January 12, 2024

*) Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, S Africa says at ICJ South Africa has told judges at the International Court of Justice that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and pleaded with the court to urgently order Israel to halt its war on Gaza. South African lawyers said the latest Gaza war is part of a decades-long oppression of the Palestinians by Israel. Genocides are “never declared in advance,” but ICJ has 13 weeks of evidence showing a “pattern of conduct that justifies the plausible claim of genocidal acts,” a top lawyer for South Africa told the UN’s top court. *) ICJ genocide hearings offer hope for Palestinians: Amnesty International Amnesty International has said that ongoing proceedings at the ICJ related to South Africa’s genocide case against Israel have the potential to safeguard Palestinian civilians. The rights watchdog said the case could lead to bringing an “end to the man-made humanitarian catastrophe” in besieged Gaza, and provide a glimmer of hope for international justice. As the US continues to use its veto power to block the UN Security Council from calling for a ceasefire, war crimes and crimes against humanity are rife, and the risk of genocide is real, Amnesty International further said. *) Israel to counter genocide accusations at World Court Israel will respond to strong accusations brought by South Africa at the UN’s top court that its brutal war in besieged Gaza is a state-led genocide campaign aimed at wiping out the Palestinian population. Israel has rejected the accusations of genocide as baseless and said South Africa was acting as a mouthpiece for Hamas resistance group. The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted in the wake of the mass murder of Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” *) Russia warns of risk of nuclear response if Ukraine hits missile launch sites A senior ally of President Vladimir Putin warned that any Ukrainian attacks on missile launch sites inside Russia with arms supplied by the US and its allies would risk a nuclear response from Moscow. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said that some Ukrainian military commanders were considering hitting missile launch sites inside Russia with Western-supplied long-range missiles. He did not name the commanders or disclose more details of the alleged plan and there was no immediate reaction from Ukraine to his threat. *) US and UK strike Yemen’s Houthis; rebels say counterstrikes under way The US and British militaries have bombed more than a dozen sites used by the Houthi positions in Yemen, in a massive strike using warship-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets, US officials have said. The military targets included logistical hubs, air defence systems and weapons storage locations, they said early on Friday. Houthi officials said they targeted American and British warships in the Red Sea in reaction to the strikes.