Summary of the day so far …
It has just gone 5pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here are the headlines …
The Council of the EU launched a defensive maritime security operation to safeguard freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Gulf. It said Operation ASPIDES would ensure an EU naval presence in the area where numerous Houthi attacks have targeted international commercial vessels since October 2023. The Belize-flagged cargo ship Rubymar sustained damage overnight after two missiles were fired at the vessel from Yemen, although the crew were able to evacuate.
The foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority has told the International Court of Justice in The Hague that “There is a genocide happening in Gaza” and that occupation of Palestinian territory by Israel should come to “an unconditional end”. Riyad al-Maliki was speaking as a week of hearings in the UN’s top court has opened on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. In its submission on the case, made in July 2023, Israel argueed that any decision or arbitration by the court risks endangering the previously agreed peace process.
Israel has declared Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva “persona non grata” over comments he made accusing Israel of carrying out a genocide and comparing their actions to the Holocaust. Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz said “We will not forget nor forgive. It is a serious antisemitic attack.”
The health ministry in Gaza has said the number of Palestinians killed in the territory by Israeli military action since 7 October has risen to 29,092. In the past 24 hours, 107 Palestinians were killed and 145 injured, the Hamas-led ministry said in its statement. 69,028 are reported injured in total. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society has reported “multiple bombardments by Israeli forces” near the al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis which it claims have caused “significant damage to the hospital building”.
In its latest operational update, Israel’s military has said it continues operations in Khan Younis, claiming to have located “AK-47s, drones, an RPG, explosive devices, and additional military equipment were located.”
EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said “everyone is afraid” Benjamin Netanyahu will give the go ahead to a military offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza in the coming days despite mounting international pressure to resist. Ireland’s foreign minister Micheál Martin has said it would be “unconscionable” if Israel were to go ahead with a bombardment of Rafah.
Majed Al Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, has criticised the Israeli prime minister Netanyahu’s recent comments calling on Qatar to pressure Hamas to release hostages, saying they are “a new attempt to stall and prolong the war for reasons that have become obvious to everyone.”
Netanyahu’s office has confirmed Israel will continue to restrict who can worship at the al-Asqa mosque in Jerusalem when Ramadan starts in March. Hamas has described the move as “religious warfare”.
Reuters reports that interior security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right coalition partner in Benjamin Netanyahu government, has continued to lend his vocal support to restrictions on Friday prayers at al-Aqsa mosque during the month of Ramadan. [See 11.57 GMT]
Israel has already been restricting access to the site every Friday since the 7 October Hamas attack.
The news agency reports Ben Gvir said those who hate Israel would use the event to show support for the Hamas leadership and incite violence.
“The entry of tens of thousands of haters in a victory celebration on the Temple Mount is a security threat to Israel,” Ben Gvir said.
Ben Gvir, on social media, directly linked the ability of Jews to visit the Temple Mount to the attacks on 7 October. In a message he said:
3 Oct – they asked me not to go up to the Temple Mount because they were afraid of Hamas and I respected their request.
7 Oct – the largest massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
19 Feb – The idea returns.
Victory is brought by determination and strength, not by folding and surrendering.
Earlier Netanyahu’s office confirmed the continuing restrictions, and said: “The prime minister made a balanced decision to allow freedom of worship within the security needs determined by professionals.”
Ramadan is expected to begin on 10 March.
Reuters reports that in a statement Hamas has condemend the move, saying it is “a continuation of Zionist criminality and religious warfare led by the extremist settlers group in the terrorist occupation government against our Palestinian people”. It called on Palestinians to mobilise against the restrictions.
Religious leaders in the Palestinian territory have also ordered people to protect the right to use the mosque, with the Wafa news agency reporting they had urged “everyone who can reach al-Aqsa mosque to travel to it and protect it, as al-Aqsa mosque is an Islamic endowment for Muslims of the entire world, hoping that ‘they will not hesitate to defend it with whatever capabilities they have.’”
The Palestine Red Crescent Society has reported “multiple bombardments by Israeli forces” near the al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis which it claims have caused “significant damage to the hospital building”.
🚨Urgent: Multiple bombardments by Israeli forces near Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis have caused significant damage to the hospital building and instilled a state of terror among patients and their companions. #NotATarget #IHL #AlAmalHospital #Gaza
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) February 19, 2024
In its submission to the ICJ, Morocco has said it hopes any opinion by the court will promote a peaceful solution. Noting the role the country has played in promoting peaceful coexistance of faiths in Jerusalam, and the 2019 “Al-Quds/Jerusalem Appeal” signed jointly by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI and Pope Francis, the submission concludes:
The Kingdom of Morocco expresses the hope that any advisory opinion that the court may give will promote a constructive peace dynamic, with a view to an applicable, equitable and lasting solution, satisfying the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to an independent, viable and sovereign State on the basis of the borders of 4 June 1967, with Al-Quds/East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side with the state of Israel, in peace and security and allowing the peoples of the region to live in peace, security, stability and dignity.
Italy’s written submission to the ICJ has been published, and it is asking the court to use discretion and not rule on the issue. The submission was made on 25 July 2023, and in it Italy states:
The government of the Italian Republic follows with great concern recent developments, marked by a lack of progress, unilateral actions, further deterioration in trust between the parties and phases of increased violence. This state of things, however, only highlights the essentially political nature of the matter, which can only be solved through negotiations.
The goverment of the Italian Republic recalls that Article 65, para 1 of its Statute gives the court the power to decline to render an opinion
…
The government of the Italian Republic considers that this is a pertinent point in the present case and respectfully encourages the court to consider using such discretion, bearing in mind the essentially political nature of the matter and the established legal framework for the resolution of the conflict.
In particular, Italy is cognizant of the risk that an advisory opinion by the court might reduce the flexibility of the parties in dealing with present circumstances and long-term prospects, and therefore would not contribute to move the process closer to a mutually agreed solution.
The document goes on to say that if the court decides to offer an opinion, Italy asks the court to consider carefully “the parties’ ability to negotiate peace and a two-state solution consistent with the framework established in UN security council resolutions and adopted in the agreements of the parties.”
The ICJ has published a series of documents associated with the case it was hearing today concerning Israel’s policy on the occupied Palestinian territories.
As well as Israel’s response to the case [See 13.25 GMT], it has published the submission from the Palestinian side.
The Palestinian Authority may not hold out much hope that the case will materially affect things on the ground – Israel has ignored earlier findings by the court – but it has afforded the opportunity to catalogue Israel’s expansion from 1948 to the territory it effectively exercises control over today and state its case in public. Israel has been occupying the West Bank since 1967.
The submission runs to 390 pages, including highly detailed maps of where Israel has established settlements, and quotes from Israeli authorities about their intentions on sovereignty, which includes explicitly ruling out, for example, the deoccupation of East Jerusalem. You can read it in full here.
Noa Shpigel reports for Haaretz that Israel’s finance minister has said his country should unilaterally withdraw from the Oslo accords if a Palestinian state was declared by any means not including negotiation with Israel.
Haaretz quotes Bezalel Smotrich saying:
I call on prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to explicitly announce that unilateral measures will be met with unilateral measures, [and] faced with any unilateral step taken against the state of Israel, Israel will act unilaterally to cancel the Oslo accords, [and] to completely and immediately stop all funds transferred to the Palestinian Authority, and to completely dissolve the Palestinian Authority.
Israel: ICJ intervention over occupation would be 'harmful' to peace process, case is 'clear distortion' of history
The ICJ in The Hague has published Israel’s written response to the case that is being heard today, on the ‘policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory’. In it, Israel argues that any decision or arbitration by the court risks endangering the previously agreed peace process.
The response was submitted on 24 July 2023. In it, Israel claims the case represents “a clear distortion of the history and present reality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” arguing the court is being asked to “presume Israeli violations of international law” and that the “prejudicial nature of the questions” disregard “thousands of dead and wounded Israelis who have fallen victim to murderous Palestinian acts of hatred and terrorism”.
It goes on to say that “Israel, as an interested party, has not given its consent to judicial settlement of its dispute with the Palestinian side”, arguing that “both sides, and the intemational community as a whole, continue to affirm the validity of the terms of reference and established legal framework embodied” in previous agreements, which Israel says “the two sides have agreed to resolve through direct negotiations precisely the subject-matter placed before the court”.
It says the case is asking for “an intervention by the Court in a manner manifestly inconsistent with its judicial function and prior pronouncements”, and goes on to say:
Most alarmingly, they risk fundamentally delegitimizing the established legal framework governing the conflict and any future prospect of negotiations between Israelis and the Palestinians, which remains – as the court itself has observed – the only viable path to peace.
While the request made to the court seeks to portray it as such, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a cartoon narrative of villain and victim in which there are no Israeli rights and no Palestinian obligations. Entertaining such a falsehood can only push the parties further apart rather than help create conditions to bring them closer together.
For all the difficulties and obstacles that exist, Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation will not be served by further undermining the core understanding that this is a tragic conflict in which two sides – not just one – have rights and responsibilities.
In these circumstances, to engage with the subject-matter of the request placed before the Court as though this is an appropriate use of the advisory function would not just be unwarranted; it would be harmful. Israel hopes and expects that the court, in safeguarding its judicial integrity as well as the established legal framework governing the IsraeliPalestinian conflict and its negotiated resolution, will respond accordingly.
The document is signed by ambassador Modi Ephraim, Israel’s ambassador to the Netherlands. You can read the document in full here.
Spain says it will impose unilateral sanctions on violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank if its EU partners fail to reach an agreement on the issue.
Reuters reports foreign minister José Manuel Albares made the comments on Monday.
Ireland’s foreign minister Micheál Martin had earlier expressed regret that “unity and unanimity” still hadn’t occurred within the foreign affairs council, adding “Ireland favours sanctions on violent settlers in the West Bank”
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that today alone Israeli authorities have issued a demolition order against a sport club and a primary school in the town of Al-Issawiya, north of Jerusalem, bulldozed a 500m strip of Palestinian land for road-building near occupied Bethlehem, and that would-be settlers have fenced off a large tract of Palestinian-owned land in the Batn al-Hawa neighbourhood in the town of Silwan, and damaged about ten Palestinian-owned vehicles in the town of Huwwara in an overnight attack.
EU launches maritime security operation
The Council of the EU launched today a defensive maritime security operation to safeguard freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Gulf.
In a statement, the Council said:
Operation ASPIDES will ensure an EU naval presence in the area where numerous Houthi attacks have targeted international commercial vessels since October 2023.
In close cooperation with like-minded international partners, ASPIDES will contribute to safeguard maritime security and ensure freedom of navigation, especially for merchant and commercial vessels.
Within its defensive mandate, the operation will provide maritime situational awareness, accompany vessels, and protect them against possible multi-domain attacks at sea.
The operation will be active along the main sea lines of communication in the Baab al-Mandab Strait and the strait of Hormuz, as well as international waters in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman, and the Persian Gulf.
Updated
ICJ hearing adjourns for the day
The ICJ hearing has ended for today.
The court will hold a session tomorrow at 10am CET to hear views from a range of countries, including South Africa, Algeria and the Netherlands.
Updated
Majed Al Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, has criticised the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a post on social media, the Qatari spokesperson said "the Israeli prime minister’s recent statements calling on Qatar to pressure Hamas to release the hostages are nothing but a new attempt to stall and prolong the war for reasons that have become obvious to everyone.”
He added that “we categorically reject the empty accusations made by the Israeli Prime Minister regarding Qatari efforts in reconstruction and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
The spokesperson also said “we affirm that Qatar will continue its mediation efforts and will not be deterred by rhetoric and statements that can only be understood in the context of escaping from the Israeli Prime Minister’s personal political challenges.”
The Israeli prime minister's recent statements calling on Qatar to pressure Hamas to release the hostages are nothing but a new attempt to stall and prolong the war for reasons that have become obvious to everyone.
— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) February 19, 2024
The Israeli Prime Minister knows very well that Qatar has been…
At the ICJ hearing, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, said that “Israeli leaders no longer feel the need to hide their intensions.”
“They defy the law, and the law is barely fighting back,” he said.
His voice breaking, he added:
What does international law mean for Palestinian children in Gaza today? It has protected neither them nor their childhood, it has not protected their families or communities.
Mansour also said:
Palestinians under occupation in Israel, as refugees and in the diaspora, all they ask for are their rights, and to live in freedom and dignity in their ancestral land.
For 75 years, the Palestinian people have faced attempts to push them out of geography, and indeed out of history.
And it goes on.
And it will go on forever, unless and until international law is upheld.
Unless and until the unlawful occupation of Palestine ends.
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
It is 1pm in The Hague, 2pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv, and 3pm in Sana’a. Here are the latest headlines …
The foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority has told the International Court of Justice in The Hague that “There is a genocide happening in Gaza” and that occupation of Palestinian territory by Israel should come to “an unconditional end”. Riyad al-Maliki was speaking as a week of hearings in the UN’s top court has opened on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, with more than 50 states due to address the judges. In her evidence, Dr Namira Negm said “Starting from the Nakba in 1948, Israel has adopted discriminatory legislation measures which has established a deeply entrenched system of racial discrimination against Palestinians.”
The Belize-flagged cargo ship Rubymar sustained damaged after two missiles were fired at the vessel from Yemen, although the crew were able to evacuate, the vessel’s security company has said. “There is nobody on board now,” the spokesperson said. “The owners and mangers are considering options for towage”. Another incident was reported to UKMTO later in the day, with no reports of casualties.
Israel has declared Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a “persona non grata” over comments he made in which he accused Israel of carrying out a genocide in Gaza which he compared to the actions of Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust. Having summoned Brazil’s ambassador for a reprimand, Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz issued a statement saying: “We will not forget nor forgive. It is a serious antisemitic attack. In my name and the name of the citizens of Israel – tell president Lula that he is persona non grata in Israel until he takes it back”. At the weekend, Brazil’s president had said “what is happening in the Gaza Strip and to the Palestinian people hasn’t been seen in any other moment in history. Actually, it did when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.
The health ministry in Gaza has said the number of Palestinians killed in the territory by Israeli military action since 7 October has risen to 29,092. In the past 24 hours, 107 Palestinians were killed and 145 injured, the Hamas-led ministry said in its statement. 69,028 are reported injured in total. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Fighting, fuel shortages and Israeli raids have put Gaza’s largest still functioning hospital completely out of service, local and UN health officials have said, as Israel continued its threats to invade the southern city of Rafah if remaining Israeli hostages are not freed in the next three weeks. In its latest operational update, Israel’s military has said it continues operations in Khan Younis, claiming to have located “AK-47s, drones, an RPG, explosive devices, and additional military equipment were located.”
EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said “everyone is afraid” Benjamin Netanyahu will give the go ahead to a military offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza in the coming days despite mounting international pressure to resist. Ireland’s foreign minister Micheál Martin has said it would be “unconscionable” if Israel were to go ahead with a bombardment of Rafah.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that this morning Israeli forces “accompanied by military bulldozers” have razed ground in the village of Husan, west of occupied Bethlehem, to prepare for road-building. It reports that 500m of “citizens’ lands at the eastern entrance to the village” was destroyed.
Netanyahu’s office have confirmed that Monday morning Israel’s prime minister met Democratic US senators Chris Coons and Richard Blumenthal.
I am handing you over to my colleague Lili Bayer for an hour. You can watch the proceedings at The Hague in this video feed …
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that Israel will impose security restrictions on Friday prayers at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan.
Netanyahu’s office said: “The prime minister made a balanced decision to allow freedom of worship within the security needs determined by professionals.”
Israel has restricted access to the site since 7 October, often forcing Palestinians to hold Friday prayers on streets near the mosque at security checkpoints while some elderly worshippers are admitted to the site.
Israel has offered no details as yet as what the restrictions will be. The month of Ramadan begins on 10 March.
Palestinian news agency Wafa has reported a response to the move from religious leaders in Palestine, writing that they believe “the decision aims to empty the al-Aqsa mosque of Muslim worshippers, in implementation of the plan to Judaize it, and build their alleged temple” and describing it as “an extension of the comprehensive war waged by the occupation forces against everything that is Palestinian.”
Here is a little bit from Jeremy Sharon’s Times of Israel report on proceedings in The Hague earlier today, which outlines more of Paul Reichler’s presentation, in which he specifically cited comments by named Israeli officials. Sharon wrote:
Reichler describes the residence of some 700,000 Israelis in West Bank settlements and East Jerusalem neighborhoods as “a vast colonial enterprise” in which he alleges that Israel has “implanted settlers” as part of a goal of permanent annexation.
He also shows the court a picture of a map of the region used by Netanyahu in a speech to the UN general assembly in September 2023 where Israel is depicted as including all the territory west of the Jordan River with no demarcation at all of the West Bank as evidence that Israel seeks to “eliminate all traces of Palestine.”
He cites Netanyahu’s declared goal from 2019 of annexing the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, as well as finance minister Bezalel Smotrich saying that it was “a national ambition” to control the West Bank from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea,” which, he said, “was an established fact and not open to negotiation.”
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Gaza, Israel and the Netherlands.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that this morning Israeli forces “accompanied by military bulldozers” have razed ground in the village of Husan, west of occupied Bethlehem, to prepare for road-building. It reports that 500m of “citizens’ lands at the eastern entrance to the village” was destroyed.
The Times of Israel reports that after the statement in public at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial declaring Brazil’s president to be “persona non grata” in Israel over his recent comments about Israel, Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz personally toured the memorial with Brazil’s ambassador Federico Mayer and directly showed him the names of Katz’s grandparents who were killed during the Holocaust.
Confirmation Rubymar damaged, crew evacuated after Red Sea attack, as UKMTO reports new incident
The Belize-flagged cargo ship Rubymar sustained damaged after two missiles were fired at the vessel from Yemen, although the crew were able to evacuate, the vessel’s security company told Reuters on Monday.
A spokesperson for maritime security company LSS-SAPU said the vessel was struck astern, although there was nothing flammable aboard.
“There is nobody on board now,” the spokesperson said. “The owners and mangers are considering options for towage.”
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) has just issued a notice about another reported attack. It reported:
UKMTO has received a report of an incident 100NM east of Aden, Yemen. Authorities are investigating. Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO.
UKMTO WARNING INCIDENT 033 19 FEB 24
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) February 19, 2024
ATTACK UPDATE 001https://t.co/zHGNgQp1UB#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/8wvhq9MWk5
Dr Namira Negm has been speaking at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, presenting evidence which she claims shows that Israel has set up an apartheid system in the occupied Palestine territories.
She has cited previous court rulings about the definition of apartheid, and cited quotes from Israeli officials describing the children of Palestinians as “snakes”.
She said “Starting from the Nakba in 1948, Israel has adopted discriminatory legislation measures which has established a deeply entrenched system of racial discrimination against Palestinians. Discrimination against Palestinian people is as integral to Israel’s prolonged occupation as is annexation and colonisation of territroy.”
She says that under the leagal system imposed by Israel, settlers are rarely punished for crimes against Palestinian people or property, while Palestinians “endure horrific levels of human and material losses, including home demolitions enforced as collective punishment”.
International Court of Justice resumes hearing into the 'policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory'
The International Court of Justice hearing into the “policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory” is resuming.
You can watch it here:
In the first session, Palestinian Authority foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki demanded an immediate end to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Al-Maliki accused Israel of subjecting Palestinians to decades of discrimination and apartheid arguing that they had been left with the choice of “displacement, subjugation, or death”.
“The only solution consistent with international law is for this illegal occupation to come to an immediate, unconditional and total end,” Reuters reports he said.
“The genocide under way in Gaza is a result of decades of impunity and inaction. Ending Israel’s impunity is a moral, political and legal imperative,” al-Maliki added.
Israeli has in the past disputed that the territories are formally occupied on the basis that they were captured from Jordan and Egypt in 1967, and not from a sovereign Palestine.
The court has previously found against Israel on the issue of the West Bank, declaring in 2004 that the barrier being built around the West Bank was illegal and should be pulled down, a ruling which Israel has ignored.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office have confirmed that this morning Israel’s prime minister met US senators Chris Coons (Democratic party, Delaware) and Richard Blumenthal (Dem, Connecticut).
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, with US Senators Chris Coons and Richard Blumenthal.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) February 19, 2024
The Director of the National Security Council, the PM's Foreign Policy Adviser and the US Ambassador to Israel also attended the meeting pic.twitter.com/sJfG1LI0Y0
Emanuel Fabian, who is military correspondent at the Times of Israel, has posted this picture of the site of the investigation into a reported fallen drone in northern Israel.
An apparent drone or other projectile hit an open area near the community of Arbel in the Lower Galilee, close to the Sea of Galilee.
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 19, 2024
Police say officers are at the scene handling the incident.
Local authorities say there are no injuries. pic.twitter.com/2tVcEHRmxd
Israel declares Brazil's president Lula 'persona non grata' over Gaza remarks it deems 'serious antisemitic attack'
Israel has declared Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a “persona non grata” over comments he made in which he accused Israel of carrying out a genocide in Gaza which he compared to the actions of Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust.
Having summoned Brazil’s ambassador for a reprimand, Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz issued a statement saying:
We will not forget nor forgive. It is a serious antisemitic attack. In my name and the name of the citizens of Israel – tell president Lula that he is persona non grata in Israel until he takes it back.
At the weekend, Brazil’s president had said “what is happening in the Gaza Strip and to the Palestinian people hasn’t been seen in any other moment in history. Actually, it did when Hitler decided to kill the Jews. What’s happening in the Gaza Strip isn’t a war, it’s a genocide. It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children.”
Ahead of the diplomatic meeting this morning, senior political correspondent Lahav Harkov at the Jewish Insider had made these observations at how unusual the setting was, noting:
[Katz is] doing a few unusual things: The reprimand will happen at Yad Vashem. Katz is doing it himself and not a foreign minister deputy director-general. Also, he invited the media to a statement immediately after. The statement is unusual in of itself, but it also means that photographers will be around to catch the ambassador leaving the reprimand. That’s the kind of thing that doesn’t necessarily seem like a big deal, but for diplomats, takes the reprimand up a level.
Benjamin Netanyahu described the words as “shameful and alarming” and “a trivialization of the Holocaust”.
This morning the health ministry in Gaza reported that over 29,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 69,000 injured as a result of Israel’s military action within the Gaza Strip.
The Interational Court of Justice in The Hague is taking a break after hearing evidence about the legality and nature of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jurasalem. It will reconvene in ten minutes.
Number of Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israeli action since 7 October rises about 29,000 – ministry
The health ministry in Gaza has said the number of Palestinians killed in the territory by Israeli military action since 7 October has risen to 29,092.
In the past 24 hours, 107 Palestinians were killed and 145 injured, Reuters reports the ministry said in its statement. 69,028 are reported injured in total.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Paul Reichler, at the International Court of Justice, has said that among the countries and organisations to submit written statements to the court, only Fiji and the US defend Israel. The US, he says, argues not that the occupation is lawful, but that it is “neither lawful or unlawful”.
Haaretz reports that a bomb squad is in attendance after a reported drone fell near the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel.
Law professor Andreas Zimmerman has addressed the capability of the International Court of Justice to hear the case over the “policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory”.
In his section he stated that there are no compelling reasons for the court not to hear the case, as even if it has political considerations, the questions posed are also clearly of a legal nature.
Paul Reichler is the next person to address the court. He is presenting evidence which he says indicates that Israel’s occupation is in violation of international law. He says “Israel’s 56-year occupation of Palestinian territory is manifestly and gravely unlawful and international law requires it be brought to an end completely and unconditionally”
He argues that there is a clear set of legal obligations for states when temporarily occupying a territory. He says “what makes Israel’s occupation unlawful is precisely its permanent character”, citing statements by Israeli government ministers about expanding Israeli sovereignty permanently in areas of the West Bank, and the establishment of hundreds of permanent settlements within West Bank territory.
He says it is quite clear that it has been the policy aim of successive Israeli governments to create a “single Jewish State extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea”.
Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, has again stressed her country’s position that Israel has the right to defend itself, albeit as long as it complies with international humanitarian law. But she has called for a humanitarian ceasefire. Speaking in Brussels this morning, she said:
I just came back from Israel. I’ve been five times in the region, not only in Israel, [but also] in the [occupied] West Bank, in Jordan, in the Gulf countries, to make [it] very clear.
For us it is of the highest importance that we come to peace in the Middle East.
And this means we need a humanitarian ceasefire. We need the release of the hostages. We need Hamas to lay down its weapons.
And we need the compliance of international humanitarian law by the reaction from Israel after the 7 October and their right of self-defence.”
At ICJ Palestinian Authority says it is a 'moral and legal obligation' to bring Israeli occupiation of West Bank to an end
Riyad al-Maliki, representing the Palestinian Authority, has said that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and has enforced a policy of apartheid against Palestinians for years, and that “allowing this to continue is unacceptable. It is a moral and legal obligation to bring it to a prompt end.”
Addressing the International Court of Justice in The Hague, he said “Palestine was not a land without a people” and it had been subject to a decision made thousands of miles away over a hundred years ago – referring to the Balfour Declaration.
He said that “for decades Palestinians have been denied” the right to self-determination.
The court is now hearing argument from the Palestinian legal team about why it should find the case admissible and why the court has jurisdiction to rule on it.
Riyad al-Maliki has opened his statement in The Hague, telling the International Court of Justice he is proud to be there representing Palestine, and that his appearance comes as “2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, half of them children, are besieged and bombed, killed and maimed, starved and displaced”
He says “There is a genocide happening in Gaza” and that occupation of Israel should come to “an unconditional end”.
He says there are “more than 3.5 million Palestinians … subjected to colonisation of their territory and the racist violence that enables it” in the Israeli-occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem, and says “1.7 million Palestinians in Israel are treated as second-class citizens in their ancestral land.”
Here is a picture of Palestinian Authority foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki and Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour at the International Court of Justice in The Hague this morning.
Hearing opens at ICJ into 'the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory'
Proceedings have started for the day at the International Court of Justice in The Hague in the Netherlands.
Before the court today is “advisory proceedings on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.”
There is a live stream that you can watch here.
AP reports that the Palestinian legal team will tell the panel of international judges that Israel has violated the prohibition on territorial conquest by annexing large swaths of occupied land and the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, and has imposed a system of racial discrimination and apartheid.
51 countries and three international organizations will also have an opportunity to speak. The court will probably take months to issue its opinion. There are public hearings scheduled every working day between now and Monday. Here is the schedule (times are local time):
Mon 19 February: 10am – 1.15pm
Tue 20 February: 10am – 1.10pm and 3pm – 5.40pm
Wed 21 February: 10am – 1.10pm and 3pm – 5.40pm
Thu 22 February: 10am – 1.10pm and 3pm – 6.10pm
Fri 23 February: 10am – 1.10pm and 3pm – 6.10pm
Mon 26 February: 10am – 12.40am and 3pm – 4.30pm
Updated
EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said “everyone is afraid” Benjamin Netanyahu will give the go ahead to a military offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza in the coming days despite mounting international pressure to resist.
Arriving at the summit foreign ministers in Brussels he also lamented one member state, Hungary, for failing to sign a communique last Friday calling for the Israeli prime minister not to go ahead.
In the event the statement went out with 26 signatures.
Borrell said:
[We have] only the same bad news 1.7mn people are being pushed against the Eyptian border. The military operation has not happened, but everybody is afraid that this will happen in the next days. The only solution is to free the hostages and for a permanent ceasefire that could allow to look for a political solution.
Belgium’s foreign minister Hadja Lahbib says she will press her counterparts to support a ceasefire at today’s summit. She said:
As you know, the situation is increasingly alarming with 1.5mn refugees in the south of Rafah, Palestinians who lack everything, and the threat of a ground operation which has been repeated again by the Netanyahu cabinet.
We continue to call for a ceasefire, unhindered access to humanitarian aid and the release of hostages. This is Belgium’s position and it is the one that I will defend again today.
In its latest operational update, Israel’s military has said it continues operations in Khan Younis, claiming to have located “AK-47s, drones, an RPG, explosive devices, and additional military equipment were located.”
It claims that Israel’s air force struck at what it termed an “armed terrorist cell” after forces in Gaza “fired a rocket from the central Gaza Strip which crossed into Israeli territory and fell near kibbutz Be’eri in an open area.”
In addition, the IDF says that in the west of Khan Younis, it “encountered armed terrorists, conducted targeted raids on terror targets, seized weapons and directed a helicopter to strike and eliminate an additional terrorist.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
The Times of Israel is reporting that Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz will deliver a reprimand to Brazil’s ambassador to Israel at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial today. It follows a speech by Brazil’s president which Israel has described as “shameful”.
Speaking in Ethiopia at the weekend, Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had said “what is happening in the Gaza Strip and to the Palestinian people hasn’t been seen in any other moment in history. Actually, it did when Hitler decided to kill the Jews. What’s happening in the Gaza Strip isn’t a war, it’s a genocide. It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children.”
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the words as having “crossed a red line”, adding “The words of the president of Brazil are shameful and alarming. This is a trivialization of the Holocaust and an attempt to harm the Jewish people and Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Yesterday Katz posted to social media to say “The words of the president of Brazil are shameful and serious. No one will harm Israel’s right to defend itself.”
The paper reports that Katz is expected to give a public statement after the démarche.
Israel launched its military campaign on the Gaza Strip after the 7 October surprise Hamas inside southern Israel which killed about 1,140 people.
To date, the Hamas-run ministry of health inside Gaza has stated that at least 28,775 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 68,552 Palestinians injured by Israel’s military action, many of them women and children. An additional 389 Palestinians, including 100 children, have been killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank over the same period, either by Israeli security forces or by Israeli settlers.
Micheál Martin: Israeli attack on Rafah would be 'unconscionable'
Ireland’s foreign minister Micheál Martin has said it would be “unconscionable” if Israel were to go ahead with a bombardment of Rafah where an estimated 1.5 million people have sought sanctuary from attacks in the north and central Gaza.
“The vast majority of the EU foreign affairs council want an end to this horrible war and to violence. We were very clear that hostages should be released and it is unconscionable that they have been held for so long.
“We are also of the view that to invade Rafah or to launch an attack on Rafah would bring about a catastrophic humanitarian situation on top of what is already a dire humanitarian situation, and would be unconscionable [with] the incredible suffering; the immense suffering that families are going through with over 1.5 million people crowded into a very small corner of Gaza.
“The world is shocked … at the level of inhumanity that’s now happening within Gaza,” he said.
Ireland and Spain last week wrote to European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen demanding a review of the EU-Israel association agreement in relation to its human rights obligations.
Martin said it would be “challenging” to get other member states support for the letter.
Updated
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operation (UKMTO) reported overnight another attack on a vessel near the Red Sea. Its report stated:
UKMTO has received a report of an incident 35NM south of Al Mukha, Yemen. Military authorities report crew have abandoned the vessel. Vessel at anchor and all crew are safe. Military authorities remain on scene to provide assistance. Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO.
Reuters quotes a statement from Yemen’s Houthis in which they claim to have attacked the ship Rubymar in the Gulf of Aden, and that it is now at risk of sinking. The ship is a Belize-flagged bulk carrier.
The Houthis also claimed to have downed a US drone over Al Hudaydah, which is a port city on the west coast of Yemen.
Lisa O’Carroll is the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent
EU foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels today to discuss the Middle East, Ukraine and the Red Sea.
On arrival Luxembourg foreign minister Xavier Bettel urged Israel to stop bombardment of Gaza and not to attack Rafah, as threatened.
“I said already a few weeks ago, it’s difficult to explain self-defence so long a time after the attacks of 7 October,” he said.
“I tried to tell them that if they don’t want to lose the last support they have in the world, they should avoid doing things that they would regret. I understand they have pression from Israeli side, they are still hostages, still families who wants that the hostages should be free.
“On the other hand, thousands of people are going to be killed in Gaza, especially, especially now in Rafah,” he said.
Yemen’s Houthis have claimed to have shot down a US drone.
More details soon …
Norway agrees to transfer tax revenue to Palestinian Authority
Norway has agreed to assist in the transfer of frozen tax funds earmarked for the Palestinian Authority (PA) that were collected by Israel, the Norwegian government said on Sunday
Under interim peace accords reached in the 1990s, Israel’s finance ministry collects tax on behalf of the Palestinians and makes monthly transfers to the PA, but a dispute broke out over payments in the wake of the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
The temporary solution will allow payments to resume and prevent a financial collapse for the PA, enabling it to pay salaries and provide essential services such as schools and healthcare, Norway said.
Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Stoere:
This is critical to promoting stability in the region and for the Palestinian Authority to have legitimacy among its people
Under the solution agreed with Israel and Palestinian officials, Norway will serve as an intermediary for holding revenues that Israel has withheld since 7 October.
“The Palestinian Authority is then willing to accept the other funds,” Norway said. The portion of the revenue Norway will keep equals the portion that Israel estimates for Gaza, said a Norwegian foreign ministry spokesperson.
Asked whether the PA retained control of where it spends the money it received, or whether it had committed not to send any money to Gaza, the ministry spokesperson said the questions should be directed to the PA.
Israel expects to continue full-scale military operations in Gaza for another six to eight weeks as it prepares to mount a ground invasion of the southernmost city of Rafah, four officials familiar with the strategy told Reuters.
Military chiefs believe they can significantly damage Hamas’ remaining capabilities in that time, paving the way for a shift to a lower-intensity phase of targeted airstrikes and special forces operations. That’s according to the two Israeli and two regional officials who asked Reuters to remain anonymous so they could speak freely.
There is little chance that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government will heed international criticism to call off a Rafah ground assault, said Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official and a negotiator in the first and second Palestinian intifada, or uprisings, in the 1980s and 2000s.
“Rafah is the last bastion of Hamas control and there remain battalions in Rafah which Israel must dismantle to achieve its goals in this war,” he told Reuters.
ICJ hearings into Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories
The international court of justice is to open a week of hearings Monday on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, with more than 50 states due to address the judges.
The case dates back to 2022 when the UN general assembly asked the court for an advisory, or non-binding, opinion on the occupation, Reuters reports.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki will speak first in the legal proceedings.
While Israel has ignored such opinions in the past, it could pile on political pressure over its ongoing war in Gaza, which has killed about 29,000 Palestinians, according to officials in the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, since the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
Among countries scheduled to participate in the hearings are the United States - Israel’s strongest supporter, China, Russia, South Africa and Egypt. Israel will not, although it has sent written observations.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem – areas of historic Palestine which the Palestinians want for a state – in the 1967 war. It withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but, along with neighbouring 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 Palestinian territory.
Israel indicates timeline for planned Rafah offensive
Israel will launch its long-threatened offensive against Rafah next month if Hamas has not freed the remaining hostages held in Gaza by the start of Ramadan, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said.
“The world must know, and Hamas leaders must know – if by Ramadan our hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere, including the Rafah area,” Gantz, a retired military chief of staff, told a conference of American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem Sunday, according to Agence France-Presse.
Gantz made similar comments on a timeline on Friday, according to the Times of Israel, but otherwise, the Israeli government has not previously specified a deadline for its planned assault on the city where most of the 1.7 million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge.
Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, is expected to begin on 10 March.
Gantz added that an offensive would be carried out in a coordinated manner and in conversation with Americans and Egyptians to facilitate an evacuation and “minimise the civilian casualties as much as possible”.
But where people can safely relocate on the besieged Gaza Strip remains unclear.
Fears for civilians have led foreign governments and aid organisations to repeatedly urge Israel to not go into Rafah, the last major city not invaded by ground troops during the four-month-old war.
Despite the mounting international pressure, including a direct appeal from US President Joe Biden, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists the war cannot be completed without pressing into Rafah.
Welcome and opening summary
It’s 8:21am in Gaza and Tel Aviv, welcome to our latest Guardian live blog on the Middle East crisis. I’m Reged Ahmad and I’ll be with you for the next while.
Israel will launch its long-threatened offensive against Rafah next month if Hamas has not freed the remaining hostages held in Gaza by the start of Ramadan, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said.
The Israeli government has not previously specified a deadline for its planned assault on the city where most of the 1.7 million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge.
“The world must know, and Hamas leaders must know – if by Ramadan our hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere, including the Rafah area,” Gantz, a retired military chief of staff, told a conference of American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem Sunday, according to Agence France-Presse.
More on that in a moment but first, here’s a summary of the latest developments:
The UN security council is expected to vote Tuesday on an Arab-backed resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, which the United States announced it will veto, Associates Press reports.
Israel formalised its opposition to what it called the “unilateral recognition” of Palestinian statehood, and said any such agreement must be reached through direct negotiations. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, brought the “declaratory decision” to a vote in cabinet, which unanimously approved the measure, according to a statement.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the situation in the Israel-occupied West Bank posed a major obstacle to finding a long-term solution for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in Gaza is no longer functioning due to the Israeli army’s “week-long siege followed by the ongoing raid”. The Gaza Strip’s second-largest hospital still sheltered many patients suffering from war wounds and Gaza’s worsening health crisis, but there was no power and not enough staff to treat them all, health officials said. “It’s gone completely out of service,” Gaza health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra told Reuters. “There are only four medical teams – 25 staff – currently caring for patients inside the facility,” he said.
A total of 28,985 Palestinian people have been killed and 68,883 others injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said in a statement. At least 127 Palestinians have been killed and 205 others injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that it killed dozens of Palestinian militants and seized a large amount of weapons in fighting throughout the Gaza Strip over the past day.
Western powers have rejected suggestions that Hamas as an entity can be allowed a role in governing Gaza at the end of the war, saying only that they recognise that Palestinian militancy will still exist.
In the UK, Keir Starmer, the Labour party leader, said the “fighting must stop now” in Gaza, warning Israel not to extend its military offensive to the southern city of Rafah.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva accused Israel on Sunday of committing “genocide” against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. “What’s happening in the Gaza Strip isn’t a war, it’s a genocide,” Lula told reporters in Addis Ababa, where he was attending an African Union summit. “It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children,” he added. The 78-year-old leader condemned Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel as a “terrorist” act but he has since grown vocally critical of Israel’s retaliatory military campaign.
US forces in the Red Sea have successfully conducted “five self-defence strikes” to foil attacks by land and sea from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, the American military said Sunday. The five strikes included targeting “the first observed Huthi employment of a UUV (unmanned underwater vessel) since attacks began” in October, according to a statement from US central command (Centcom). Meanwhile maritime security firm Ambrey reported a new incident in the strategic Bab al-Mandeb straight, in which a cargo vessel came under attack on Sunday.
