
Scoop: GOP chairs blast UN focus on Israel investigations
Why it matters: The letter comes ahead of a Tuesday vote on a resolution that they expect includes a special mechanism for the investigation and prosecution of Israeli actions in Gaza.
Another UN commission accused Israel of "genocidal acts" earlier this month.
House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R-Fl.) and Senate Foreign Relations Chair James Risch (R-Idaho) are warning that any nation or UN entity that supports the international investigative mechanism "will face the same consequences as the ICC," citing last month's sanctions.
Zoom in:"This one-sided focus on Israel undermines the legitimate and genuine threat posed by real human rights abusers. This includes the Hamas terrorists," the lawmakers write in the letter, first obtained by Axios.
"It's part of a concerning and insidious anti-Israel trend within the United Nations, specifically as relates to the HRC, and appears to be little more than a bare-faced attempt to prop up other anti-Israel action at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ)," they continue.

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News24
14 minutes ago
- News24
Israel official demands release of all hostages in Gaza following Hamas ceasefire agreement
An Israeli official demanded the release of all the Hamas hostages. This comes after Hamas agreed to an earlier plan for a ceasefire. Mediator Qatar expressed guarded optimism. A senior Israeli official on Tuesday said the government stood firm on its call for the release of all hostages in any future Gaza ceasefire deal, after Hamas accepted a new truce proposal. Mediators are awaiting an official Israeli response to the plan, a day after Hamas signalled its readiness for a fresh round of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of war. Mediator Qatar expressed guarded optimism, noting the latest proposal was 'almost identical' to an earlier version agreed to by Israel. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior Israeli official told AFP the government's stance had not changed and demanded the release of all hostages in any deal. The two foes have held on-and-off indirect negotiations throughout the war, resulting in two short truces during which Israeli hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, but they have ultimately failed to broker a lasting ceasefire. READ | Hamas agrees to 60-day Gaza ceasefire proposal, return of half the Israel hostages Qatar and Egypt, backed by the US, have mediated the frequent rounds of shuttle diplomacy. Egypt said on Monday that it and Qatar had sent the new proposal to Israel, adding 'the ball is now in its court'. Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said on Tuesday that Hamas had given a 'very positive response, and it truly was almost identical to what the Israeli side had previously agreed to'. We cannot make any claims that a breakthrough has been made. But we do believe it is a positive point. Majed al-Ansari According to a report in Egyptian state-linked outlet Al-Qahera News, the latest deal proposes an initial 60-day truce, a partial hostage release, the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners and provisions allowing for the entry of aid. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to publicly comment on the plan, but said last week that his country would accept 'an agreement in which all the hostages are released at once and according to our conditions for ending the war'. Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi said on social media that his group had 'opened the door wide to the possibility of reaching an agreement, but the question remains whether Netanyahu will once again close it, as he has done in the past'. Hamas' acceptance of the proposal came as Netanyahu faces increasing pressure at home and abroad. On Sunday, tens of thousands took to the streets in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to call for an end to the war and a deal to free the hostages still held captive. Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas' October 2023 attack that triggered the war, 49 are still in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. The new proposal also comes after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to conquer Gaza City, despite fears it will worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. On Tuesday, the new offensive was presented to the defence minister by the military's top brass. Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir - who has staunchly opposed ending the war - slammed the plan, warning of a 'tragedy' if Netanyahu 'gives in to Hamas'. Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said: 'Unfortunately, today's Zionist reactions reflect Netanyahu's malicious intentions to continue the war, genocide and ethnic cleansing.' AFP In Gaza, the civil defence agency reported Israeli strikes and fire killed 48 people across the territory on Tuesday. Agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP the situation was 'very dangerous and unbearable' in the Zeitoun and Sabra neighbourhoods of Gaza City, where he said 'artillery shelling continues intermittently'. The Israeli military declined to comment on specific troop movements, saying only that it was 'operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities' and took 'feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm'. The military later said a strike in Khan Yunis overnight targeted a Hamas militant. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swaths of the Palestinian territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military. In the Zikim area of northern Gaza on Tuesday, an AFP journalist saw Palestinians hauling sacks of food aid along dusty roads lined with rubble and damaged buildings. Gazan Shawg Al-Badri said it took 'three to four hours' to carry flour, what she called 'white gold', back to her family's tent. 'This bag is worth the whole world,' she said. Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1 219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's offensive has killed at least 62 064 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which the United Nations considers reliable.


New York Times
43 minutes ago
- New York Times
Talking Past Each Other in Israel
Most Saturday evenings, my wife and I join a silent vigil in Tel Aviv where each participant holds a photograph of a Gazan child killed in recent Israeli Defense Force attacks. There are a lot of them. We stand for an hour. Some passers-by stop to look at the pictures and read the children's names; others throw out a curse and keep walking. Strangely, unlike at many antigovernment protests I attend, where I feel a bit pointless, at this vigil I do feel of some use. It's not much, but I am creating an encounter between a dead child and the gaze of a person who didn't know that child existed. On a recent Saturday, the vigil was more charged than usual. Hamas had just released a monstrous video showing the skeletal Israeli hostage Evyatar David digging his own grave upon his captors' orders. A few people stopped as they walked past us. A man wearing swim shorts stared at me and asked me if I had seen the video: 'He's your people. It's his picture you should be holding. His!' Another woman stopped and yelled at us: 'It's all Hamas propaganda! Don't you get it? Those kids — It's all A.I. They're not real!' It would have been easy for me to argue, to find myself condescending to these people's claims. But because the vigil is silent, I was forced to just look at them and keep quiet. I've never been very good at keeping quiet. In some ways I'm like the running commentary on a director's cut, with an answer or explanation for everything. I used to feel like the only one who did that, but now that social media is everywhere, it seems the whole world has become like me. The man in the swim shorts tried to get a verbal response out of me, and when he failed, he quickly recalibrated and realized he could keep talking unhindered. His attempt to stir up an argument soon turned into a peculiar blend of internal monologue and Facebook post. He spoke about loss, and enemies, and this country of ours and what the hell has become of it, and about the hostages and his reserve duty and his nephew who's serving in Gaza. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.


CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
Fears in Gaza City over planned Israeli invasion
Displaced Palestinians and residents of Gaza's capital city are packing to flee with whatever they can carry, ahead of a planned Israeli invasion. The prospect of yet another forcible move seems almost impossible for some, as CNN's International Correspondent Paula Hancocks reports.