Israel-Palestine War: Hamas Breaks Out of Gaza, Israel Responds With Genocide

As of today, 31 countries have appeared before the highest court.
What is noteworthy is that most of the countries appearing today have countered the arguments of the United States that this is not the appropriate forum to express an opinion and that the highest court should not rule on this issue because it is a bilateral issue between Israel and the Palestinians. In response the court is being told that it is now in a position to speak, because all the negotiations, all the diplomatic efforts seen throughout the war and over the years, have completely failed. let's wait and see how the events continue to unfold.

Day 4 of hearings CIJ​

China
Ma Xinmin, a Foreign Ministry legal adviser
+ China “has consistently supported the just cause of the Palestinian people in restoring their legitimate right”.
+“In pursuit of the right to self-determination”, he states, the Palestinian people’s use of force to “resist foreign oppression” and complete the establishment of an independent state is an “inalienable right”.
+Its very important to have the advisory opinion coming from the world’s highest court because it will guide any future negotiations.

Iran
Raza Najafi, foreign minister for legal and international affairs,
+“we remain at a turning point in the history” of humanity.
+“The opinion of this court can set the ground for saving the lives of thousands of innocent women and children and contribute to the legitimate demand of the people deprived of their inherent right to self-determination,” he said.
+constitute the ongoing violation by the Israeli occupying regime:
-Prolonged occupation
-Altering demographic composition in the occupied territories
-Altering the character and the status of the Holy City
-Discriminatory measures
-Violations of the rights of Palestinian people to permanent sovereignty over their natural resources
+“All the atrocities and crimes committed by the Israeli regime in the past almost eight years are a consequence of such inaction,” he said.
Even today, he added, the UNSC is “paralysed due to the stalemate” caused by a “certain permanent member”.

Irak
Hayder Shiya Al-Barrak, the representative of Iraq at the ICJ
+“the barbaric acts” committed by Israel, including “air strikes and rocket attacks targeting civilians”.“These acts constitute war crimes executed with a criminal intent” and are serious violations of the laws of war, he said, adding that Israel “must be held accountable”.
+the ICJ to make decisions “that safeguard the lives of the Palestinian men, women, children and elders, allowing them to enjoy a dignified and secure life where all human rights are achieved”.

Ireland
Attorney General Rossa Fanning
+international law limits the use of force in self-defence to “no more than what is necessary and proportionate”.
+Israel has “exceeded these limits” in its military response,
+The “defining feature” of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has been “continuous settlement activity”. “Through its actions, Israel has fundamentally altered the demographics of the West Bank,”

Japan
Tomohiro Mikanagi, Foreign Ministry of Japan.
+ Japan to argue this point: The international law about the inadmissibility of acquiring any territory by force applies to even the land within the borders that are not recognised internationally.

Jordan
Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s representative at the ICJ. Ahmad Ziadat,Minister of Justice
+“No country must be allowed to be above the law,” he added. “Israel is acting and has been allowed to act in complete disregard of international law. That cannot continue.”
+“The occupation is unlawful, it is inhumane, it must end, yet Israel has been systematically consolidating the occupation that is blatantly denying Palestinians’ right to self-determination.”
+ that attacks on holy sites in Jerusalem “threaten their integrity”.
+Israel’s policies and practices violate the law of occupation, Israel has engaged in a policy of progressively establishing settlements in so-called outposts.
+ Israeli settlements undermine the establishment of a sovereign, independent, contiguous and viable Palestinian state.
+Israel’s policies and practices when considered in their entirety leave no doubt as to Israel’s intention to annex occupied Palestinian territory.
+Israel must end its occupation across all Palestinian territory – that is for the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza. This must be done as a matter of urgency and as rapidly as possible.

Libia
Ahmed El Jahani,
+ The court has jurisdiction on the matter of the legality of the Israeli occupation and is entitled to issue an advisory opinion. Its statute stipulates that the court is entitled to give an opinion on any legal question following a request by the UN General Assembly.
+It was wrong of some countries to ask the ICJ not to hand out its advisory opinion to the UN General Assembly “with a perverse argument” that this would get in the way of bilateral negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. “The law is the framework which prevents the political slippage, be it public or private level,”
+ The Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the occupied Palestinian territories, despite Israel’s claims to the contrary.
+ “Some may question the application of the norm prohibiting the use of force [to acquire territory] on the basis that it is an inter-state norm. That would imply that the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territory] is not part of a state … Lebanon and more than 140 members of the UN have recognised the State of Palestine and East Jerusalem as its capital.”
+“Israel must dismantle its settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and withdraw therefrom … It must also seize all violations of Palestinian peoples’ right to self-determination … It must also issue reparations.”
+The prohibition against the threat or use of force is enshrined in the UN Charter and is a cornerstone of the international legal order.

Luxembourg
’Alain Germeaux
+ Israel transferred part of its population to the occupied territories, which is unlawful according to the Fourth Geneva Convention. It continues to unlawfully destroy Palestinian property and subject Palestinians to violence.
+Illegal settlements are a major impediment to the achievement of a two-state solution and a “just and lasting and comprehensive peace”.
+Israel’s “activities of colonisation cannot be justified under self-defence.” Settlement activities are not proportionate or necessary measures.

Malasia
Dato' Seri Utama Haji Mohamad bin Haji Hasan, ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Malasia,
+ Israel “must withdraw immediately from the Occupied Palestinian Territory [OPT]”. “Second, Israel must offer assurances and guarantees of non-repetition and third, Israel is under obligation to offer full reparations – annulment or repeal of all offending legislative and regulatory measures it has adopted for the [occupied Palestinian territories],”

Mauritius
+Mauritius cited the court’s opinion on the country’s decolonisation from Britain and in particular the case of the Chagos Archipelago’s unlawful detachment and its incorporation into a new colony.
+ In its advisory opinion delivered in 2019, the ICJ concluded that “the process of decolonisation of Mauritius was not lawfully completed when that country acceded to independence” and that Britain was “under an obligation to bring to an end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible”.
+Like the Palestinian territories, the Chagos Archipelago had been under long-lasting occupation.
+ court’s opinion would be beneficial to negotiations and to achieving a two-state solution.
 
Day 5 of these hearings highlights the hearing held by the United Kingdom which like the US does not want the legal opinion on this matter to be known in a clear commitment to protect its ally from liability.
It must be remembered that this ICJ court judges by the nature of the legal actions that take place in a territory and does not judge the geostrategic or political convenience or who commits them.

Israel is doing everything to make international law to look like "fairytale".
Yes, Israel has shown its total disregard for any criticism received at the UN, G-20 or ICJ, but judging by their actions, there is a lot of fear of retaliation. I see it as "optimistic" in the sense that they are rushing, time is running against them and they are very power hungry and very delusional thinking there will be no consequences. That makes them clumsy among themselves and also dangerous, but hopefully that evidence is what will soon stop this cruel carnage.

Day 5 of hearings CIJ

Namibia
Namibia’s Justice Minister Yvonne Dausab
+ The parallels between Palestine and Namibia are “striking and painful”. Instead of exerting their right to govern themselves, “Palestinians and Namibians suffered the loss of human dignity … and the outright theft of their land and natural resources”.
+ Because of Namibia’s experience with apartheid, “we cannot look the other way in the face of the brutal atrocities committed against the Palestinian people”. We ask the court “not to look away either”.

Norway
+ Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem constitute a chief obstacle to any prospects for a lasting peace in the region.
+ Developments on the ground “give reason to ask whether the occupation is turning into a de-facto annexation.
+Annexation is a unilateral act and is prohibited under customary international law.

Oman
Abdullah bin Salem bin Hamad Alharthy, representing Oman at the ICJ,
+ The transfer of settlers by Israel over the decades is “designed to perpetuate the occupation and make it permanent”.
+ The forcible displacement of Palestinians and the transfer of citizens of the occupying power is prohibited under article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
+ The court should find that the legal consequences for the government of Israel include the immediate cessation of all illegal acts including settlements and “associated illegal administrative frameworks”.
+Third states are under a clear obligation not to recognise or facilitate the illegal situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and ensure Israel’s compliance to international humanitarian law.

Pakistán
Ahmed Irfan Aslam, Minister for Law and Justice
+ “Annexation” now applies to the entire Palestinian territories and this “might have been the intention all along”.
+But it is not impossible to reverse the facts on the ground, and it has been done before, such as when France withdrew more than a million settlers from Algeria in 1962.
+The two-state solution “must be the basis for peace”.

Indonesia,
Retno Marsudi, Indonesian Foreign Minister
+ “I stand before you to defend justice against a blatant violation of international humanitarian law that is being committed by Israel,”
+“Israel’s unlawful occupation and its atrocities must stop and should not be normalised or recognised. It is clear that Israel has zero intention to abide by international legal obligations.”
+No state should be granted “free rein to do anything it wants against weaker states. This is why we have international law.”
+There is no ground for the court to decline giving an advisory opinion. Some countries have argued that doing so would undermine the peace process, but this argument is invalid because there are no viable negotiations taking place at the moment and the court is not called on to decide on the conflict as a whole.
+All actions that preclude the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination “shall be unlawful”. It is clear that the continuation of Israel’s “apartheid regime” is in breach of international law.

Qatar
Senior Qatari diplomat Mutlaq al-Qahtani
+(…) growing perception that some basic tenants of international law “apply to some but not to others, that some people are seen as deserving security, freedom and self-determination but others are not”.
+ Israel has “ethnically cleansed and colonised” the Palestinian territories and implemented an “apartheid regime” with the intent of “maintaining the domination of Jewish Israelis over Palestinians”.
+ Israel’s illegal discriminatory practices are the “tools of a longstanding settler colonial project.” Settler policies are designed for the “permanent colonisation of the [occupied Palestinian territories] for the exclusive benefit of Jewish settlers … and are the root cause of the cycle of violence there”.
+ Statements by Israeli government members suggest the besieged Gaza Strip may be the next part of the Palestinian territories to be subject to Israeli settlements.
+ Israel’s occupation is illegal
+ The court has the “clear mandate and indeed the responsibility to remedy to this unacceptable situation. The credibility of the international legal order depends on your opinion and the stakes cannot be higher.”

UK
+Israel’s occupation is illegal and called for a two-state negotiated solution
+ Against the court giving an advisory opinion .
+The court would be inappropriately ruling on a bilateral dispute. Where a request is directly related to the main point of a dispute, the court should refrain from giving an opinion.
+ The court’s advisory jurisdiction cannot be used to provide a form of judicial recourse for parties, nor should the court resolve disputes between the parties using its advisory jurisdiction.
+Issuing an opinion would undermine the current security framework led by the UN Security Council.
+ Israel has not agreed to the ICJ giving its opinion on the matter and the so-called non-circumvention principle compels the court to decline giving an opinion when there is a lack of consent.
+ The scope of a fact-finding mission would be too broad in the context of an ongoing and active conflict where the situation on the ground is rapidly shifting. The court “may draw legal conclusions on an incorrect factual basis”.

Slovenia

+ The need for negotiations is not a compelling reason for the court to decline giving an advisory opinion.
+Slovenia reiterates its support for a negotiated two-state solution.
+The right to self-determination is not “some random right” but runs parallel to the equal rights of people. It is a “fundamental human right having a broad scope of application”.
+The ongoing Israeli occupation is an impediment to the right to self-determination and the establishment of the Palestinian state.

Sudan
+ The UN General Assembly has the power to ask the ICJ to provide an advisory opinion on any legal question. This request has been made in accordance to the UN Charter and the questions are legal in character.
+ The court has the discretion to decide whether or not to respond. However, it is an established jurisprudential principle that a request should not be rebuked.

Switzerland
+Israel has put in place in the occupied Palestinian territories a “coercive environment” that “cannot be justified under security requirements because it affects the well-being of the population and is discriminatory in nature”.
+The occupier (Israel) might enforce new laws to guarantee the security of the occupier, the order of public life and the respect of humanitarian law, but the measures adopted by Israel in the occupied territories contravene the previously mentioned criteria and aggravate the risk of forced population transfers and the use of lethal force preventively and disproportionately.

Syria
+The ICJ to issue an advisory decision in light of the many Israeli violations in the occupied Palestinian territories, including restrictions of movement, the application of a two-tier legal system and the consolidation of settlements and other forms of institutional discrimination.
+The forced displacement of Palestinians and the confiscation of their land in parallel to the transfer of settlers is prohibited under international law.
+The court should clarify that Palestinians must be able to exercise their right to self-determination and that Israel must remove all structures that prevent this
“without delay.”
 
As of today, 31 countries have appeared before the highest court.
What is noteworthy is that most of the countries appearing today have countered the arguments of the United States that this is not the appropriate forum to express an opinion and that the highest court should not rule on this issue because it is a bilateral issue between Israel and the Palestinians. In response the court is being told that it is now in a position to speak, because all the negotiations, all the diplomatic efforts seen throughout the war and over the years, have completely failed. let's wait and see how the events continue to unfold.

Day 4 of hearings CIJ​


China
Ma Xinmin, a Foreign Ministry legal adviser

+ China “has consistently supported the just cause of the Palestinian people in restoring their legitimate right”.
+“In pursuit of the right to self-determination”, he states, the Palestinian people’s use of force to “resist foreign oppression” and complete the establishment of an independent state is an “inalienable right”.
+Its very important to have the advisory opinion coming from the world’s highest court because it will guide any future negotiations.

Ma Xinmin did an excellent job. Failed to find a full official transcript; China MFA website has only a short note so far. Below, excerpts from two articles.


China to ICJ: Palestinians have the right to armed struggle against Israeli occupation
Ahram Online , Thursday 22 Feb 2024

In a bold statement on the fourth day of the International Court of Justice hearing on the legal consequences of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, China said that Palestinians have the right to engage in armed struggle against Israel, stressing that armed resistance is a right of colonized peoples and does not contradict international law.

Taking the stand at the Hague, Ma Xinmin, a Chinese Foreign Ministry legal adviser, said that “in pursuit of the right to self-determination” the Palestinian people have the right to the “use of force to resist foreign oppression and to complete the establishment of the Palestinian state.”

"It is an inalienable right well founded in international law."

Citing examples of “various people who freed themselves from colonial rule” through armed resistance, he affirmed that using force against Israelis by Palestinians is not terrorism but rather a legitimate armed struggle.

"Their practices serve as convincing evidence for the legitimacy of struggling by all available means, including armed struggle, by peoples under colonial domination or foreign occupation."

Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, China has been calling for an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of a Palestinian state. [...]


China affirms Palestinian people’s right to wage armed struggle for liberation​



The government of China has made an extremely important statement affirming the right of the Palestinian people to engage in armed struggle for liberation.

Speaking on February 22, on the second day of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s hearings on ‘The Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jersusalem’, held at the Hague, Holland, Ma Xinmin, Legal Adviser to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, referring to the results of the ‘Six Day War’ in June 1967, that 57 years have passed since Israel began its occupation and that the unlawful nature of the occupation as well as the sovereignty over the occupied territory remain unchanged. The Palestinians must not be denied justice, he added. “Justice has been long delayed, but it must not be denied.”

In the section of his speech released as a short clip by Al Jazeera, Ma said that the “Palestinian people’s use of force to resist foreign oppression and complete the establishment of an independent state is an inalienable right. This recognition is also [having previously referred to a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly] reflected in international conventions. For example, the Arab Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism of 1998 affirms, ‘the right of peoples to combat foreign occupation and aggression by whatever means, including armed struggle, in order to liberate their territories and secure their right to self-determination and independence.’ Armed struggle in this context is distinguished from acts of terrorism.”

Telesur reported that: “Besides mentioning the United Nations General Assembly’s resolutions related to the Palestinian case, the Chinese ambassador indicated that the armed struggle is usually one of the means to which nations resort when seeking to achieve their self-determination.”

“The 1973 UNGA Resolution 3070 reaffirms the legitimacy of the people’s struggle for liberation from colonial and foreign domination and alien subjugation by all available means, including armed struggle,” he stressed.

The Palestine Chronicle described the Chinese statement as the strongest made in the day’s proceedings.

It quoted Ma as saying that: “The struggle waged by peoples for their liberation, right to self-determination, including armed struggle against colonialism, occupation, aggression, domination against foreign forces should not be considered terror acts.”

In a separate article, The Palestine Chronicle reports that, “Ma also noted that the conflict stems ‘from Israel’s prolonged occupation of Palestinian territory and Israel’s longstanding oppression of the Palestinian people.’

Therefore, according to the Chinese representative, “‘the Palestinian peoples’ fight against Israeli oppression and their struggle for completing the establishment of an independent state under occupied territory are essentially just actions.’”

Full speech, 27 min
Extracted subtitles, formatted a bit, in attached doc file.

 

Attachments

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I'm sharing this photograph here and I hope it won't be seen as noise. Sometimes it's important to see tender images that are pure love, and remind us that beyond the suffering, the bombings, the news and the analyses, there's still a child and a mother who love each other to death. And that if it hurts Gaza, in us, and if it brings tears to our eyes it thanks in part to these images of tenderness, so rare.

1708804650428.png
 
More on Unit 8200
The platform has also been accused of deleting content expressing support for Palestinians during the Israel-Gaza conflict.
MintPress has reported that hundreds of former agents of Israel's notorious spy organization, Unit 8200, have risen to positions of influence in many of the world's largest tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon.
MintPress has reported that hundreds of former agents of Israel's notorious spy organization, Unit 8200, have risen to positions of influence in many of the world's largest tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon.
There is a reference to the 40+ whistleblowers connected to Israeli Military Unit 8200 - who in 2014 wrote a public letter to their Commander and Prime Minister, refusing to take part in action against Palestinians or be used as tools in deepening military control over the Occupied Territories. It was a good, brief, clear letter. You can read it here. Humans with a conscience / soul, who clearly have eyes to see.

I can only imagine how they feel about October 7 / what has been happening in Gaza/West Bank. How clearly they would see what was being set up all along. I noted in a Wiki entry about the group that Unit 8200 were being blamed for October 7 - and I also noted there was no mention of the whistleblowers. 🍃
The Wiki says
2023-2024 Hamas attack[edit]
In the failure to forecast the 2023-2024 Hamas attack on Israel by Israel's intelligence agencies, Unit 8200 was blamed for having underestimated Hamas activities.[20] Unit 8200 is alleged to have stopped listening to Hamas's handheld radios in 2022, deciding it was a "waste of effort". Monitoring that radio network might have helped the Shin Bet realize a few hours before the attack that the unusual activity they were seeing on the Gaza border was not just another military exercise by Hamas, Times of Israel noted.[21] The New York Times reported in November that a veteran analyst in Unit 8200 had warned in July that Hamas were preparing for a cross-border attack and that the analyst's concerns were dismissed by senior military leadership as "totally imaginative".[22]

The "Spotters", known as tatzpitaniyot, are female members of the IDF who observe the barriers along the border and activate complex technological systems to prevent the enemy from penetrating into Israel. Their responsibilities have been described as a "difficult, cognitively and emotionally demanding job that entails hours of closely monitoring surveillance cameras, with the knowledge that missing even the slightest unusual event along the border could have disastrous effects on the entire country" but "[t]hey didn’t miss Hamas' preparations for the October 7 attack"; one was quoted as saying, "We were all seeing Hamas militants training for exactly what happened: We saw them training to crash the fence, training to kill civilians, training to take back hostages" and another stated "We knew this would happen. We warned the higher ups. But they ignored us. They told us that they know better, even though this is our job—we have to know every tree, every tent, every pothole in our section, and especially to know when something unusual is happening. And we do."[23][24][25] Only two of the tatzpitaniyot on duty on 7 October 2023 evaded death or abduction.[26]
It appears they were sacrificed!
 
I wonder what others think about act of Aaron Bushnell. In first, before watching the video, I was thinking that it was clear sign to Universe that he refuse to participate in a genocid. And that he is a brave man and that his message could possibly someone stimulate to think about what is really happening. Watching the video left me breathless. His screams. Those are one of the things that stays with you...
 
I wonder what others think about act of Aaron Bushnell. In first, before watching the video, I was thinking that it was clear sign to Universe that he refuse to participate in a genocid. And that he is a brave man and that his message could possibly someone stimulate to think about what is really happening. Watching the video left me breathless. His screams. Those are one of the things that stays with you...
“What others think...”
Well,
I can only speak for myself, and being a mother of two compassionate, gallant and virtuous grown men, I am feeling, and sensing, rather than simply “thinking”, and the depths of despair that young man was in, is horrific.
My heart absolutely breaks for Aaron Bushnell and his choice, the final choice to sacrifice himself.
His choices became Devastating and final.
His career choice, the U.S. Air Force, a dead end trap, he was a tool to murder others.
One can see he definitely felt compassion for others.
So, with his ability to see reality, and feel for others, well, his conscience, paired with his depth of empathy there is no way his his soul could not abide.
Realizing his soul could not obey, Aaron Bushnell chose differently.
To him, in his angst and masculine compassionate despair, he had no other way out.
He died this morning.
May the next stages of his amazing soul journey be fantastically easier than this Life was.


“A US airman has died after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC.

The man was identified by police as Aaron Bushnell, 25, of San Antonio, Texas.

Officers from the US Secret Service extinguished the flames before the man was taken to hospital on Sunday afternoon.

Before setting himself on fire, he said he would "no longer be complicit in genocide".

In a video aired live on a streaming site, Twitch, the man identified himself and said he was a serving member of the Air Force.

He said he was "about to engage in an extreme act of protest." After setting himself on fire, he repeatedly shouted "free Palestine".

 
“What others think...”
Well,
I can only speak for myself, and being a mother of two compassionate, gallant and virtuous grown men, I am feeling, and sensing, rather than simply “thinking”, and the depths of despair that young man was in, is horrific.
My heart absolutely breaks for Aaron Bushnell and his choice, the final choice to sacrifice himself.
His choices became Devastating and final.
His career choice, the U.S. Air Force, a dead end trap, he was a tool to murder others.
One can see he definitely felt compassion for others.
So, with his ability to see reality, and feel for others, well, his conscience, paired with his depth of empathy there is no way his his soul could not abide.
Realizing his soul could not obey, Aaron Bushnell chose differently.
To him, in his angst and masculine compassionate despair, he had no other way out.
He died this morning.
May the next stages of his amazing soul journey be fantastically easier than this Life was.


“A US airman has died after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC.

The man was identified by police as Aaron Bushnell, 25, of San Antonio, Texas.

Officers from the US Secret Service extinguished the flames before the man was taken to hospital on Sunday afternoon.

Before setting himself on fire, he said he would "no longer be complicit in genocide".

In a video aired live on a streaming site, Twitch, the man identified himself and said he was a serving member of the Air Force.

He said he was "about to engage in an extreme act of protest." After setting himself on fire, he repeatedly shouted "free Palestine".

To add to my emotional response, Aaron Bushnell posted this on his Facebook page, shortly before he went to his sacrifice.
Apparently he hadn’t posted anything since 2018.
093306B3-2A92-4B0B-970A-7F9DC265101E.jpeg
 
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