Latest news with #internationalLaw
NHK
5 hours ago
- Politics
- NHK
US does not support forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza: UN envoy
The acting US representative to the United Nations has indicated that relocation of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip must be voluntary, rather than forced. US President Donald Trump revealed a plan to move Palestinian residents out of Gaza, after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in February. Netanyahu told Trump in April that he wants to go ahead with the plan. At the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Ambassador Dorothy Shea described the plan as Israel's. She said, "The United States does not support the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza." The United Nations had criticized the forced relocation as violating international law. The plan had also drawn protests and concern from Middle East countries and elsewhere. In Gaza, civilian casualties from Israeli fire and other forms of violence are increasing around food distribution sites run by a US-led aid foundation. Shea defended the Israeli side, saying the US recognizes the Israeli military's "ongoing efforts to prevent civilian harm in Gaza." She added, "It is unfortunate that the UN continues to turn down the offers of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to collaborate and coordinate aid efforts."
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Israel condemned by 28 nations, plus special interview with Top Gear host Steve Berry
In this episode of Global News Today, presented by Michael Prendergast, we cover a joint statement signed by 28 countries calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza. The statement accuses Israel of blocking sufficient humanitarian aid and urges it to comply with international humanitarian law. We also feature an interview with Top Gear host Steve Berry.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Saudi Arabia welcomes joint statement calling for ending Gaza war
RIYADH: The Saudi Foreign Ministry on Tuesday welcomed a joint statement by 28 countries stating the war in Gaza 'must end now.' 'We reiterate our categorical rejection of the practices of the Israeli occupation authorities and their inhumane methodology of blocking aid and targeting civilians seeking it,' the statement said. The foreign ministers of 28 countries, including the UK, Australia and Canada, said 'the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.' They condemned 'the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food.' The statement described as 'horrifying' the recent deaths of over 800 Palestinians who were seeking aid, according to the figures released by Gaza's Health Ministry and the UN human rights office. 'The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,' the countries said. 'The Israeli government's denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable. Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.' Israel's Foreign Ministry rejected the statement, saying it was 'disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas.' It accused Hamas of prolonging the war by refusing to accept an Israeli-backed proposal for a temporary ceasefire and hostage release. (with AP)
The National
3 days ago
- Politics
- The National
France's campaigning 'Lady Gaza' rallies support for a one-state vision
In a sea of political grey suits, Rima Hassan, a 33-year old migration lawyer and firebrand member of the European Parliament, has come to embody France's pro-Palestinian movement. Establishment views on her rise has mostly been sharply critical. Few in France's political mainstream are receptive to her post-colonial politics and campaigning for the application of international law to Israeli actions. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has filed a complaint accusing her of supporting terrorism. A prominent comedian has derisively dubbed her 'Lady Gaza'. In June, the France Unbowed politician gained international visibility by joining a Gaza flotilla alongside climate activist Greta Thunberg. She was held and then deported after the Israel military boarded the boat off the Palestinian enclave. Days later, this boost in profile saw Ms Hassan ranked 44th in a Ifop-Fiducial poll of France's 50 most popular figures. In an interview with The National, Ms Hassan said she sees her role as a voice for the voiceless amid a rupture where, she says, those in power are not in sync with the new generation. 'I'm indeed very alone in [the European] Parliament, when you look at the average age and career path,' Ms Hassan said. 'I come from civil society. I am not shaped by politics. It's really a question of what kind of platform people have access to.' It's about re-framing the struggle Former Israeli negotiator, Daniel Levy On Instagram, where she is wearing the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh in her profile picture, Ms Hassan has amassed one million followers. That makes the left-wing politician more popular on the platform than 29-year old far-right leader Jordan Bardella, whose National Rally party came first in last year's parliamentary election. She uses her growing profile to push for a one-state solution that recognises both the Jewish and Palestinian Arab national identities, such as a Swiss-style confederation or a new type of umbrella state for two distinct nationalities. It is a proposal often dismissed as a heresy that imperils the existence of the Jewish state. 'There is nothing more pragmatic than the one-state solution,' Ms Hassan bats back. 'The question of a [one] state is a demand which for me is the most progressive. There is a generational rupture in the understanding of the Palestinian cause.' In an interview with The National, Ms Hassan said that the post-Oslo Accords generation, born in the 1990s like her, is rethinking what peace and justice must look like. 'There's a lack of understanding about the new generation and its ideals,' Ms Hassan said. 'It goes beyond nationalist causes. It's about equality of rights and freedom of movement.' Before her deportation in June, Ms Hassan cut an olive branch to carry back as a reminder of the land from which her grandparents were expelled during the Nakba, after the formation of Israel in 1948. Born stateless in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, Ms Hassan, who moved with her mother to France as a child. She is often referred to as Syrian though she only holds French citizenship − a framing some see as an effort to erase her Palestinian identity. The olive branch memento now represents a personal triumph for Ms Hassan, who shed tears of rage when she failed to gain entry to Israel at age 18 having obtained French citizenship. Israeli security refused to let her on-board the plane at Charles de Gaulle Airport. She was not prominent at the time, though Israel often bars pro-Palestinians from travel. From the margins A one-state solution is an old idea first championed in the 1920s and later resurrected by the Palestine Liberation Organisation. The concept was seemingly eclipsed by the global recognition of the Oslo Accords in 1993, though even at the time there was criticism these did not impose the creation of a Palestinian state. While the Palestinian Authority fell short, it was the first-ever recognition by Israeli leadership of the existence of a Palestinian people. The rapid expansion of Israeli settlements and the increasing encroachment on the territorial integrity of that Palestinian entity, ultimately saw the Second Intifada break out in 2000. Years of stalemate and reverses on the ground, culminating in the Gaza war, has seen a groundswell among intellectuals and the younger Palestinian generation for a one-state pathway. 'I belong to a generation that starts from the observation that Oslo did not work,' says Ms Hassan. 'And that there is a new paradigm which is that of apartheid," she added, referring to a notion backed by rights organisations that rules applied to Palestinians and Arab Israelis regarding freedom of movement and treatment by the judiciary amount to systemic discrimination. Ms Hassan acknowledges that her vision remains marginal in UN and diplomatic circles. French President Emmanuel Macron has in fact promised a boost to a two-state solution with French recognition of a Palestinian state soon. Foreign Affairs spokesman Christophe Lemoine told The National the term 'one state' was legally vague and politically impractical. Behind closed doors, Ms Hassan said, some European diplomats privately concede that the two-state solution is no longer viable. 'They tell me: I am obliged to support the two-state solution because it is the policy supported by the EU. But as a diplomat, my personal opinion is that it is not possible,' she said. 'We have to get out of this paralysis.' She points at Jewish organisations around the world that share her vision. Current Israeli cabinet members oppose both a one-state and a two-state solution, and a number have called for the expulsion of Gazans to unspecified destinations. The country is currently negotiating a Gaza ceasefire, but it has not meaningfully engaged with the Palestinian authority in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's present term. Ms Hassan believes in severe international pressure in response. An arms embargo and an end to privileged trade relations between the EU and Israel are among her main demands. Former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy argued Ms Hassan's self-proclaimed radical approach is essential to change power dynamics and become a worthy adversary to Israel – even if it takes a long time. 'It's about reframing the struggle,' Mr Levy told The National. 'This is not about a solution that gets implemented tomorrow, because tomorrow you're not going to have two states. You're not going to have one state.' 'You frame the conflict in the way that Israel has now framed it, which is to create an apartheid state. And you challenge that. Then once Israelis realise there's a cost to it, they may change their position.' We have to get out of this paralysis. French MEP Rima Hassan Others are less generous. Mr Bardella has described her as the ' Hamas ambassador at the EU,' a label rooted in her assertion that Palestinians have the right to armed resistance under international law. While she has condemned as war crimes the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israeli communities in which about 1,200 people were killed and 240 abducted, Ms Hassan's output on X is a succession of sharply worded posts describing Israel as a terrorist and genocidal state. Almost 58,670 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's Gaza strikes and ground offensive since the war began. When asked, Ms Hassan says her focus on Palestinian rights during the explosive post-October 7 period is unapologetic. She has unsettled a political consensus that has seen relative disengagement of French diplomacy in the Middle East since late president Jacques Chirac left power in 2007. She has also been criticised for her muted criticism of the crimes of the former Assad regime. Historic juncture Ms Hassan's voice is part of a broader generational shift, said Leila Farsakh, professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The brutal images coming out of Gaza are changing the global narrative. 'The one-state solution's moment has arrived,' Ms Farsakh, a specialist of the Palestinian statehood question, told The National. 'We are today at a historic juncture − as important as 1948 or 1967 − and Israel is trying to reassert the supremacy of Jewish rights,' she said. 'But Palestinians are much more vocal and present than in 1948 or 1967. They are able to articulate their rights and refuse subjugation.' In French academia, scepticism is strong. Jean-Paul Chagnollaud, president of the Institute for Mediterranean and Middle East Research and Studies think tank in Paris, called a one-state model an 'absurd dream'. 'The nature of a Jewish state entails a Jewish majority,' he said, pointing at demographics of seven million Palestinians, including Arab Israelis, and seven million Jews. 'That means that even the most moderate Israelis would reject the idea of a Palestinian majority state.' Like Ms Farsakh, Ms Hassan often cites the views of Palestinian intellectual Edward Said that Israeli state policy as 'apartheid ' was comparable with South Africa's historic racial segregation. Israel rejects the use of the word apartheid and says separate legal and permitting measures or designations are linked to security concerns. Western countries, including France, resist using the term 'apartheid' in relation to Israel. For Ms Hassan however, it is the fundamental reality that must drive a solution to the conflict with her lifetime. 'It is the paradigm of apartheid that really makes us understand demands to put forward a one-state solution,' she said. 'I don't see what's difficult to understand. The Oslo agreements were perhaps relevant at the time they were signed. What is the relevance of still referring to agreements that have constantly shown us that they have failed for the past 30 or 40 years?'
Al Jazeera
4 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Appeals and negotiations won't make Israel stop starving Gaza
On July 17, the Israeli army bombed the sole Catholic church in Gaza, killing three people and injuring at least 10. The parish priest, Gabriele Romanelli, who used to have almost daily calls with the late Pope Francis, was among the wounded. After the attack, there were statements of condemnation. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called it 'unacceptable'. Pope Leo said he was 'deeply saddened' by it – a statement many saw as 'vague' and 'cowardly'. The Israeli government was quick to declare it 'regretted' the attack. Amid the global outrage, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem was able to negotiate for church officials to visit the Christian community, deliver limited food and medicine to both Christian and Muslim families, and evacuate some of the injured for treatment outside Gaza. These humanitarian actions, while welcomed by those in dire need in Gaza, are yet another sign of international failure. Why must the delivery of food, water and medicine be 'earned' through negotiation? Why are basic rights enshrined in international law subject to political bargaining? Palestinians deeply appreciate the church leaders' efforts. Their actions reflect compassion and moral clarity. But such steps should not be necessary. Under international humanitarian law, occupying powers have binding obligations to the people under their control. Securing access to food, water, medicine and critical services cannot be charitable favours – they are legal duties. The 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention and the 1907 Hague Regulations clearly state that civilians in occupied territory must be protected and provided with essential services, especially when the occupying power controls access to borders, infrastructure and life-sustaining resources. Blocking or delaying aid isn't just inhumane – it amounts to a war crime. International law also forbids the occupying power from forcibly transferring the local population or settling its own citizens on occupied land – practices that Israel continues in Gaza and the West Bank with impunity. The occupier must ensure uninterrupted humanitarian access free from delay, political conditions or coercive trade-offs. Israel has failed to comply on all these counts. But instead of facing consequences for its use of collective punishment, starvation tactics and attacks on civilian infrastructure – churches, hospitals, bakeries, schools – Israel receives concessions in exchange for promising to comply with basic legal norms. These 'deals' are then spun as diplomatic 'successes' by the powers that engage in them. During a recent lecture in Amman, the European Union's ambassador to Jordan, Pierre-Christophe Chatzisavas, revealed as much. According to him, EU 'discussions' about taking action on Israel's failure to comply with human rights provisions of the EU-Israel partnership agreement led to 'effective political pressure'. As a result, Israel 'agreed' to allow increased food and aid deliveries, fuel for electricity and desalination, infrastructure repairs, the reopening of humanitarian corridors through Egypt and Jordan, and access for UN aid workers and observers. This agreement led to the shelving of 10 proposed sanctions by the EU. Amnesty International described the move as a 'cruel and unlawful betrayal' of its stated principles. The problem with this 'deal' is that Israel is failing to implement it, just like with all others before it. According to EU sources quoted in the media, Israel allows just 80 trucks per day to go in, when Gaza needs more than 500. Whether 80 trucks indeed enter and how much of this aid actually reaches its intended recipients is unclear. Gangs regularly attack aid convoys, and the Israeli army shoots at anyone trying to protect these trucks from looters. Various agencies and organisations are ringing alarm bells about the epidemic of malnutrition killing children on a daily basis. Famine is real even if the UN, under pressure, is not yet willing to declare it. Meanwhile, Israeli forces and foreign mercenaries continue to kill people seeking aid at distribution sites operated by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which was set up to take away the functions of United Nations agencies, most notably UNRWA, its aid agency for Palestinian refugees. Nearly 900 people have been killed at these sites since GHF's operations began in late May. If the EU as a whole will not act, individual member states still bear legal responsibility. At a minimum, European countries should suspend arms transfers, ban trade with illegal settlements and end cooperation with institutions complicit in the occupation and apartheid. These are not optional political stances. They are legal obligations. And this applies to the rest of the world. The danger of appealing to Israel to allow in aid instead of forcing it to do so through sanctions is clear: When war crimes are overlooked in exchange for temporary relief, impunity becomes normalised. Starvation becomes an acceptable weapon of war. Civilian lives turn into bargaining chips. The international community – including the EU, church institutions and world leaders – must continue to extend compassion and aid. But this must not replace justice. Mercy should be paired with resolve: Israel must be held to its legal and moral obligations. Palestinians – Christian and Muslim – must not be treated as pawns but as human beings entitled to dignity, safety and peace. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
