The UN warns Israel about the famine in the Gaza Strip almost six months after the start of the conflict: hunger used as a weapon is a war crime. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, reiterated in an interview with the BBC that Israel bears significant responsibility for the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and that there is a “plausible” case that the Jewish state is using as a weapon: if the intent to starve the population of the Strip was demonstrated – he warned – this would be equivalent to a war crime.
Gaza, the terrible images from the hospital: “Malnourished children as thin as paper”
Meanwhile, in Israel, the words of an Islamic Jihad militiaman who, for the first time, described in detail the rape of a young Israeli girl carried out in the attack on 7 October aroused horror. In the interrogation video released by the army, Manar Kassem, captured in Khan Yunis this month, said he entered a border kibbutz armed with a Kalashnikov and a bomb. At the sight of the young woman on a sofa, he added, «I was possessed by the devil, I made her lie down, I began to undress her and I did what I did. I raped her.”
Gaza, videos of Israeli soldiers playing with Palestinian women’s lingerie
On the 174th day of the war, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel is preparing the offensive in Rafah and that he will send a delegation to the USA to discuss the operation. Meanwhile, the army continues to operate in the Shifa hospital in Gaza City where, according to spokesman Daniel Hagari, Raed Thabat, a leading exponent of the Qassam Brigades, in the “top ten” of Hamas and close to Sinwar and Deif, was eliminated.
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- 07:09
Syria: 38 dead in Israel’s attack on Aleppo
- 00:27
Israeli Foreign Ministry: “Israel working to increase aid to Gaza”
There are some updates
07:23
UN Court: Israel must allow aid to enter Gaza
The UN International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including opening additional land crossings to allow food, water, fuel and other supplies into the devastated enclave from the war. Judges in The Hague have issued two new so-called interim measures in a lawsuit brought by South Africa accusing Israel of acts of genocide in its military campaign launched after the October 7 attacks by Hamas. Israel denies it is committing genocide and accuses South Africa of trying to “undermine Israel’s inherent right and obligation to defend its citizens.” In its legally binding order, the Court called on Israel to take measures “without delay” to ensure “the unhindered provision” of basic services and humanitarian assistance.
07:09
Syria: 38 dead in Israel’s attack on Aleppo
Tonight’s Israeli attacks on the northern Syrian city of Aleppo killed 38 people, including five members of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah: this was stated by local security sources, quoted by the British news agency Reuters.
00:58
United States, four drones launched by Houthi forces destroyed
The US military said it destroyed four drones launched by Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen. US Central Command said on social media site X that the drones “posed an imminent threat to US Navy merchantmen and ships in the region.” The drones were aimed at a coalition vessel and a US warship and “were engaged in self-defense action over the Red Sea,” US Central Command said, adding that no injuries or damage to aircraft were reported. US or coalition ships.
00:43
Gaza, New Zealand: good court measures Hague, Israel joins
New Zealand “notes and welcomes the new additional measures issued by the International Court of Justice in the ongoing case” over the Gaza Strip, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “We call on Israel to adhere to the new provisions, including by taking all necessary and effective measures to ensure without delay the unhindered provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance” in the Palestinian enclave, adds Peters in a message published on his account Yesterday the International Court of Justice in The Hague ordered Israel to “guarantee urgent humanitarian assistance” in the Palestinian enclave. These are new provisional measures issued by the court that must decide on the accusations of genocide made by South Africa against the Jewish state
00:36
Gaza, media: 12 dead in Israeli raid near Khan Yunis
The Palestinian news agency Wafa says at least 12 people died in an Israeli air strike that hit a house near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip last night. Victims were also reported in Jabalia, in the north of the Palestinian enclave. The toll in the Gaza Strip since October 7 is at least 32,552 dead and at least 74,980 injured, according to the local Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
00:27
Israeli Foreign Ministry: “Israel working to increase aid to Gaza”
“Israel will continue to promote new initiatives and expand existing ones to enable and facilitate the flow of aid to the Gaza Strip in a continuous and extensive manner, by land, air and sea, together with United Nations bodies and other partners in the international community This includes continued efforts to increase the reach and means of access for such aid, despite operational challenges on the ground and Hamas’s active and abhorrent efforts to commandeer, hoard and steal aid.” This was written by Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat, who also accused South Africa of having made “cynical attempts” to exploit the world court to undermine Israel’s right to self-defense and to obtain the release of the remaining hostages. The International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to take steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including opening more land crossings to allow food, water, fuel and other supplies into the war-torn enclave
00:09
Israel didn’t get everything it asked for, top US general says
The top US general said Thursday that Israel has not received all the weapons it asked for, partly because some of them could affect the readiness of the US military and because there are capacity limitations. Washington provides $3.8 billion in annual military assistance to Israel, its longtime ally. The United States has rushed air defenses and munitions to Israel, but some Democrats and Arab-American groups have criticized the Biden administration’s steadfastness in supporting Israel, which they say gives it a sense of impunity. “Although we supported them with capabilities, they did not receive everything they asked for,” said Gen. Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
