Israel must comply with ICJ measures to prevent genocide — UN human rights chief

Israel must comply with ICJ measures to prevent genocide — UN human rights chief
A Palestinian man carries away an injured child from a home that was hit in an Israeli strike on the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 7, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 09 November 2024
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Israel must comply with ICJ measures to prevent genocide — UN human rights chief

Israel must comply with ICJ measures to prevent genocide — UN human rights chief
  • Volker Turk’s office publishes report covering violations between November 2023, April 2024
  • UN Human Rights Office: Almost 70% of fatalities in Gaza are children, women

NEW YORK: The UN high commissioner for human rights on Friday called on Israel to “fully and immediately” comply with the provisional measures issued in January by the International Court of Justice demanding action to prevent a genocide from being perpetrated against the Palestinians.

Volker Turk also called on states to honor their obligations under international law and “assess arms sales or transfers and provision of military, logistical or financial support to a party to the conflict, with a view to ending such support if this risks serious violations of international law.”

His warning comes as a new report by his office, published on Friday, warned that “if committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, (Israel’s violations) may constitute genocide.”

In January, after considering an original case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide, the ICJ issued a ruling that included provisional measures ordering Israel to take action to prevent and punish the commission of, or the incitement to commit, genocide; to halt the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians; and to immediately facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

Turk said Israel’s compliance with the ICJ ruling is now “even more critical and urgent” in light of the new report, which details “the horrific reality that has unfolded for the people of Israel and Gaza since 7 October 2023,” and concludes by demanding justice with respect to the grave violations of international law that have been committed.

The ICJ measures are also more pertinent than ever given the most recent events, Turk said, including Israel’s operations in northern Gaza and its adoption of legislation banning the main UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees from operating in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem.

“It is essential that there is due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved,” said Turk.

The new report covers violations that occurred from November 2023 to April 2024, including the killing of civilians and breaches of international law that it said could amount to war crimes.

“If committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population, further to a State or organizational policy, these violations may constitute crimes against humanity,” the report says.

Turk urged support for the work of accountability mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court, in relation to the conflict in Gaza, for the exercise of universal jurisdiction to investigate and try crimes under international law in national courts, and for compliance with extradition requests of suspects of such crimes to countries where they would receive a fair trial.

The report highlights repeated statements from Israeli officials calling for Gaza’s entire destruction and the exodus of its people.

It documents Israel’s efforts to “rationalize discrimination, hostility and violence towards, and even the elimination of, Palestinians.”

The report underscores how civilians have borne the brunt of the attacks, including through the initial “complete siege” of Gaza, as well as Israel’s continuing “unlawful failures” to allow the entry of humanitarian aid, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and mass displacement of Palestinians.

“This conduct by Israeli Forces has caused unprecedented levels of killings, death, injury, starvation, illness and disease,” the reports says, adding that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups have also committed serious violations of international law on a wide scale

“The rules of war, in force now for 160 years, were designed to limit and prevent human suffering in times of armed conflict,” Turk said.

“Their wanton disregard has led to the current extremes of human suffering which we continue to see today.

“It seems inconceivable that the parties to the conflict refuse to apply universally accepted and binding norms developed to preserve the very bare minimum of humanity.”  

The UN Human Rights Office says close to 70 percent of fatalities in Gaza are children and women, indicating “a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality.”

The continuation of these attacks “demonstrates an apparent indifference to the death of civilians and the impact of the means and methods of warfare selected,” the report states. 

It also raises concerns over the forcible transfer of Palestinians, attacks on hospitals in “apparent systematic fashion” as well as journalists, and the reported use of white phosphorus munitions.

“Our monitoring indicates that this unprecedented level of killing, and injury of civilians is a direct consequence of the failure to comply with fundamental principles of international humanitarian law — namely the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack,” Turk said. 

“Tragically, these documented patterns of violations continue unabated, over one year after the start of the war.

“The trends and patterns of violations, and of applicable international law as clarified by the International Court of Justice, must inform the steps to be taken to end the current crisis,” he added.

“The violence must stop immediately, the hostages and those arbitrarily detained must be released, and we must focus on flooding Gaza with humanitarian aid.” 


Blinken says US working to bring home US citizen found in Syria

Updated 10 sec ago
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Blinken says US working to bring home US citizen found in Syria

Blinken says US working to bring home US citizen found in Syria
In media reports, the man was identified as Travis Timmerman

AQABA, Jordan: The United States is working to get a U.S. citizen found on Thursday in Syria out of the country and bring him home, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Jordan, where he held meetings to discuss the situation in Syria.
In media reports, the man was identified as Travis Timmerman. Blinken said he had no update on American journalist Austin Tice, who was abducted in Syria in 2012, but said the U.S. was continuing work to find him.

At least nine die, six missing as migrant boat sinks off Tunisia

At least nine die, six missing as migrant boat sinks off Tunisia
Updated 37 min 9 sec ago
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At least nine die, six missing as migrant boat sinks off Tunisia

At least nine die, six missing as migrant boat sinks off Tunisia
  • The coast guard has so far rescued 27 people
  • The boat had been carrying at least 42 people when it sank

TUNIS: Tunisia’s coast guard has recovered the bodies of nine migrants while six others are still missing after their boat sank off the Tunisian coast, a judicial official said on Thursday, in the latest migrant boat disaster in the Mediterranean.
The coast guard has so far rescued 27 people who were on the boat when it broke down and took on water due to bad weather. According to survivors’ testimonies, the boat had been carrying at least 42 people when it sank.
Judge Farid Ben Jha told Reuters that a search was underway for at least six migrants who had been on the boat when it sank off the coast of Chebba.
All the migrants on the boat were from sub-Saharan African countries.
Tunisia is grappling with an unprecedented migration crisis and has replaced Libya as the major departure point for both Tunisians and people from elsewhere in Africa seeking a better life in Europe.


Pope meets Palestinian leader Abbas at the Vatican

Pope meets Palestinian leader Abbas at the Vatican
Updated 12 December 2024
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Pope meets Palestinian leader Abbas at the Vatican

Pope meets Palestinian leader Abbas at the Vatican
  • The pair, who have previously met several times, discussed peace efforts during a private half-hour audience according to the Vatican
  • Abbas then met the Holy See’s Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the Vatican’s equivalent of a foreign minister, Paul Richard Gallagher

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis, who has recently intensified criticism of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, on Thursday received Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, with whom he discussed the “serious” humanitarian situation.
The pair, who have previously met several times, discussed peace efforts during a private half-hour audience according to the Vatican, which released images of them smiling together.
Abbas then met the Holy See’s Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the Vatican’s equivalent of a foreign minister, Paul Richard Gallagher.
The discussions focused on the Church’s assistance in “the very serious humanitarian situation in Gaza,” the hoped-for ceasefire, release of all hostages, and “achieving the two-state solution only through dialogue and diplomacy,” a Vatican statement said.
The meeting comes a few days after the release of a photo showing Pope Francis praying in front of a nativity scene at the Vatican, where the baby Jesus’s manger is covered with a black and white keffiyeh scarf, the symbol of Palestinian resistance.
The photo prompted a protest from the Israeli embassy to the Holy See, which asked for the keffiyeh to be removed, diplomatic and Vatican sources told AFP.
Francis has called for peace since Hamas’s unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, and the Israeli retaliatory campaign in Gaza.
In recent weeks he has hardened his remarks against the Israeli offensive.
At the end of November, he said that “the invader’s arrogance... prevails over dialogue” in “Palestine,” a rare position that contrasts with the tradition of neutrality of the Holy See.
In extracts from a forthcoming book published in November, he called for a “careful” study as to whether the situation in Gaza “corresponds to the technical definition” of genocide, an accusation firmly rejected by Israel.
Francis denounced an “immoral” use of force in Lebanon and Gaza at the end of September.
The Holy See has recognized the State of Palestine since 2013, with which it maintains diplomatic relations, and it supports the two-state solution.
Abbas is also due to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella in Rome.


Syria’s new government says to suspend constitution, parliament for three months

Syria’s new government says to suspend constitution, parliament for three months
Updated 12 December 2024
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Syria’s new government says to suspend constitution, parliament for three months

Syria’s new government says to suspend constitution, parliament for three months
  • Mohammed Al-Bashir named as the country’s transitional prime minister until March 1

DAMASCUS: Syria’s new government spokesman said on Thursday the country’s constitution and parliament would be suspended for the duration of the three-month transition period following president Bashar Assad’s ouster.
“A judicial and human rights committee will be established to examine the constitution and then introduce amendments,” Obaida Arnaout said.
The current constitution dates back to 2012 and does not specify Islam as the state religion.
Militants led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham seized the capital Damascus on Sunday, sending Assad fleeing into exile.
On Tuesday, they named Mohammed Al-Bashir, who headed the militants’ self-proclaimed “Salvation Government” in their northwestern bastion of Idlib, as the country’s transitional prime minister until March 1.
Arnaout said a meeting would be held on Tuesday “between Salvation Government ministers and the former ministers” of Assad’s administration to carry out the transfer of power.
“This transitional period will last three months,” he added in an interview with AFP. “Our priority is to preserve and protect institutions.”
Speaking at the state television headquarters, now seized by the new militant authorities, Arnaout pledged that they would institute “the rule of law.”
“All those who committed crimes against the Syrian people will be judged in accordance with the law,” he added.
Asked about religious and personal freedoms, he said “we respect religious and cultural diversity in Syria,” adding that they would remain unchanged.
The Sunni majority country was ruled with an iron fist by Assad, a follower of the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam who sought to project himself as a protector of minority communities.


Syria’s new government thanks countries that reopened missions

Syria’s new government thanks countries that reopened missions
Updated 12 December 2024
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Syria’s new government thanks countries that reopened missions

Syria’s new government thanks countries that reopened missions
  • Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman and Italy resumed activities of their diplomatic missions in Damascus
  • The militant offensive stunned the world and brought an end to more than a half a century of brutal rule by the Assad clan

DAMASCUS: Syria’s new government thanked eight countries on Thursday for swiftly reviving their diplomatic missions after a lightning militant offensive ousted president Bashar Assad at the weekend.
The offensive, which took less than two weeks to sweep across Syria and take the capital Damascus, stunned the world and brought an end to more than a half a century of brutal rule by the Assad clan.
The militants, led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), appointed an interim prime minister on Tuesday to lead the country until March.
The new government’s department of political affairs issued a statement thanking Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman and Italy “for resuming the activities of their diplomatic missions in Damascus.”
Italy had reopened its embassy in Damascus before Assad’s fall.
After the militants took Damascus, an “armed group” entered the residence of Italy’s ambassador in Damascus and stole three cars, the Italian government said on Sunday.
The new government also said it had received “direct promises” from Qatar and Turkiye “to reopen their embassies in Syria” adding it hoped to “build good relations with all countries that respect the will of the people, the sovereignty of the Syrian state.”
Many embassies had shut their doors as militants advanced toward Damascus.
Gulf states had severed diplomatic ties with Syria, closing their embassies in the aftermath of Assad’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 2011 that triggered the civil war.
Most have restored relations since 2018, with the exception of Qatar.
Qatar announced on Wednesday it would “soon” reopen its embassy in Damascus, closed in 2011.
The move aimed to “strengthen the close historical fraternal ties between the two countries,” Qatar’s foreign ministry said.
The Gulf country also sought to “enhance coordination with relevant authorities to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid currently provided by Qatar to the Syrian people” via an air bridge, it added.
Doha had supported opposition factions early in the war and remained a fierce critic of Assad while also calling for a diplomatic solution.
Turkiye has backed some Syrian militant groups since the start of the civil war.
The war killed more than 500,000 people and forced half the population to flee their homes, with six million of them seeking refuge abroad.