Khan Younes remains the scene of fierce fighting which has already pushed thousands of people to flee on Friday January 26. Several international voices have expressed their concerns for the civilian population in the south of the Gaza Strip, notably in Khan Younes, where tank fire against a shelter of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) caused thirteen deaths.
Early Friday, the health ministry in the Gaza Strip, territory under Hamas control, reported one hundred and twenty deaths across the Palestinian territory during the evening and night, and intense fighting near the Nasser hospital in Khan Younes. The Hamas health ministry announced on Friday a toll of 26,083 people killed, mostly women, adolescents and children, in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement on the 7th. October 2023.
It is a historic verdict, welcomed by South Africa, which brought the matter before the court. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the highest court of the United Nations – asked Israel on Friday January 26 to do everything possible to “prevent the commission of any act falling within the scope of » of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and to take “all measures in its power to prevent and punish direct and public incitement to commit genocide”. The ICJ, which sits in The Hague, however, has not mentioned a ceasefire.
At this stage, the Court has not advanced on the question of whether or not Israel is committing genocide. She ruled on emergency orders before reviewing the case on its merits, a process that can take years. Furthermore, the orders of the Court, which decides disputes between countries, are legally binding and final, but it has no means of enforcing them.
Israel must also take “immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance that Palestinians urgently need to address the adverse living conditions they face,” the ICJ ruled.
On Telegram, Hamas released a video in which three Israeli hostages appear, two of whom present themselves as soldiers. In this recording, which lasts just under five minutes, the three young women appear separately one after the other in front of a gray background.
Speaking in Hebrew, they take turns accusing the Israeli government of being disinterested in their fate, before appearing together on screen to demand their immediate return home. Two of them, Karina Ariev and Daniella Gilboa, present themselves as soldiers, both aged 19, and the third, Doron Steinbrecher, is a civilian aged 30. All three claim to have been detained for one hundred and seven days, which suggests that the images were filmed on Sunday January 21.
Furthermore, the White House affirmed that we should not expect an “imminent” announcement on the issue of hostages in Gaza kidnapped by Hamas, while negotiations are to take place soon in Paris on the subject. Joe Biden discussed with the Emir of Qatar, Tamim Ben Hamad Al Thani, and then with the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi, the “latest events in Israel and Gaza, including efforts to free the hostages kidnapped by the Hamas,” the White House announced Friday. A hundred hostages were released at the end of November during a truce in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, 104 hostages are still held captive in Palestinian territory, and 28 are believed to have died.
The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), long in the sights of Israeli authorities, has parted ways with several employees accused of being involved in the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, an announcement immediately followed by the suspension of American funds.
On Friday, the United Nations, at the heart of distributing aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip and under fire from the fighting, announced that it had received information from Israel on “the supposed involvement of several of its employees” in the attack.
“To protect the agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian aid, I have decided to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and open an investigation,” the agency head said in a statement. , Philippe Lazzarini. “Any employee who has been involved in acts of terrorism will be held accountable, including through legal action. » A few minutes later, a scathing response came from Washington, which indicated that it was “temporarily” suspending any additional funding to the UN agency.
Private maritime risk company Ambrey announced that a merchant ship was hit by “a missile” off the coast of Yemen on Friday. “Ambrey has become aware of an ongoing incident southeast of Aden,” she communicated, at a time when the Houthi rebels, close to Iran, are increasing attacks against merchant shipping in the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden. “A merchant ship was hit by a “missile”, causing a fire,” Ambrey added, specifying that the crew was so far “safe and sound”.
The Houthis announced that they had fired “missiles” against a “British tanker, the Marlin-Luanda”, which “caught fire”. Rebel military spokesman Yahya Saree said in his statement that the attack was carried out in support of the Palestinian people and “in response to British and American aggression against our country.” At this time, it is not possible to determine whether this is the same incident.
Earlier, the United States announced that it had destroyed a ballistic missile fired “from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.” The anti-ship missile was heading towards the location of an Arleigh-Burke-class destroyer and was destroyed without causing “any injuries or damage,” the US military Middle East Command announced.
A delegation of twenty-two elected officials, mainly left-wing parliamentarians, led by the “rebellious” Eric Coquerel will go next week to Rafah, on the border between Egypt and Gaza, said the deputy for Seine-Saint -Denis. “Its objective is to demand an immediate and lasting ceasefire so that all weapons fall silent, so that the Israeli military intervention which leads to the massacre of Palestinian civilians in Gaza stops,” the statement said.
Around Eric Coquerel will notably be present the “rebellious” Thomas Portes, Alma Dufour, Sébastien Delogu and Ersilia Soudais, the ecologist Sabrina Sebaihi, the socialist Anna Pic and even the communist Soumya Bourouaha. The delegation will leave Cairo on Sunday February 4 “in the direction of southern Gaza, with the authorization of the Egyptian authorities.”
The elected officials will meet “NGOs and humanitarian associations operating in Rafah, representatives of the Palestinian Authority, the French ambassador to Egypt and members of the Egyptian authorities”. “It’s a trip I’ve been imagining since December. For security reasons, it took us a while to get authorization from the Egyptians,” Mr. Coquerel told journalists.