South Africa is pursuing a case towards Israel within the ICJ, alleging it’s committing and failing to forestall genocide in Gaza, accusations that Israel denies. A verdict on the query of genocide might take years.
The state of affairs in Rafah is changing into more and more dire, the U.N. Workplace for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) mentioned in its most up-to-date replace, with folks “determined, hungry, and terrified” forward of the anticipated assault. OCHA mentioned that the variety of help vans allowed to enter the Gaza Strip had declined over the previous week, with solely 20 coming into on Thursday, a sharp decline from the typical of 133 per day from Feb. 2 to Feb. 8.
The United States and different nations — together with Israel’s most important allies — have publicly opposed the army marketing campaign in Rafah, although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stays adamant about it.
President Biden informed Netanyahu final week that the assault shouldn’t proceed with out a “credible and executable plan” to guard civilians in Rafah. On Friday, Biden mentioned he had pushed the Israeli chief over current days to simply accept a short lived cease-fire in Gaza to permit the discharge of the remaining hostages.
Right here’s what else to know
- Israel’s multiday raid on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis continued Friday, leaving the advanced with out electrical energy or water for a number of hours. 5 sufferers in intensive care died from lack of oxygen as respirators shut down, the Gaza Well being Ministry mentioned. The Israel Protection Forces mentioned in a press release that the raid was to get well the our bodies of hostages. It later mentioned that weapons had been discovered. The World Well being Group known as the operation “deeply alarming.”
- A U.N. reduction employee is alleged to have appeared on video eradicating an Israeli man’s physique after he was shot at Kibbutz Beeri on Oct. 7, in response to a Submit evaluation of knowledge launched by Israeli authorities.
- Israel has expanded its allegations towards the United Nations Aid and Works Company, asserting there are “important indications” that greater than 30 UNRWA staff have been concerned on Oct. 7. UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler mentioned Israel didn’t detect that assault prematurely, “implying that each one concerned … participated illicitly in ways in which UNRWA additionally would have been unable to detect.”
- Egyptian and Israeli officers denied hypothesis that Palestinian refugees can be pushed out of Rafah and into Egypt, after satellite tv for pc imagery obtained by The Washington Submit confirmed Egypt clearing and constructing a wall round a plot of land alongside its border with Gaza. “The State of Israel has no intention of evacuating Palestinian civilians to Egypt,” Israel’s protection minister mentioned.
- Two folks have been killed and 4 wounded in a taking pictures at a bus cease in central Israel on Friday. The shooter was killed by an armed civilian through the assault. A motivation has not been introduced, however Israeli politicians described the violence as a “terror assault.”
- A minimum of 28,775 folks have been killed and 68,552 injured in Gaza because the struggle started, in accordance to the Gaza Well being Ministry. Israel estimates about 1,200 folks have been killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault and says not less than 235 of its troops have been killed since its offensive in Gaza started.