Israel-Hamas war: South Africa files 'genocide' case at ICJ

US President Joe Biden's administration has used an emergency authority for the second time this month to authorize the sale of weapons to Israel, the Pentagon said Friday.

The move means the $147.5 million (€134 million) sale can proceed without congressional review.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to Israel, thereby waiving the congressional review requirements.

The equipment includes fuses, charges, and primers needed to make the 155 mm artillery shells that Israel has already purchased function.

Blinken made a similar decision on December 9 to authorize the sale of nearly 14,000 tank shells, worth more than $106 million, to Israel.

The Palestinian Authority's Foreign Ministry has welcomed South Africa's accusation of "genocide" against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), calling for immediate action to "protect the Palestinian people".

"The State of Palestine welcomes the decision of the Government of South Africa to institute proceedings against Israel," it said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter. 

"Israel's stated policy, acts and omissions are genocidal in character" it went on, describing Israel's "colonial occupation and apartheid regime."

South Africa has filed a case of genocide against Israel at the ICJ, accusing it of acting with the intent to "destroy Palestinians in Gaza as part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group."

Israel has rejected South Africa's allegations, accusing it of "collaborating" with terrorists.

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a phone call with Israeli minister and War Cabinet member
Benny Gantz on Friday.

The chancellor emphasized the continued urgent need to sustainably improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, and to make every effort to improve the lives of the civilian population, a statement from Scholz's office said.

The German leader emphasized the importance of preventing the conflict from spreading regionally.

Gantz informed the chancellor of the latest developments in Gaza and on Israel's northern border, the statement said.

World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that infectious diseases could be spreading among those displaced by Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza.

"As people continue to be massively displaced across the south of Gaza, with some families forced to move multiple times and many sheltering in overcrowded health facilities, my WHO colleagues and I remain very concerned about the increasing threat of infectious diseases," he said on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Since mid-October until mid-December, people living in shelters have continued to fall sick," he added.

Tedros said almost 180,000 people in the territory were suffering from upper respiratory infections and there were 136,400 cases of diarrhea.

He also pointed to the thousands of cases of lice, scabies, chickenpox, skin rash and jaundice, and over 100 cases of meningitis.

Tedros said the WHO and its partners were "working tirelessly to support the health authorities to increase disease surveillance and control" and "trying to improve access to safe water, food, hygiene and sanitation services."

Around 85% of the Palestinian territory's population of around 2.3 million has been internally displaced since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.

International organizations such as the WHO have repeatedly warned that overcrowding at shelters and a lack of proper sanitation or access to medical supplies increase the risk of epidemics.

South Africa has accused Israel of "genocide" against Palestinians at the United Nation's top court.

The case filed to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleges that "acts and omissions by Israel […] are genocidal in character."

It also accused Israel of acting with the intent to "destroy Palestinians in Gaza as part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group."

"Israel, since 7 October 2023 in particular, has failed to prevent genocide and has failed to prosecute the direct and public incitement to genocide," said a statement from South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

The department urged the ICJ to declare "on an urgent basis that Israel is in breach of its obligations in terms of the Genocide Convention, should immediately cease all acts and measures in breach of those obligations and take a number of related actions."

Israel has rejected South Africa's allegations, accusing it of "collaborating" with terrorists.

"South Africa is collaborating with a terrorist group that calls for Israel's destruction," said a statement from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. "The people of Gaza are not an enemy of Israel, who is making efforts to limit harm to non-combatants."

Israel classifies Hamas as a terrorist organization, as do the United States, the European Union, Germany and several other states.

Around 85% of the Gaza Strip's population has been displaced in the conflict. The Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory has said that over 21,000 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and fighting since October 7.

On Tuesday, South African lawmakers voted to suspend formal ties with Israel and close Israel's embassy. The move needs to be approved by President Cyril Ramaphosa to take effect.

Israel's ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, has called for a stronger response to growing antisemitism in Germany.

Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, the number of antisemitic crimes in Germany has risen sharply. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has recorded more than 1,100 antisemitic offenses up to December 21.

"The fact that Jews are afraid to wear a kippa on the street or speak on their cellphones in Hebrew, that simply cannot be. We have to wake up," he told news agency DPA, using another term for the yarmulke skullcap.

"People who are afraid to take their children to school if the school is not protected: these are conditions that are not normal," warned Prosor. "The fear is really there."

The increase in crimes since October, which were mainly damage to property and incitement to hatred, is a steep rise from the previous three quarters of this year, with 558 antisemitic crimes registered in the first quarter, 609 in the second and 540 in the third.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they were expanding operations in the area around the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

"The troops eliminated dozens of terrorists by means of air attacks, snipers and tank fire," the IDF said in a post on its Hebrew-language account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Israeli authorities believe military leaders from the Palestinian militant group Hamas are holed up in Khan Younis.

Israel has ordered residents of the city to evacuate to Rafah, which lies on the border with Egypt.

Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the US, the EU, Germany, Israel and other governments.

A Palestinian has rammed a car into several people in the occupied West Bank, according to the Israeli military.

Four people were wounded in the incident, according to the Magen David Adom paramedic service. It said one person treated was in a "moderate condition" and three others were lightly wounded.

Soldiers stopped the driver at the scene of the ramming, near a military outpost south of the city of Hebron. According to local media, the driver was shot dead.

More than 520 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank this year by Israeli security forces and settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry based in Ramallah. At least 314 of the deaths occurred after October 7.

As Israel's air and ground offensive against Hamas militants is gradually shifting to southern Gaza, Palestinians who have sought refuge in designated safe areas are at risk.

The United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Friday that a convoy returning from an aid delivery to northern Gaza had been fired on by Israeli forces.

The convoy, which was traveling along a route cleared as safe by the Israeli army, was attacked on Thursday, according to Thomas White, head of UNRWA in Gaza.

"Israeli soldiers fired at an aid convoy as it returned from northern Gaza along a route designated by the Israeli army — our international convoy leader and his team were not injured but one vehicle sustained damage," White wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Israel said that it was looking into the incident.

Earlier on Friday, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths detailed a series of reasons why it has been difficult to get aid to the Palestinians in Gaza who need it.

The reasons included the "three layers of inspections before trucks can even enter" Gaza, "a growing list of rejected items" and "convoys shot at," among others.

Four people have been hanged in Iran after they were convicted of collaborating with Israel's Mossad spy agency.

"Four members of a sabotage group related to the Zionist regime... were hanged this morning," the Iranian news agency Mizan Online, which reports on legal matters in the country, said.

The group "committed extensive actions against the country's security under the guidance of the Mossad," Mizan reported.

The executed were three men and one woman. They were sentenced to death on charges of "moharebeh" — waging war against God — and "corruption on Earth."

The executions were carried out in West Azerbaijan and came shortly after a man was hanged in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan on similar charges.

Iran backs a number of groups around the Middle East, including Hamas, Hezbollah , the Houthis in Yemen and various Iraqi militias. It also supports the Syrian government headed by Bashar Assad. All of these are hostile to Israel.

Earlier this week, an Israeli strike killed a high-ranking Iranian general inside Syria, Iranian media said. Iran and Iranian-backed groups vowed revenge.

Israel is known to have carried out hundreds of such strikes in Syria, including on the country's airports. The Israeli military usually does not officially acknowledge or comment on the strikes.

A drone and missile, allegedly fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen at vessels in the Red Sea, were shot down by a US warship on Thursday, according to the US military.

US Central Command said that the missile was an anti-ship ballistic missile.

The Houthis have repeatedly targeted ships passing along the busy maritime trade route, forcing some ships to avoid the sea that passes south of Israel.

The group has said the attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians.

The US has launched a multinational coalition to deploy in the area and prevent further attacks on shipping.

High-level Hamas officials were expected to take part in talks in the Egyptian capital on Friday to discuss a peace proposal that could bring an end to the almost three-month-long war.

The proposal, put forward by Cairo, lays out three phases that would see the release of 40 Israeli hostages in Gaza and 120 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails; talks between Hamas and Fatah, which run the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, respectively; and finally the formation of a technocratic government that would oversee humanitarian aid and reconstruction in Gaza.

The deal would also stipulate the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave.

It is unclear whether Israel would agree to the terms since the Israeli government has stated that its war aims are to wipe out Hamas — considered impossible by many experts — and to maintain military control over Gaza after the war. Hamas officials have previously also expressed reservations about the proposal.

Egypt — like Qatar — has played a key role in mediation between the two sides in the conflict.

Hamas is designated a terror organization by Israel, the United States, Germany and several other nations.

ab/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa, EFE)