Four injured, two critically, in Israeli strikes on three homes in Beit Lif, south Lebanon: Day 112 of Hamas-Israel war

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🔴 Breaking: Israeli strikes on three houses in the southern Lebanese town of Beit Lif, Bint Jbeil district, have injured four people, with two in critical condition. 

Ambulances are at the scene, according to local residents who spoke with our correspondent in the south.

While the ICJ court order's provisional measures are concerned with Israel — the accused — the final paragraph in the section titled "Conclusion and Measures to be Adopted" is one of the only instances where the court addresses Hamas directly, although it is still outside of its ruling. It reads:

"The Court deems it necessary to emphasize that all parties to the conflict in the Gaza Strip are bound by international humanitarian law. It is gravely concerned about the fate of the hostages abducted during the attack in Israel on 7 October 2023 and held since then by Hamas and other armed groups, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release."

The United States stands by its position that South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice is “unfounded," a spokesperson at the US Department of State allegedly told The Times of Israel.

“We continue to believe that allegations of genocide are unfounded and note the court did not make a finding about genocide or call for a cease-fire in its ruling and that it called for the unconditional, immediate release of all hostages being held by Hamas,” the spokesperson told TOI.

Hundreds of Israeli protesters, including families of hostages held in Gaza, have blocked humanitarian aid trucks from entering Gaza for the third consecutive day, Haaretz reports.

Demonstrators at the Kerem Shalom border crossing chanted against "aiding the enemy" and demanded no aid for Gaza until all hostages are released. This is in defiance of a US demand for uninterrupted aid delivery to civilians in Gaza.

On the first day of protests, only nine trucks crossed at Kerem Shalom, with 114 redirected to the Rafah crossing in Egypt.

Photo of Kerem Shalom crossing, Jan 22, 2024. (Credit: Menahem Kahana/AFP)

Egypt expressed its disappointment with the ruling at the International Court of Justice today. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had hoped for a cease-fire order — which the court in the Hague fell short of doing today, though it did implement six other measures to prevent genocide and increase aid into the Palestinian enclave.

Egypt has called on Israel to comply immediately with the court's orders.

South Africa hails the ICJ ruling, which states that Israel should do everything it can to prevent any acts of genocide in Gaza, with President Cyril Ramaphosa saying he hopes it will lead to a ceasefire, AFP reports.

"Today, Israel stands before the international community, its crimes against the Palestinians laid bare," Ramaphosa said in a televised address to the nation.

"We expect Israel as a self-proclaimed democracy and a state that respects the rule of law to abide by the measures handed down." 

👉 Read more here.

Photo from the Dullah Omar Centre in Cape Town earlier today. (Credit: Gianluigi Guercia/AFP)

The head of the World Health Organization has refuted accusations of "collusion" with Hamas, levied against the UN agency by Israel yesterday.

"Such false allegations are harmful and can endanger our staff, who risk their lives to serve vulnerable populations," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a post on X.

"As a United Nations agency, WHO is impartial and works for the health and well-being of all," he added.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says it sacked several employees accused by Israel of involvement in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, AFP reports. The accusations had prompted the United States to suspend critical funding.

The decision was taken "to protect the agency's ability to deliver humanitarian assistance," said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini.

"Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution," he said. Israeli authorities had provided information about the staff members' alleged involvement.

👉 Read more here.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling was an important development that contributed to isolating Israel and exposing its crimes in Gaza.

"We call for compelling the occupation to implement the court's decisions," he said in an interview.

Islamic Jihad, a smaller Palestinian militant group fighting alongside Hamas against Israel in Gaza, condemned what it said was ICJ reluctance to demand an immediate cease-fire.

👉 Read more here.

The ICJ has released the official document from today's ruling: Order of 26 January 2024 — Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel)

"Done in English and in French, the English text being authoritative, at the Peace Palace,

The Hague, this twenty-sixth day of January, two thousand and twenty-four, in three copies, one of

which will be placed in the archives of the Court and the others transmitted to the Government of the

Republic of South Africa and the Government of the State of Israel, respectively."

👉 Read the entire document here (PDF).

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4. “Enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance.”

5. “Prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of acts within the scope of Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide ...  Israel shall not act to deny or otherwise restrict access by fact-finding missions, international mandates and other bodies to Gaza."

6. Submit a report to the Court on all measures taken within one month from now.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has issued six provisional measures in South Africa's genocide case against Israel. In summary, Israel must:

1. Take all measures within its power to prevent: killing or causing serious bodily or mental harm to Palestinians; imposing conditions that are calculated towards the physical destruction of life, in whole or in part; and imposing measures intended to prevent births.

2. Ensure its military does not commit any acts described above.

3. “Prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide” in relation to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

(continued)

South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor speaks to the media following a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on a request from South Africa for emergency measures for Gaza, in The Hague today.

(Credit: Remko de Waal/ANP/AFP)

The International Court of Justice’s ruling was read out loud earlier today by its president, Joan E. Donoghue. She’s an American lawyer, legal scholar, and was a legal advisor to former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former US President, Barak Obama.

Donoghue was first elected to the ICJ by the UN Security Council in 2010, re-elected in 2014, and then elected by her co-judges as its president in 2021.

She is the 26th president of the ICJ, the second woman and the third American to hold the post.

(Photo: Remko de Waal/ANP/AFP)

Here are the latest security updates from southern Lebanon:

• Hezbollah announced that its fighters targeted the Israeli Ma'aleh Golan barracks and its surroundings, located opposite the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura, at 4:10 p.m.

• Missiles were launched from southern Lebanon towards northern Israel, according to security sources who spoke with our correspondent in the south, Muntasser Abdallah.

• Israeli artillery shelling targeted the western outskirts of the town of Tyr Harfa and Wadi Hamoul in Naqoura, both located in Sour district, according to a security source.

• Artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of Dhaira and Yarin, both in Sour district, according to a security source.

People are feeling "frustration and resentment" across the Gaza Strip following the ICJ's ruling, according to Al Jazeera's correspondent in Rafah city, Hani Mahmoud. "The one element that every single person" in Gaza was hoping for is a cessation of hostilities, Mahmoud said, which is was noticeably missing from the order.

"Up until the statement was read, there was bombing going on in the city of Khan Younis and the northern part of the territory," Mahmoud reported.

"People just want this to end because ... they want to go back to a normal life. But the statement did not give them that, and that is why they are restless," Mahmoud concluded.

 Here are the key takeaways from the International Court of Justice today:

• Two weeks after South Africa presented its case against Israel's war in Gaza, the United Nation's top court ruled that Israel must "take all measures" to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. Israel has also been ordered to provide a report in one month's time detailing its steps in this direction.

• The court stopped short of ordering an immediate cease-fire.

• Israel is required by the court to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

• The court will eventually give a verdict on South Africa's allegation of genocide, but this could take years.

• Palestinian officials reacted to the judgment saying it "ruled in favor of humanity and international law."

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country is fighting a “just war like no other” and that Israel will continue to defend itself and its citizens while adhering to international law.

Reacting to the ICJ ruling, Alonso Gurmendi, a lecturer in International Relations at Kings College, said that the court's decision was in line with expectations.

"The Court could have done more? Yes. The Court could have done less? Yes. Is this a 'win' for South Africa? Yes. Is it the best win of the century? No."

He also noted that "Israel's claim that it is not doing anything wrong and it can continue to act as it is doing now, has been disproven."

Lubna Farhat, a Ramallah city council member, told Al Jazeera she was somewhat disappointed by the ICJ decision while acknowledging that it was a historic moment.

“We are very grateful and thankful for South Africa for filing this case, but what Palestinians aspired for was an immediate ceasefire,” Farhat said in an interview.

She also said that the ruling would only “escalate” attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank and increase their sense of impunity.

ICJ President Joan Donoghue (C) and ICJ judges arrive at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) prior to the verdict announcement in the genocide case against Israel, brought by South Africa, in The Hague today.

The top UN court ruled that Israel must do everything to "prevent the commission of all acts within the scope" of the Genocide Convention.

(Credit: Remko de Waal/ANP/AFP)

Reacting to the ICJ ruling, assistant professor of law Heidi Matthews said that it is "a big win for Palestinian advocates."

According to Matthews, the court's measures show that it is "plausible for Palestinians in Gaza to claim protection from genocide" and "the need for protection is urgent."

"This means that in order for states to fulfill their international obligations under the Genocide Convention they must do something. For e.g., states exporting arms or military technology to Israel must stop," they added on X.

Alarm sirens are ringing in Sderot, near the border with Gaza, after the ICJ delivered its verdict on South Africa's accusations of genocide against Israel, reports Haaretz.

Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said that the "World Court's landmark decision puts Israel and its allies on notice that immediate action is needed to prevent genocide and further atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza."

These comments were published by Israel and Palestine director at HRW Omar Shakir on X.

Jarrah added that "governments need to urgently use their leverage to ensure that the order is enforced."

"The ICJ's speedy ruling is recognition of the dire situation in Gaza, where civilians face starvation and are being killed daily at levels unprecedented in the recent history of Israel and Palestine."

A senior Hamas official said that the ICJ decision is an important development that contributes to isolating the occupation and exposing its crimes in Gaza, and called for "forcing the occupation to implement the court's decisions," Reuters reports

 Israel’s National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir responded to the ICJ ruling, writing on X: “Hague Smaghue”

In a tweet, international lawyer Johann Soufi mentions that Israeli judge Aharon Barak "voted FOR" the ICJ's decision on Israel's obligation to comply with the 1948 Genocide Convention.

"That is, he recognizes the risk of genocide," adds the jurist.

ICJ President Joan Donoghue (C) speaks at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) prior to the verdict announcement in the genocide case against Israel, brought by South Africa, in The Hague on Jan. 26, 2024. (Credit: Remko de Waal/ANP/AFP)

The Palestinian Foreign Minister says that Palestine "welcomes the interim measures ordered by the ICJ," according to Reuters.

"The ICJ judges assessed the facts and the law and ruled in favor of humanity and international law," he added.

The ministry added that it is "important to remember no state is above the law."

The ICJ further ordered Israel to take measures to prevent and punish direct incitement to commit genocide. 

Israel must take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, said the president of the ICJ. 

“Israel must ensure that its forces do not commit genocide,” added the ICJ president judge. 

“Israel must take all measures in its power to prevent genocide,” declared the presiding judge of the ICJ. 

“One of the judges is absent from the ICJ session, for unknown reasons,” international lawyer Johann Soufi wrote on X. 

Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, said on X that the "International Court of Justice will not decide whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza but whether a plausible case has been made requiring a protective order (provisional measures)."

"That could make a big difference in curbing the killing", he added.

The presiding judge of the UN's highest court has begun delivering her first ruling on the urgent measures demanded against Israel by South Africa, which accuses it of "genocide" in Gaza, a verdict closely followed around the world.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), which sits in The Hague (Netherlands), could theoretically order Israel to halt its military campaign, triggered by the unprecedented Hamas attack on Oct. 7, or to facilitate humanitarian aid.

In a call with Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III reaffirmed on Thursday the "US commitment to the pursuit of diplomacy to resolve tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border and the shared goal of avoiding regional escalation."

According to a readout of the call published by the Pentagon, Austin also reiterated the US "support for Israel's right to defend itself and the importance of ensuring uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza."

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has said that progress has been made towards an agreement to halt the fighting in Gaza, deliver more aid and release Israeli hostages held there, Reuters reports.

In an interview in Istanbul, the last stop on his Middle East tour, Cameron said that Israel was considering a British proposal to open its port of Ashdod to aid deliveries to Gaza, but that it would take "a lot of insistence" to reach an agreement. "I think it's possible to reach a pause where we stop the fighting and start looking at how to get aid in and hostages out," Cameron told Reuters and a Turkish TV channel. "That's what I've been talking about in the region. And I think we're making progress."

A ship around 60 nautical miles (about 110km) from the city of Aden, Yemen, reported hearing an explosion and spotting missiles a few miles from its position, reports the UK Maritime Safety Agency (UKMTO).

UKMTO added that another explosion at sea had been spotted less than 1 km from the vessel concerned. "The crew and vessel are safe," UKMTO concluded.

The outskirts of many localities in southern Lebanon are being targeted by Israeli artillery, a security source tells our correspondent: Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun), Dibil (Bint Jbeil), Kfar Hamam (Hasbaya). Residents also report that the outskirts of Halta (Hasbaya) in southern Lebanon have been hit by Israeli artillery.

In addition, a new volley of missiles were fired from southern Lebanon towards northern Israel, according to a security source.

Israeli warplanes struck an area between Maroun al-Ras and Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil), reports a security source quoted by our correspondent in the region. Residents also report that five artillery shells hit the area around Beit Lif, in the same district.

In addition, missiles were fired from southern Lebanon towards northern Israel, a security source told L'Orient Today.

The Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Hussein al-Sheikh, denounced on X a decision by the Israeli government "that will affect the future of the Gaza Strip, through the creation of a so-called buffer zone along the enclave's borders, which means cutting off around 20 percent of its area and destroying thousands of homes and farmlands."

"We call on the countries of the world and the UN Security Council to put an end to these occupation measures and demand that Israel withdraw immediately and end its destructive war against the Palestinian people," he added.

Cold and rainy weather in Gaza risks making the Gaza Strip "completely uninhabitable," the United Nations human rights office has warned.

“We are very concerned about the impact of the cold and rainy weather in Gaza,” said Ajith Sunghay, head of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Palestinian territories. “It was entirely predictable at this time of year and risks making an already unsanitary situation completely uninhabitable for the population. Most of them no longer have any clothes or blankets.”

Cold and rainy weather in Gaza risks making the Gaza Strip "completely uninhabitable," the United Nations human rights office has warned.

“We are very concerned about the impact of the cold and rainy weather in Gaza,” said Ajith Sunghay, head of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Palestinian territories. “It was entirely predictable at this time of year and risks making an already unsanitary situation completely uninhabitable for the population. Most of them no longer have any clothes or blankets.”

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack carried out at 8.10 a.m. on a group of Israeli soldiers near the "Hounin citadel" in northern Israel, opposite the Lebanese towns of Houla and Markaba (Marjeyoun).

In the morning, a security source told L'Orient Today that a salvo of rockets had been fired towards northern Israel, while Haaretz reported, at about the same time, that warning sirens had sounded in the Margaliot area, where the Hounin citadel is located.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told his British counterpart, David Cameron, during an interview in Istanbul that an immediate cease-fire was necessary in Gaza, a Turkish diplomatic source cited by Reuters said.

The two ministers met for approximately 90 minutes, followed by discussions between delegations, and discussed the war in Gaza, bilateral relations and Turkey's ratification of Sweden's application for NATO membership.

Fidan told Cameron that a full and immediate cease-fire and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were needed in Gaza for lasting peace, the source added.

Around 50 people, including families of Israeli hostages, blocked the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza at the Kerem Shalom crossing, Haaretz reports.

The Order 9 group, one of the organizers of the protest, declared that "no aid will be delivered until the last of the hostages has been released."

Kerem Shalom lies on Gaza's southern border with Israel and Egypt, and the crossing was used to transport over 60 percent of trucks entering Gaza before the war broke out two months ago.

Two Israeli artillery shells fell on the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil), residents told our correspondent in the South around 40 minutes ago.

Only four health centers (out of 22) are still operational in the center and south of the Gaza Strip, warns the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in a publication on X.

The UN agency adds that the streets are the scene of an alarming spread of diseases due to the lack of sanitation and drinking water. “This combination of malnutrition and disease is fatal,” adds UNRWA.

Chinese officials have asked their Iranian counterparts to help stop attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Houthis or risk harming trade ties with Beijing, four Iranian sources and one told Reuters. diplomat familiar with the matter. Discussions on attacks and trade between China and Iran took place at several recent meetings in Beijing and Tehran, the Iranian sources said.

The Iranian sources said Beijing had made it clear that it would be very disappointed in Tehran if China-linked ships were hit or the country's interests were affected in any way.

Israeli flag carrier El Al Israel Airlines will suspend flights to Johannesburg at the end of March, citing the current security situation and a sharp drop in demand after South Africa accused Israel of genocide before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), reports Reuters.

The Israeli flag carrier, which operates up to two weekly non-stop flights to Johannesburg, said it would move the wide-body planes it uses on that route to bolster other destinations while examining new routes.

The Gazan Ministry of Health announced on Friday a toll of 26,083 people killed, the majority of them women, adolescents and children in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement on Oct. 7.

The ministry reports 183 deaths in the last 24 hours and said that 64,487 people have been injured since the start of the conflict. “Many people are still under the rubble and rescuers cannot reach them,” he added.

Israeli artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of Naqoura, south of Naqoura and Wadi Hamoul (Sour), residents told our correspondent in the South more than 20 minutes ago.

The volume of trade passing through the Suez Canal, which is suffering from attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, has fallen by 42 percent in the last two months, according to the UN, concerned about the repercussions for all of world trade.

“We are very concerned about the attacks on maritime transport in the Red Sea ... which exacerbate trade disruptions linked to geopolitics and climate change,” Jan Hoffmann, a head of the UN body responsible for trade and development (UNCTAD).

The Dixmude helicopter carrier, mobilized to treat wounded Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, "has completed its mission," with some 120 seriously injured people having been treated on board in two months, the French armed forces announced. The ship is due to leave the Egyptian port of Al-Arish, where it was moored some 50 kilometers from the Palestinian territory, "by the end of the week," i.e. Friday, Saturday or Sunday, the staff announced at a press briefing.

A Houthi delegation discussed Thursday, during a visit to Moscow, the "need to intensify efforts to put pressure" on the United States and Israel to end the war in the Gaza Strip, according to a spokesperson for the Yemeni rebels.

This visit comes in a very tense regional context where, on the sidelines of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas, the United States and the United Kingdom recently carried out strikes against Houthi positions, accused of disrupting world trade by increasing attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

In southern Lebanon, after an unusually calm night, artillery fire targeted the outskirts of Houla (Marjayoun) around thirty minutes ago, residents confirmed to L'Orient Today.

A security source reported missile fire from southern Lebanon towards northern Israel.

The head of the CIA will travel to Europe to meet his Israeli and Egyptian counterparts and the Qatari Prime Minister in the hope of negotiating a truce and the release of hostages still being held by Hamas, the Washington Post and Axios reported Thursday. William Burns is scheduled to meet with Mossad chief David Barnea, Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and Qatar Prime Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in the coming days, according to the media, which did not disclose the location for the meeting. 

The highest court of the UN, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), is due to issue its decision this afternoon on urgent measures to protect Palestinians in Gaza, after being urgently called on last month by South Africa. The ICJ's orders are legally binding but the court has no way of enforcing them.

South Africa had taken the matter to the ICJ arguing that Israel was violating the United Nations Convention on Genocide, signed in 1948 following the Holocaust.

Hamas pledged Thursday to respect a cease-fire if it was demanded by this court in The Hague, but on condition that Israel also complies with it. The Israeli government has criticized this legal procedure.

Early this morning, the Gazan Health Ministry cited by AFP reported 120 deaths across Gaza during the evening and night and intense fighting near the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. 

In the Gaza Strip, Khan Younis remains today the scene of fierce fighting which has already pushed thousands of people to flee.

The international community has expressed in recent hours its concerns for the civilian population in the south of the Gaza Strip, where tank fire against a shelter of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has led to 13 dead. After the United States, France "condemned" these deadly shots, calling on Israel, without directly accusing it of this strike, to "comply with international law". And Berlin declared itself “extremely concerned” by the “desperate situation” of civilians in Khan Younis.

Make sure to read the Morning Brief to ensure that you are caught up.

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