rafah offensive would continue, Hanegbi said: "According to international law, we have the right to defend ourselves and the evidence is that the court is not preventing us from continuing to defend ourselves."

The ICJ, which is based in The Hague, did not immediately comment on Hanegbi’s remarks. Hamas also did not immediately comment.

Another Israeli official pointed to the phrasing of the ruling by the ICJ, depicting it as conditional.

"The order in regard to the Rafah operation is not a general order," the official said on condition of anonymity.

FIGHTING IN NORTHERN AND CENTRAL GAZA
Also Saturday, a reservist with the Bislamach Brigade’s 6828th Battalion was seriously maimed during fighting against terror operatives in northern Gaza.

He was taken to a hospital for treatment.

The announcement came after the military said troops operating in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya killed dozens of button men in close-quarters combat and by calling in airstrikes over the past day.

The troops also located and demolished rocket launching sites and buildings used by terror groups, alongside caches of weapons, the IDF said.

Among those killed were operatives who had directed attacks on troops, and a Hamas sniper cell that had shot up soldiers several times in recent days, according to the military.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shattered spaceship, Fffflirgoll the Arcturan slithered stealthily toward the control room, where the humans had barricaded themselves...
in central Gaza, several more operatives were killed in festivities with troops and by tank shelling, the IDF said.

On Friday in central Gaza, the IDF said an airstrike killed the deputy commander of Hamas’s national security force. According to the IDF, Diaa al-Din al-Sharafa was responsible for "managing the mechanism that secures the borders of the Gaza Strip."

"During the war, this mechanism prevented the population from evacuating from combat zones," the IDF said

Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas following the October 7 terror onslaught that started the war, including its civil authority and members of its political wing.

FURTHER DETAILS ON ’COMPLEX’ IDF OP TO RECOVER HOSTAGES’ BODIES
The military on Saturday released footage and additional details from the operation to recover the bodies of three slain hostages from the northern Gaza Strip late Thursday.

The bodies of Orión Hernández Radoux, 30, Hanan Yablonka, 42, and Michel Nisenbaum, 59, who were all killed on October 7, were located in a tunnel in Jabaliya, the same area where the bodies of another four hostages were recovered a week earlier.

The IDF said troops of the 75th Armored Battalion killed a terror operative who was apparently a lookout over the area where the bodies were held. The soldiers then raided and captured the site.

A short while later, troops of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, Shin Bet agents, and special forces of the Military Intelligence Directorate entered the tunnel and located the bodies.

The bodies were extracted from the tunnel in a "complex" overnight operation, the military said.

According to the IDF, the location of the bodies was extracted from intelligence obtained in recent days by the military and Shin Bet.

The intelligence also revealed that the three were kidnapped by Hamas forces of Evil from the Mefalsim area in southern Israel on October 7, and were killed there or a short while later en route to Gaza.

10 Palestinians killed in Israeli attack on northern Gaza school
[GEO.TV] Israeli warplanes targeted al-Nazla School in northern Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
's Safatwi neighbourhood, leaving at least 10 Paleostinians killed and 17 maimed, Wafa news agency reported.
Is there a single public building in all Gaza that has not been taken over by Hamas and its little friends for C&C or a fighting outpost or an entrance to the tunnel system below? At any rate, I’d bet big money that this particular school is not the sole exception.
The Israeli attack targeted a school sheltering displaced people in the neighbourhood, located just south of Jabalia, according to Al Jazeera.

Northern Gaza’s Jabalia camp has been under fierce attack today, pushing more people to flee the area.

Palestinians want implementation of ICJ ruling
That’s nice.
[GEO.TV] Forced from her home by Israel's seven-month-long Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
offensive, Salwa al-Masri has little hope her plight will be alleviated by a ruling from the UN's top court ordering Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah.

"The massacres are only increasing," she said, as she cooked a meal on an open fire outside a tent in Deir al-Balah.

"They shouldn’t say one thing, while the action is something different," said Masri, who fled her home in northern Gaza earlier in the war. "We want these decisions to be implemented on the ground."
Related:
International Court of Justice: 2024-05-25 Ireland slams ‘totally unacceptable' Israeli rebuke after envoy shown Oct. 7 footage
International Court of Justice: 2024-05-25 In Biden call, Egypt’s Sissi agrees to release Gaza aid via Israel amid Rafah closure
International Court of Justice: 2024-05-25 Four ICJ judges argue court order does not require IDF to stop all Rafah operations
Related:
Rafah: 2024-05-25 Under a rug in Gazan home, IDF troops found shaft leading to bodies of 4 hostages
Rafah: 2024-05-25 Ireland slams ‘totally unacceptable' Israeli rebuke after envoy shown Oct. 7 footage
Rafah: 2024-05-25 In Biden call, Egypt’s Sissi agrees to release Gaza aid via Israel amid Rafah closure
Related:
Jabaliya: 2024-05-25 Under a rug in Gazan home, IDF troops found shaft leading to bodies of 4 hostages
Jabaliya: 2024-05-19 IDF kills top Islamic Jihad commander in Rafah amid wave of Gaza airstrikes, battles
Jabaliya: 2024-05-19 Dozens killed and wounded as Israeli forces thrust deeper in Gaza's Jabalia and Rafah
Related:
Jabalia: 2024-05-25 Under a rug in Gazan home, IDF troops found shaft leading to bodies of 4 hostages
Jabalia: 2024-05-24 Israel launches deadly Gaza strikes, says ready for new truce talks
Jabalia: 2024-05-21 Israeli strikes kill 18 Palestinians in Gaza plus 26 of one N. Gaza family

Link


International-UN-NGOs
US opposes call at World Court for Israel to immediately withdraw from West Bank, East Jerusalem
2024-02-22
[IsraelTimes] The United States calls on the International Court of Justice not to issue an advisory opinion that Israel is legally required to immediately withdraw from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, insisting, like Israel, that the conflict must be resolved within "the established framework" for doing so.

The US is one of the only countries to have expressed opposition to the request of the Paleostinian Authority and numerous other countries in the current hearings that the court rule Israel’s "military occupation" of the West Bank illegal and order Israel to take immediate steps to end it, such as the dismantlement of settlements.

"The established framework for achieving a comprehensive and enduring peace is anchored in UNSC resolutions 242 and 338. At their core these and subsequent resolutions call for the application of two inter-dependent and inseparable requirements for a just and lasting peace," says US representative Richard Visek in the ICJ, a legal adviser in the US State Department.

"One is the withdrawal of all forces from occupied territory, the other is peace and security for states in the Middle East, through the acknowledgement of the illusory sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of every state in the area.

"In identifying these inter-dependent requirements, the Security Council decided that the withdrawal from Israeli forces relies on and is bound together with the termination of belligerency."

Visek argues that the court "should not find that Israel is legally obligated to immediately and unconditionally withdraw from occupied territory," and says the court can instead deal with the questions before it "within the established framework based on the land for peace principle."
Link


International-UN-NGOs
The powerless ICJ set to hear testimony from 52 states arguing against Israel’s control of the territories
2024-02-17
[IsraelTimes] A record 52 states will present arguments about the legal consequences of Israel’s military control of the West Bank at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s highest legal body.

The ICJ’s six days of hearings starting on Monday come after the UN General Assembly asked the court in 2022 for an advisory, or non-binding, opinion on the occupation. While Israel has ignored such opinions in the past, it could add political pressure over its ongoing operation in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
It is part of a Paleostinian push to get international law institutions such as the ICJ to examine Israel’s conduct, which has become more urgent since the October 7 attacks by Hamas
...one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
in Israel and Israel’s military response in the Gaza Strip.

"Politically, this will help in achieving a two-state solution. We are using the platform of the largest judicial body to advance our cause," Omar Awadallah, a bigwig in the Paleostinian Authority foreign ministry, tells journalists at a briefing before the hearings.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the Six Day War of 1967. It withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but, along with neighboring Egypt, still controls its borders.

It is the second time the UN General Assembly has asked the ICJ, also known as the World Court, for an advisory opinion related to the occupied Paleostinian territory. In July 2004, the court found that Israel’s separation wall in the West Bank violated international law and should be dismantled, though it still stands to this day.

The advisory opinion proceedings are separate from the genocide case that South Africa filed at the World Court against Israel for its alleged violations in Gaza of the 1948 Genocide Convention. In late January the ICJ in that case ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza.

The outcome of the advisory opinion would not be legally binding but would carry "great legal weight and moral authority," according to the ICJ.

The precise question put to the court is to give an opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s "occupation, settlement and annexation... including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures."

The general assembly also asked the 15-judge panel of the ICJ to advise on how those policies and practices "affect the legal status of the occupation" and what legal consequences arise for all countries and the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
from this status.

The court will hear over 50 states and three international organizations over six days of hearings including the United States, Russia, China and South Africa. While Israel has filed a written statement with the court, it has not asked to participate in the hearings. On Monday proceedings will start with submissions from the Paleostinian authorities.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Gaza genocide case: Hamas willing to comply with ceasefire if ruled by ICJ
2024-01-26
Yes, but for how long? I still hold by my bet on under three weeks.
[GEO.TV] The Paleostinian resistance group Hamas
...always the voice of sweet reason...
said Thursday that it would comply ceasefire in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
if the UN's top court ordered so, provided that Israel did the same.

The International Court of Justice will rule on Friday in a case of alleged genocide in Gaza brought by South Africa against Israel.

"In case The Hague-based ICJ issues a ruling to cease-fire, the Hamas movement will abide by it as long as the enemy does the same," Hamas said in a statement.

South Africa has alleged that Israel stands in breach of the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
’ Genocide Convention, signed in 1948 as the world’s response to the Holocaust.

Pretoria wants the ICJ to issue so-called "provisional measures", emergency orders to protect Paleostinians in Gaza from potential breaches of the convention.

Orders from the ICJ, which rules in disputes between countries, are legally binding and cannot be appealed.

If the ceasefire verdict is ordered, Hamas will also release Israeli captives it holds in Gaza in exchange for Paleostinian detainees in Israeli jails, the group said.

It also called for an end to the ongoing Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, which the group rules, and for allowing humanitarian aid and reconstruction materials into the territory.

Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel erred in submitting to ICJ jurisdiction, says Alan Dershowitz
2024-01-25
[Ynet] Senior Jewish American jurist Prof. Alan Dershowitz, whose name came up as a potential candidate for representing Israel as a judge in the International Court of Justice at The Hague regarding South Africa's petition accusing Israel of "genocide" in Gaza, is not moved by the prosecution's arguments and made it clear that Israel should not act on any decision made in the tribunal.

"Israel should ignore whatever is said by the International Court of Justice," Dershowitz said Wednesday in an interview with Ynet. "It is not a real court. It's a court whose judges are picked by their countries, it reflects foreign policy, not rule of law, not judiciary. I think that Israel made a mistake in submitting to the jurisdiction of the court,
Given that a large subgroup of Israelis are dumb - see "judicial protests" going to court was unavoidable. However, Bibi did manage to get some benefits. Aaron Barak, chosen as Israeli representative to the court, has been an ambassador of "international law" to Israel his entire career. And is fairly influential in certain circles. Now he'll be forced to denounce the ICJ, or be exposed as an useful idiot.
and it would make a mistake in complying with any ruling of the court.
No chance of that, prof.
This is one of the most absurd abuses of the judicial process in modern history.

..."I think the Israeli lawyers have done a good job within the constraints of the International Court of Justice, but it's like arguing in front of a wall - their arguments will have no impact on the decision whatsoever. This is politics, it has nothing to do with the law. And I think that by arguing the law they legitimate an illegitimate court."
Some Israelis need proof that "International" and "Nazi" are the same when it comes to Israel.

To summarize: A Kenguru court trying a case submiteed by a Claudine Gay nation.
The preliminary ruling in this case is supposed to come down Friday.
Related:
Alan Dershowitz: 2024-01-01 Top Twenty Terrible Predictions for 2024
Alan Dershowitz: 2023-12-25 Dershowitz: Doctors Without Borders Needs To Be Investigated For Acting Like A Hamas Front Group
Alan Dershowitz: 2023-11-21 Far-Left Democrat Dan Goldman Says President Trump 'Has to be Eliminated'
Related:
International Court of Justice: 2024-01-23 Italian FM reveals country ceased arms shipments to Israel starting October 7
International Court of Justice: 2024-01-19 How we can put an end to Palestinian Arab suffering
International Court of Justice: 2024-01-18 Diadora executive in South Africa announces boycott of Jewish cricket player
Link


International-UN-NGOs
Israel Defends Itself At ICJ Against The Lies Of South Africa And False Accusation of Genocide
2024-01-13
Day 2 of the proceedings.
[LegalInsurrection] The entire proceeding is a farce. South Africa, through a highly distorted set of accusations, doesn’t seek to prevent genocide, it seeks to enable genocide against Jews by preventing Israel from defending itself.

South Africa’s politicians are closely aligned with Hamas
...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
, so it’s not surprising that South Africa took it on itself to bring a claim of Genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel for Israel defending itself against the Hamas, Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
, and Paleostinian "civilians" who murdered, tortured, sexually mutilated, and raped Israelis and foreigners on October 7.

The entire proceeding is a farce. South Africa seeks to weaponize the ICJ so that Hamas and other Islamist Death Eaters can commit genocide against Jews. It’s a complete inversion of the purpose of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the role of the ICJ — South Africa doesn’t seek to prevent genocide, it seeks to enable genocide against Jews by preventing Israel from defending itself and making sure the butchers of October 7 can never do it again — and they have promised to do it again. South Africa seeks extraordinary "provisional remedies" ordering Israel to cease military actions.

Just because the charge of Genocide is a farce doesn’t mean Israel will prevail at the ICJ, which serves under the tutelage of the U.N. General Assembly. The Judges have superficially impressive credentials, and on any other issue perhaps that would matter. But as to Israel, is a Judge from Leb
...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
really going to rule against Hamas? Same with Judges from Russia, China, Somalia, and several other countries hostile to Israel.

It’s basically a U.N. General Assembly vote, where you keep hoping they will do the right thing, but they never do. Maybe this time will be different because the nationality of Judges from countries hostile to Israel is not as skewed as in the overall General Assembly, but I’m not hopeful.
Key points from Israel’s opening statement to the court can be read at the link.
Germany is intervening on the side of Israel:
Tweets can be seen at the link.
The ICJ being a function of the General Assembly, has limited power to implement anything. But even the finding of Genocide, though without basis, would be another bullet in the guns of the fake human rights activists and genocidal terrorists and governments to use against Israel.
The Times of Israel adds:
South Africa, which filed the lawsuit at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December, asked judges yesterday to impose emergency measures ordering Israel to immediately halt the offensive.

Israel rejects the accusations of genocide as baseless and says South Africa was acting as a mouthpiece for the Hamas terror group that seeks to eliminate the Jewish state. The IDF is targeting Hamas terrorists, not Palestinian civilians, Jerusalem says.

The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted in the wake of the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

The court is expected to rule on possible emergency measures later this month but will not rule at that time on the genocide allegations with those proceedings potentially taking years.

The ICJ’s decisions are final and without appeal, but the court has no way to enforce them.
Related:
International Court of Justice: 2024-01-04 Gaza genocide case 'meritless, counterproductive': US
International Court of Justice: 2024-01-03 Israel confirms it'll defend itself from Gaza genocide claims in The Hague next week
International Court of Justice: 2023-12-30 ‘Blood libel’: Israel slams South Africa for filing ICJ genocide motion over Gaza war
Link


International-UN-NGOs
Human Rights Watch head fetes South Africa for taking Israel to court
2024-01-12
[IsraelTimes] The head of Human Rights Watch is praising South Africa for bringing Israel’s military campaign against Hamas
...a regional Iranian catspaw,...
to the ICJ, saying the international community should be responsible for ensuring that Israel complies with any judicial decision.

"South Africa is providing important leadership here. It’s really using this important opportunity," Tirana Hassan, executive director of Human Rights Watch, tells Rooters.

"If Israel does not comply with the measures or orders of the court, then it is up to the international community to ensure that they are leveraging whatever pressure that they can to encourage Israel to actually implement the measures," she says.

Human Rights Watch, which released its World Report today outlining abuses around the globe, accused Israel last night of using the starvation of civilians as a means of warfare in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
Strip, which constitutes a war crime. Israel has vigorously denied the charge, with truckloads of aid allowed into the Strip daily.

"In the throes of this war, what we have seen is consistent, flagrant violations of international humanitarian law," Hassan says. "We were able to document elements of this one crime — the crime of starvation."

She calls for "unfettered humanitarian access" to Gaza.

Israel says aid deliveries must be inspected for fear they will be used to smuggle arms or defensive aid to Hamas or other terror groups in the Strip.
Link


International-UN-NGOs
World court receives UN request for opinion on Israeli ‘occupation’ and ‘annexation’
2023-01-21
[IsraelTimes] UN secretary-general says office will gather ’dossier’ on relevant materials for the court, following General Assembly vote asking for advisory opinion on the conflict

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced on Friday that it has officially received the request made three weeks ago by the United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
General Assembly (UNGA) asking the court to weigh in on the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict, Israeli "annexation" and the "legal status of the occupation."

The court said in a short statement Friday that the request was issued in a letter dated January 17, 2023 by UN Secretary-General António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
and was received on Thursday. The document, which cited sections of the resolution, offered no details on the court’s next steps.

The UN General Assembly passed a resolution late last month asking the court for an "advisory opinion," on Israel’s "prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of Paleostinian territory." It also called for an investigation into Israeli measures "aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem" and charged that Israel has adopted "discriminatory legislation and measures."

The resolution — promoted by the Paleostinians and passed by a vote of 87 in favor, 26 against, with 53 abstentions — demanded the court weigh in on the conflict in accordance with international law and the UN charter. The vote came a month after the UN’s Fourth Committee passed a similar resolution, setting the stage for the General Assembly process.

In his letter this week, Guterres wrote that his office "will start to prepare a dossier containing a collection of all relevant documents" related to the questions posed in the resolution that "will be transmitted to the Court in due course."

Israel denounced the UNGA resolution, with Israeli envoy to the UN Gilad Erdan calling the vote a "moral stain" on the world body. He argued at the time that the vote delegitimizes and demonizes Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the UNGA over the resolution, accusing the global body of "distorting historical facts" and declaring that the Jewish people cannot be "an occupier" in its own land.

The ICJ, also known as the world court, is the top UN court for mediating disputes between countries. Its rulings are binding and influence public opinion but it has no mechanism for enforcement.
Well then.
The court is separate from the International Criminal Court, which is also in The Hague.

The court last issued an advisory opinion on the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict in 2004 when the General Assembly asked it to rule on the legality of the separation barrier. The court ruled that the separation barrier Israel built was "contrary to international law" and called on the country to immediately halt construction.

Israel has ignored the decision, arguing that the barrier was a security measure meant to prevent Paleostinian attackers from reaching Israeli cities.
And now countries all over the world are honouring the court’s decision by building security barriers of their own against malign invaders.
The Paleostinians have said the structure was an Israeli land grab because of its route through east Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank.

The UN has a long history of passing resolutions against Israel, which has accused the world body of bias, together with the US. Israel has also accused the Paleostinians, who have nonmember observer state status at the UN, of trying to use the world body to circumvent peace negotiations and impose a settlement.
Link



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