International summit to discuss Israel and Palestine
Arrest warrants have been issued by the International Criminal Court for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant.
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In theory this would mean they face arrest if they set foot on the territory of any ICC signatory but France and Italy have indicated they consider Mr Netanyahu immune while Hungary withdrew from the ICC after Prime Minister Viktor Orbán hosted his Israeli counterpart.
The conference is being jointly chaired by Colombia and South Africa, the latter of which brought a genocide case against Israel which is currently being considered by the International Court of Justice.
An ICJ ruling on the allegation is not expected for several years, but in May last year Israel did not comply with an order issued by the court to halt its offensive on the southern city of Rafah.
The court also issued an advisory opinion in July 2024 declaring Israel's occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem is unlawful. It ordered Israel to "immediately cease all new settlement activity", provide reparations, evacuate all settlers and demolish parts of the 'security wall' which are on the occupied territories; as well as allowing "all Palestinians displaced during the occupation to return to their original place of residence".
Participating states at the conference include the Republic of Ireland, Spain, Brazil, Norway, Portugal and Slovenia. The UK will not take part.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese, will open the Bogotá Emergency Conference.
She will say: "For too long, international law has been treated as optional — applied selectively to those perceived as weak, ignored by those acting as the powerful.
"This double standard has eroded the very foundations of the legal order. That era must end. The law must either be universal, or it will cease to mean anything at all. No one can afford this selective approach.
UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese (Image: Creative Commons Licence) "The world will remember what we, states and individuals, did in this moment — whether we recoiled in fear or rose in defence of human dignity. Here in Bogotá, a growing number of states have the opportunity to break the silence and revert to a path of legality by finally saying: enough. Enough impunity. Enough empty rhetoric. Enough exceptionalism. Enough complicity. The time has come to act in pursuit of justice and peace — grounded in rights and freedoms for all, and not mere privileges for some, at the expense of the annihilation of others.
"I trust that more States will align their policies with these fundamental principles as we move forward in this existential hour—for both the Palestinian and the Israeli people, and the integrity of the international legal order itself. United in purpose we can reclaim justice and standing together, we will.'
Ms Albanese was last week sanctioned by the US government for what US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as 'illegitimate and shameful efforts' to promote International Criminal Court action against Israeli and US officials.
She will say in Bogotá: 'These attacks shall not be seen as against me personally. They are a warning to everyone, who dares defend international justice and freedom. But we cannot afford to be silenced — and I know I am not alone. This is not about me or any other single individuals, but about justice for the Palestinian people at the most critical juncture in their history.'
When the Hague Group was founded the eight initial members - Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal, and South Africa - committed to implementing the ICJ provisional measures, prevent provision or transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment to Israel "where there is a clear risk that such arms and related items might be used to commit or facilitate violations of humanitarian law, international human rights law, or the prohibition on genocide" and to prevent vessels docking at any port "where there is a clear risk of the vessel being used to carry military fuel and weaponry to Israel, which might be used to commit or facilitate violations of humanitarian law, of international human rights law, and of the prohibition on genocide in Palestine".
Following the opening of the conference, the states will will deliberate what further concrete measures they can take together.
Varsha Gandikota-Nelluta, Executive Secretary of The Hague Group, said: "We meet in Bogotá with a twin imperative: to end Israel's impunity and sever the cords of complicity. The International Court of Justice has already made its rulings, deeming Israel's continued presence in the Palestinian territories as unlawful. There is no absence of legal clarity.
'States will now deliberate how to enforce their obligations — from ceasing arms exports and preventing harbour for vessels carrying military equipment to ensuring justice for all victims.
'These are concrete obligations under international law, determined by the ICJ and adopted in UNGA (United Nations General Assembly), and the deadline is now looming — to turn rhetoric into concrete collective action."
Full list of participating states:
Republic of Colombia (as co-chair)
Republic of South Africa (as co-chair)
People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
Plurinational State of Bolivia
Republic of Botswana
Federative Republic of Brazil
Republic of Chile
People's Republic of China
Republic of Cuba
Republic of Djibouti
Republic of Honduras
Republic of Indonesia
Republic of Iraq
Republic of Ireland
Lebanese Republic
State of Libya
Malaysia
United Mexican States
Republic of Namibia
Republic of Nicaragua
Kingdom of Norway
Sultanate of Oman
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
State of Palestine
Portuguese Republic
State of Qatar
Republic of Slovenia
Kingdom of Spain
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Republic of Türkiye
Oriental Republic of Uruguay
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
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South Wales Guardian
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UN says malnutrition in Gaza has doubled as Israeli strikes kill more than 90
It comes as new Israeli strikes killed more than 90 Palestinians, including dozens of women and children, according to health officials. Hunger has been rising among Gaza's more than two million Palestinians since Israel broke a ceasefire in March to resume the war and banned all food and other supplies from entering Gaza, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release hostages. It slightly eased the blockade in late May, allowing in a trickle of aid. UNRWA, the main UN agency caring for Palestinians in Gaza, said it had screened nearly 16,000 children under age five at its clinics in June and found 10.2% of them were acutely malnourished. By comparison, in March, 5.5% of the nearly 15,000 children it screened were malnourished. – New airstrikes kill several families One strike in the northern Shati refugee camp killed a 68-year-old Hamas member of the Palestinian legislature, as well as a man and a woman and their six children who were sheltering in the same building, according to officials from the heavily damaged Shifa Hospital, where the casualties were taken. One of the deadliest strikes hit a house in Gaza City's Tel al-Hawa district on Monday evening and killed 19 members of the family living inside, according to Shifa Hospital. The dead included eight women and six children. A strike on a tent housing displaced people in the same district killed a man and a woman and their two children. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strikes. Gaza's Health Ministry said in a daily report on Tuesday afternoon that the bodies of 93 people killed by Israeli strikes had been brought to hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours, along with 278 wounded. It did not specify the total number of women and children among the dead. The Hamas politician killed in a strike early on Tuesday, Mohammed Faraj al-Ghoul, was a member of the bloc of representatives from the group that won seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council in the last national elections, held in 2006. The Israeli military says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in densely populated areas. But daily, it hits homes and shelters where people are living without warning or explanation of the target. – Malnutrition grows Unicef, which screens children separately from Unrwa, has also reported a marked increase in malnutrition cases. It said this week its clinics had documented 5,870 cases of malnutrition among children in June, the fourth straight month of increases and more than double the around 2,000 cases it documented in February. Experts have warned of famine since Israel tightened its long-running blockade in March. Israel has allowed an average of 69 trucks a day carrying supplies, including food, since it eased the blockade in May, according to the latest figures from Cogat, the Israeli military agency in charge of co-ordinating aid. That is far below the hundreds of trucks a day the UN says are needed to sustain Gaza's population. On Tuesday, Cogat blamed the UN for failing to distribute aid, saying in a post on X that thousands of pallets of supplies were inside Gaza waiting to be picked up by UN trucks. The UN says it has struggled to pick up and distribute aid because of Israeli military restrictions on its movements and the breakdown in law and order. Israel has also let in food for distribution by an American contractor, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. GHF says it has distributed food boxes with the equivalent of more than 70 million meals since late May at the four centres it runs in the Rafah area of southern Gaza and in central Gaza. More than 840 Palestinians have been killed and more than 5,600 others wounded in shootings as they walk for hours trying to reach the GHF centres, according to the Health Ministry. Witnesses say Israeli forces open fire with barrages of live ammunition to control crowds on the roads to the GHF centres, which are located in military-controlled zones. The military says it has fired warning shots at people it says have approached its forces in a suspicious manner. GHF says no shootings have taken place in or immediately around its distribution sites. – No breakthrough in ceasefire efforts The latest attacks came after US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held two days of talks last week that ended with no sign of a breakthrough in negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release. Israel has killed more than 58,400 Palestinians and wounded more than 139,000 others in its retaliation campaign since Hamas' October 7 2023, attack, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Just over half the dead are women and children, according to the ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its tally. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after its attack 21 months ago, in which militants stormed into southern Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. They abducted 251 others, and the militants are still holding 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive.
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
UN says malnutrition in Gaza has doubled as Israeli strikes kill more than 90
It comes as new Israeli strikes killed more than 90 Palestinians, including dozens of women and children, according to health officials. Hunger has been rising among Gaza's more than two million Palestinians since Israel broke a ceasefire in March to resume the war and banned all food and other supplies from entering Gaza, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release hostages. It slightly eased the blockade in late May, allowing in a trickle of aid. UNRWA, the main UN agency caring for Palestinians in Gaza, said it had screened nearly 16,000 children under age five at its clinics in June and found 10.2% of them were acutely malnourished. By comparison, in March, 5.5% of the nearly 15,000 children it screened were malnourished. – New airstrikes kill several families One strike in the northern Shati refugee camp killed a 68-year-old Hamas member of the Palestinian legislature, as well as a man and a woman and their six children who were sheltering in the same building, according to officials from the heavily damaged Shifa Hospital, where the casualties were taken. One of the deadliest strikes hit a house in Gaza City's Tel al-Hawa district on Monday evening and killed 19 members of the family living inside, according to Shifa Hospital. The dead included eight women and six children. A strike on a tent housing displaced people in the same district killed a man and a woman and their two children. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strikes. Gaza's Health Ministry said in a daily report on Tuesday afternoon that the bodies of 93 people killed by Israeli strikes had been brought to hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours, along with 278 wounded. It did not specify the total number of women and children among the dead. The Hamas politician killed in a strike early on Tuesday, Mohammed Faraj al-Ghoul, was a member of the bloc of representatives from the group that won seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council in the last national elections, held in 2006. The Israeli military says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in densely populated areas. But daily, it hits homes and shelters where people are living without warning or explanation of the target. – Malnutrition grows Unicef, which screens children separately from Unrwa, has also reported a marked increase in malnutrition cases. It said this week its clinics had documented 5,870 cases of malnutrition among children in June, the fourth straight month of increases and more than double the around 2,000 cases it documented in February. Experts have warned of famine since Israel tightened its long-running blockade in March. Israel has allowed an average of 69 trucks a day carrying supplies, including food, since it eased the blockade in May, according to the latest figures from Cogat, the Israeli military agency in charge of co-ordinating aid. That is far below the hundreds of trucks a day the UN says are needed to sustain Gaza's population. On Tuesday, Cogat blamed the UN for failing to distribute aid, saying in a post on X that thousands of pallets of supplies were inside Gaza waiting to be picked up by UN trucks. The UN says it has struggled to pick up and distribute aid because of Israeli military restrictions on its movements and the breakdown in law and order. Israel has also let in food for distribution by an American contractor, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. GHF says it has distributed food boxes with the equivalent of more than 70 million meals since late May at the four centres it runs in the Rafah area of southern Gaza and in central Gaza. More than 840 Palestinians have been killed and more than 5,600 others wounded in shootings as they walk for hours trying to reach the GHF centres, according to the Health Ministry. Witnesses say Israeli forces open fire with barrages of live ammunition to control crowds on the roads to the GHF centres, which are located in military-controlled zones. The military says it has fired warning shots at people it says have approached its forces in a suspicious manner. GHF says no shootings have taken place in or immediately around its distribution sites. – No breakthrough in ceasefire efforts The latest attacks came after US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held two days of talks last week that ended with no sign of a breakthrough in negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release. Israel has killed more than 58,400 Palestinians and wounded more than 139,000 others in its retaliation campaign since Hamas' October 7 2023, attack, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Just over half the dead are women and children, according to the ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its tally. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after its attack 21 months ago, in which militants stormed into southern Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. They abducted 251 others, and the militants are still holding 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
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