{"id":46801,"date":"2024-01-12T01:22:07","date_gmt":"2024-01-12T01:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/top-un-court-opens-hearings-in-gaza-genocide-case-against-israel-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2024-01-12T01:22:07","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T01:22:07","slug":"top-un-court-opens-hearings-in-gaza-genocide-case-against-israel-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/top-un-court-opens-hearings-in-gaza-genocide-case-against-israel-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Top UN court opens hearings in Gaza genocide case against Israel | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nTHE HAGUE\/
\nGAZA:
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A top UN\u00a0court opened hearings on Thursday in a\u00a0case\u00a0in which South Africa demands an emergency suspension of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, where it says Israel is committing\u00a0genocide\u00a0against Palestinians.<\/p>\n

It is expected to rule on the emergency measures later this month. The court will not rule at that time on the genocide allegations – those proceedings could take years.<\/p>\n

“Our opposition to the ongoing slaughter of the people of Gaza has driven us as a country to approach the ICJ,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said of the genocide accusations, rejected by Israel and its top backer, the United States.<\/p>\n

With the politically charged case attracting global attention, supporters of both sides of the case planned marches and rallies in The Hague.<\/p>\n

Thousands of pro-Israel protesters marched in freezing temperatures in the city centre early on Thursday, carrying Israeli and Dutch flags and posters with images of people taken hostage by Hamas.<\/p>\n

The court’s decisions are final and without appeal but the court has no way to enforce them.<\/p>\n

Israel claims allegations baseless<\/strong><\/p>\n

Israel has rejected the accusations of genocide as baseless and\u00a0accused Pretoria\u00a0of playing “advocate of the devil” for Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group it is waging war against in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on social media platform X: “I want to make a few points absolutely clear: Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population.”<\/p>\n

South Africa and Israel are both parties to the 1948 Genocide Convention, which obliges them to not commit genocide and also to prevent and punish it.<\/p>\n

The treaty defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.<\/p>\n

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\u26a1\ufe0fThe Al-Qassam Brigades distribute scenes showing a Zionist infantry force being lured into a tunnel and caught in an elaborate ambush in the Sheikh Radwan area at the end of last month. pic.twitter.com\/lakFhMprJF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 War Monitor (@WarMonitors) January 10, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

The Israeli offensive has laid much of the densely populated Gaza Strip to waste, and nearly all its 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes at least once,\u00a0causing a humanitarian catastrophe.<\/p>\n

Post-apartheid South Africa has\u00a0long defended\u00a0the Palestinian cause, a relationship forged when the African National Congress’ struggle against white minority rule was cheered on by Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organisation.<\/p>\n

In its court filings, South Africa cites Israel’s failure to provide food, water, medicine and other essential humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian enclave.<\/p>\n

It also points to the sustained bombing campaign which has killed over 23,000 people according to Gaza health authorities.<\/p>\n

Fighting in Gaza continues<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jordan and Egypt\u00a0warned on Wednesday against any Israeli re-occupation of the Gaza Strip and appealed for uprooted residents to be allowed to return home.<\/p>\n

In Gaza, Israeli strikes intensified despite Israel’s pledge to\u00a0pull out\u00a0some troops and shift to a more targeted campaign.<\/p>\n

Israel’s chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a briefing the military was focussing its operations on Khan Younis and the refugee camps in the centre of the Strip.<\/p>\n

In the latest sign of the three-month-old war spreading, US\u00a0and British warships in the Red Sea fended off the\u00a0biggest attack\u00a0yet from Yemen’s Houthi movement, which is acting to support Gaza.<\/p>\n

Washington and London said they shot down 21 drones and missiles aimed at shipping lanes. No one was hurt.<\/p>\n

The UN Security Council\u00a0approved a resolution\u00a0demanding that the Houthis immediately cease the shipping attacks.<\/p>\n

The World Health Organization cancelled a planned medical aid mission to Gaza due to security concerns, the sixth such cancellation in two weeks.<\/p>\n

The Palestinian Red Crescent said four of its staffers were killed by an Israeli strike near Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, while Palestinian health officials said four children were killed in an Israeli air strike on a house in Rafah.<\/p>\n

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on his fourth trip to the region during the war,\u00a0met Palestinian leaders\u00a0in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.<\/p>\n

The State Department said Blinken expressed 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.<\/p>\n

Senior White House adviser Amos Hochstein is expected to visit Beirut on Thursday, a US official said, as part of US efforts to ease tension along the\u00a0Israel-Lebanon\u00a0border.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n