'We're afraid to talk about Gaza'
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Al Jazeera
8 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Israeli parliament approves symbolic motion on West Bank annexation
Israel's parliament has approved a symbolic measure calling for the annexation of the occupied West Bank. Knesset lawmakers voted 71-13 in favour of the motion on Wednesday, a non-binding vote which calls for 'applying Israeli sovereignty to Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley' – the Israeli terms for the area. It said that annexing the West Bank 'will strengthen the state of Israel, its security and prevent any questioning of the fundamental right of the Jewish people to peace and security in their homeland'. The motion, advanced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition is declarative and has no direct legal implications, though it could place the issue of annexation on the agenda of future debates in the parliament. The idea was initially brought forward last year by Israel's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who himself lives in an illegal Israeli settlement and holds a position within Israel's Ministry of Defence, where he oversees the administration of the West Bank and its settlements. The West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, has been under Israeli occupation since 1967. Since then, Israeli settlements have expanded, despite being illegal under international law and, in the case of settlement outposts, Israeli law. Palestinian leaders want all three territories for a future state. Some 3 million Palestinians and more than 500,000 Israeli settlers currently reside in the West Bank. Annexation of the West Bank could make it impossible to create a viable Palestinian state, which is seen internationally as the most realistic way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Last year, the Israeli parliament approved a similar symbolic motion declaring opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Hussein al-Sheikh, deputy to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said the motion was 'a direct assault on the rights of the Palestinian people', which 'undermines the prospects for peace, stability and the two-state solution'. 'These unilateral Israeli actions blatantly violate international law and the ongoing international consensus regarding the status of the Palestinian territories, including the West Bank,' he wrote in a post on X. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said in a statement that it strongly rejects any motion for annexation. The ministry stressed that the 'colonial measures' reinforce a system of apartheid in the West Bank and reflect a 'blatant disregard' for many United Nations resolutions and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which was issued in July 2024. The statement, carried by the official Palestinian Wafa news agency, also warned that such actions deliberately undermine the prospects of implementing a two-state solution. The ministry added that while settlement expansion continues, de facto annexation is already occurring on a daily basis. Following Israel's deadly war on Gaza, Israeli forces have intensified attacks on Palestinian towns and villages in the occupied West Bank, displacing thousands of Palestinians and killing hundreds. Settlers, often backed by Israeli soldiers, have also escalated assaults on Palestinians, their land, and property.
Al Jazeera
9 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Former Scottish First Minister and his wife plead for Gaza aid
Former Scottish First Minister and his wife plead for Gaza aid NewsFeed Scotland's former First Minister Humza Yousaf and his wife say their relatives in Gaza, including a baby, are being deliberately starved. In an Instagram video, the couple plead for borders to open and aid to reach Palestinians. Video Duration 00 minutes 41 seconds 00:41 Video Duration 01 minutes 43 seconds 01:43 Video Duration 01 minutes 17 seconds 01:17 Video Duration 03 minutes 07 seconds 03:07 Video Duration 00 minutes 54 seconds 00:54 Video Duration 03 minutes 18 seconds 03:18 Video Duration 00 minutes 40 seconds 00:40
Al Jazeera
10 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Brazil to join South Africa's ICJ ‘genocide' case against Israel
Brazil has said that it will move to intervene in a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Israel is committing 'genocide' in Gaza, as non-Western countries step up calls for greater pressure. The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday that it was in the 'final stages' of submitting a formal intervention to the ICJ regarding the case, originally brought by South Africa. 'The international community cannot remain inactive in the face of ongoing atrocities,' the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. 'Brazil believes there is no longer room for moral ambiguity or political omission. Impunity undermines international legality and undermines the credibility of the multilateral system.' Brazil's planned intervention in the case, earlier reported by the Brazilian paper Folha de S Paulo, comes as Israeli abuses in Gaza, including harsh restrictions on aid that have brought the Gaza Strip to the brink of mass famine, are under growing scrutiny. The 'Brazilian government announces that it is in the final stages of submitting a formal intervention in the ongoing case at the International Court of Justice, brought by South Africa under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,' the statement said. 'The Brazilian government expresses deep indignation at the recurring episodes of violence against the civilian population in the State of Palestine, not limited to the Gaza Strip but extending to the West Bank.' Increasingly vocal The South American nation said that civilians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank have been subjected to 'recurring episodes of violence' and serious rights violations, including the 'shameless use of starvation as a weapon of war'. Several other countries, including Spain, Turkiye, and the Republic of Ireland, have also asked to intervene in the case, urging the ICJ to state that Israel is in violation of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention. Brazil has itself become increasingly vocal in its criticism of Israel, with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva denouncing Israel's actions in Gaza as a genocide at a BRICS meeting earlier this month. The Foreign Ministry statement notes that the decision to intervene in the case is based on the 'plausibility that the rights of Palestinians to protection against acts of genocide are being irreversibly impaired'. The court has yet to rule on whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, but issued an order in January 2024, demanding that Israel take action to prevent genocide in the Strip through acts such as allowing greater access to humanitarian aid. However, pressure has had little impact, and the United States and other Western allies have remained firmly supportive of Israel despite a growing chorus of experts and rights groups warning of systematic rights abuses in Gaza. Israel initiated a full blockade in March that barred all aid from Gaza for several months, before allowing a limited resumption of assistance through the GHF, a group closely tied to Israel and the US. More than 1,000 Palestinians waiting for aid at GHF distribution sites have been killed by Israeli forces since May, as reports of Palestinians dying of starvation continue to mount. United Nations officials have denounced the sites as 'death traps' and said they will not cooperate with GHF, which supplanted existing international aid groups that Israel has largely barred from operating in Gaza.
