Israel-Hamas war: ICJ charges 'morally repugnant' — Israel

Deutsche Welle

25 May 2024, 14:52

Image: Peter Dejong/AP Photo/picture alliance

Genocide charges brought by South Africa were "morally repugnant," Israel said in a statement issued after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to "immediately halt" its military offensive.

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Israel said 'it has not and will not' target Rafah's civilian population.

Nearly 100 aid truck deliveries via the US-built Gaza pier.

South Africa welcomes ICJ call for Israel to halt Rafah offensive.

Here are the latest developments from the Israel-Hamas war and the wider Middle East region on Saturday, May 25.

Suspected Hamas members planned attacks in Germany: Media report
The Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas appears to have planned to carry out attacks in Germany, a German newspaper has reported.

According to the Welt am Sonntag, maps featuring the Israeli Embassy in Berlin and a US military base in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate were found on a smartphone belonging to a suspected Hamas member who was arrested in the German capital in December.

The newspaper cited security officials as saying the material could have served to facilitate the reconnaissance of the sites as potential targets.

The man, Lebanese by birth, was arrested on suspicion of trying to find a suitable place forweapons depot in Europe under orders from Hamas' military leadership in Lebanon, the paper said.

It said three other suspected Hamas members were arrested on the same suspicion.

The weapons in the depot were to have been used for potential attacks in Europe, according to the newspaper.

Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the EU, the US and several other countries.

Nearly 100 trucks of aid via the temporary Gaza pier — UN
The UN said on Friday that 97 trucks of aid had been delivered to Gaza via the US-built temporary pier on the Palestinian territory's coast.

The UN World Food Programme "took possession of 97 trucks since the floating dock came into operation" on May 17, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres, told reporters.

In the first couple of days of deliveries, some Gazans mobbed the trucks as they made their way to warehouses.

"There were a number of trucks where people, as we put it, self-distributed, but the trucks themselves did make it," Dujarric said.

"After a rocky start, the situation is stabilized."

"What we want to see, as we've been saying, is massive aid coming in through land routes," the UN spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that between May 7 and May 23, only 906 truckloads entered the enclave of 2.3 million people, where a famine looms.

South Africa welcomes ICJ order for Israel to halt Rafah offensive
The South African government on Friday welcomed the order by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for Israel to immediately halt its offensive in the southern Gaza Strip.

"South Africa welcomes the order handed down by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) today by 13 votes to 2, ordering Israel, in conformity with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and in view of the worsening conditions of life faced by civilians in Rafah, to immediately halt its military operation," a statement issued by the South African presidency said.

“We are gravely concerned that Israel has restricted necessary levels of aid from entering Gaza and has systematically targeted aid and aid infrastructure within Gaza," President Cyril Ramaphosa said.

Toward the end of last year, South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel before the ICJ. Since then, it has pushed for measures to be taken to stop Israel's military offensive in the Palestinian territory.

Israel's military says it is targeting the Hamas militant group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the US, the EU and other governments.

Israel has argued that it is acting in the interests of self-defense and within the bounds of international law.

Israel's leadership has vowed to continue military operations in Gaza until Hamas has been completely eliminated.

Israel slams genocide charges as 'morally repugnant'
Israel's leadership on Friday said that genocide charges brought by South Africa before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague were "false, outrageous and morally repugnant."

The comments were made in a joint statement issued by the head of Israel's National Security Council and the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The statement comes after the ICJ on Friday ruled that Israel "must immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah Governate which may inflict on Palestinian groups in Gaza conditions of life that would bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part."

"Following the horrific attack against the citizens of Israel on October 7th, 2023, Israel embarked upon a defensive and just war to eliminate Hamas and to secure the release of our hostages," Israel's joint statement said.

Israel said that it was acting on the basis of its right to self-defense "in compliance with international law, including international humanitarian law."

Israel also said it would not conduct military actions in Rafah "which may inflict on the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part."

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the Israeli army says are dead.

According to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry, more than 35,000 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since the war began.

Last week South African lawyers asked the ICJ to order an emergency halt to the military operation in Rafah — a city in southern Gaza where more than one million people are sheltering — accusing Israel of intensifying what it calls "genocide" in Gaza.

South Africa has also been pushing for Israel to end its wider war in Gaza, but the court held back from issuing an order that covers the entire territory.

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Israeli soldiers trodden by Hamas counter-attack

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China's cyberattacks on Taiwan surge ahead of presidential inauguration

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China presses Pakistan to address security concerns of workers, projects

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Taiwan detects Chinese incursion with aircraft, vessels around nation

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND), on Friday, detected eight Chinese aircraft and eight People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels, operating around Taiwan. The Chinese aircraft and vessels were seen until 6 am on Friday (May 17). In a post shared on X, Taiwan's MND stated that one of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). However, Taiwan's Armed forces have responded accordingly to the situation. "8 PLA aircraft and 8 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 1 of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and responded accordingly," the Taiwan's MND stated. Earlier on Thursday, Taiwan detected 27 Chinese aircraft and seven naval vessels around the strait until 6 am (local time) on Thursday. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) said that 19 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's southwest sector and eastern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). On May 15, 45 PLA aircraft and 6 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected. 26 of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern and southwestern ADIZ. The increased activity in the Taiwan Strait region comes amid growing geopolitical tensions between Taiwan and China, as reported by Taiwan News. Taiwan has long been a point of contention for Beijing, which considers the island a renegade province and has repeatedly expressed intentions to reunify it with the mainland, even if by force. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) has issued daily reports on Chinese military activities for the past few years, including identifying those Chinese aircraft, drones, and balloons that are found to have crossed the Taiwan Strait median line to the Taiwan side. Source: Business Standard

Operation underway to find Raisi's helicopter

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Dead body of Ebrahim Raisi has been recovered

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US bans 26 textile firms over alleged links to forced labour in China

The US administration on Thursday added 26 textile entities like traders and warehouses to the forced labour entity list, for having an alleged link with Uyghur labour camps from China's Xinjiang, Nikkei Asia reported. This latest decision will now ban, products associated with these entities from entering the US market, the same report also claimed that this step will also increase pressure on the supply chains of the US market. the US Department of Homeland Security's report stated that Companies in provinces across China, including Henan, Jiangsu, Hubei, and Fujian, have been added to the forced-labour Entity List, which now increases the count to 76 entities. The US has repeatedly taken steps against the use of forced labour for production in China's Xinjiang region, home to the predominantly Muslim Turkic Uyghurs and other minorities. Locals of this region have been facing human rights abuses at the hands of China however, the country denies all such claims and states that all those alleged labour programs are to alleviate poverty in the region. The Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA) generally bars imports sourced "wholly or in part" in Xinjiang, a major cotton-supplying region. Enforcement has led to around USD 3 billion in shipments being flagged at the border since the act took effect in June 2022. Hence all the products coming from that region are considered to be a product of forced labour until there is clear evidence that proves otherwise. The Entity List designates specific companies whose products, or components of other companies' finished products, are to be blocked from entering the country. Authorities have flagged extra scrutiny for certain sectors, such as cotton, tomatoes, and polysilicon, a key raw material for solar panels, the report by Nikkei Asia claimed. In the same reference the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in January this year, urging stronger enforcement of the UFLPA through such steps as adding entities outside China to the list. A researcher on the matter Adrian Zenz has highlighted that one key issue faced by the US government is a lack of transparency in domestic supply chains within China. According to his statement given to Nikkei Asia "The UFLPA contains a provision to monitor and keep an eye on intra-Chinese supply chains because of the risk of labour transfers to other provinces. As Xinjiang itself doesn't export so much of what is produced in Xinjiang. The greatest risk comes through intermediaries, and the Entity List is very much suited to counter or to address that problem."Nikkei Asia further quotes the research accomplished by Zenz which stated that there was a 38 per cent increase from 2022 to 2023 in the number of labourers moved as part the "pairing assistance" program but said any future understanding of labour transfer programs could diminish now that the Chinese government has stopped publishing statistics. Source: Beijing News

Israel-Hamas war: ICJ charges 'morally repugnant' — Israel

Israeli soldiers trodden by Hamas counter-attack

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Taiwan detects Chinese incursion with aircraft, vessels around nation

Operation underway to find Raisi's helicopter

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US bans 26 textile firms over alleged links to forced labour in China

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