(UN News)* —The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday [] issued new provisional measures that order Israel to immediately end military operations in Rafah in southern Gaza and to open the governate’s border crossing for urgent aid deliveries.
This follows a request from South Africa in a pending case accusing Israel of violating its obligations under the Genocide Convention.
Reading the new provisional measures in an open session at the court in The Hague, ICJ Justice Nawaf Salam announced that Israel must abide by its obligations under the Genocide Convention to “immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah governate which may inflict upon the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that would bring about its physical destruction in whole and in part”.
(UN News)* — Haiti’s health system is now “on the verge of collapse” UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Haiti Bruno Maes warned on Wednesday [], amidst an alarming decrease in the number of hospitals still functioning in the violence-wracked Caribbean nation.
There are only six out of ten hospitals which still have some operational capacity as the gang-led chaos continues across the capital, Port-au-Prince, leaving vulnerable children deprived of essential care.
(UN News)* — The UN General Assembly on Thursday [] designated 11 July as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, in which at least 8,372 people were killed, thousands displaced and whole communities destroyed.
Adopting a resolution with the same title, the Assembly also asked the Secretary-General to establish an outreach programme on the Srebrenica genocide in preparation for the 30th anniversary next year.
20 May 2024 — Severe flooding has hit countries in the East and Horn of Africa as heavy El Niño-rains continue to afflict a refugee-hosting region at the front line of the climate crisis, where deep droughts followed by intense rains have in recent years become the new normal.
(UN News)* — Migration is on track to become one of the defining features of the 21st century and more action is needed to ensure regular pathways for people to move safely, the head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday [21 May 2024] in New York.
IOM/Andi Pratiwi | Migrants walk through Djibouti’s desert. (file)
Speaking at the opening of a two-day meeting on harnessing the power of migration, IOM Director General Amy Pope expressed hope that participants will help deliver prosperity, benefits and innovations for migrants and for their countries of origin and destination.
Roughly 281 million peopleworldwide are one the move, representing around 3.6 per cent of the global population, according to a recent IOM report. This is up from 153 million in 1990, and more than triple the 84 million in 1970. Global trends point to more migration in the future.
For spurious and sinister reasons, the Western political and media classes are isolating themselves from public opinion and international law on the Gaza genocide in ways hard to believe. Here are a few examples among myriad.
May 1 solidarity march in New York. (Pamela Drew, Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)
13 May 2024 – Incredibly, the Israeli genocide in Gaza is now reaching new heights of violence. Casualty figures are not coming in, as the attacks are so bad that bodies cannot be recovered, medics cannot travel and there are almost no medical facilities operational now anyway.
Trying the gravest crimes, ensuring victims have access to justice, conducting fair trials and complementing national tribunals are among the key tasks of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
UN Photo/Rick Bajornas | The International Criminal Court is based in The Hague, Netherlands.
Established in 2002 and based in The Hague, the ICC is a criminal court that can bring cases against individuals for war crimes or crimes against humanity.
Most recently, on Monday []it issued a request for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and three leaders of Hamas, the de facto authorities in Gaza.
The warrants – which must now be formally approved by the ICC’s judges – are related to alleged war crimes stemming from the seven month-long war in Gaza triggered by the Hamas-led attacks in Israel.
Here are five facts about the ICC and how it is helping build a more just world.
UNITED NATIONS, May 21 2024 (IPS)* – The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to seek warrants on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has triggered a strong backlash both from the Biden administration and a group of pro-Israeli Senators in the US Congress.
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Streets in Rafah are emptying as families continue to flee in search of safety. Credit: UNRWA
The names in the ICC arrest warrants also include Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (Deif) and Ismail Haniyeh—all leaders of Hamas.
(UN News)* — Roughly 800,000 people have been forced to flee Rafah since Israel launched a military operation in the area on 6 May, the head of UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA said on Saturday [] in a renewed appeal for greater protection of civilians in Gaza, safe humanitarian access and, ultimately, a ceasefire.
“Once again, nearly half of the population of Rafah or 800,000 people are on the road,” Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote in post on the social media platform X. formerly Twitter.
He said that following evacuation orders demanding people to flee to so-called safe zones, people mainly went to the middle areas in Gaza and Khan Younis, including to destroyed buildings.
UNITED NATIONS, May 16 2024 (IPS)* – As the ancient Greek saying goes: those whom the Gods wish to destroy, they first drive them mad. Perhaps destruction is too far-fetched here, but madness is closer home—in Washington DC
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With the 7-month-old Israeli-Gaza conflict showing no positive signs of a permanent solution, there is a lingering sense of growing political craziness in Capitol Hill, the seat of the US government, once described as Israeli-occupied territory.
Last week Lindsey Graham, a senior Republican senator from South Carolina, who once chaired the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, implicitly advised Israel it should drop nuclear bombs over Gaza—perhaps ignorant of the fact that a nuclear fallout will also destroy parts of Israel.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 