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IOL News
3 days ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Gaza Genocide: Israel's Disregard for the Rule of Law Setting a Dangerous Precedent
Shuruq Ayyad consoles her 12-year-old daughter Rahaf, who suffers from malnutrition, at a school-turned-shelter in al-Rimal in central Gaza City, on May 4, 2025. Dr Nazreen Shaik-Peremanov Nixon's Watergate scandal showcased the US fireworks cartel's militaristic capability in Christmas lighting the Vietnamese skies. Indeed, it was not a sombre, white Christmas in Vietnam. Dense bush and guerrilla tactics were promptly served to Nixon's Santa by the Vietnamese forces. Like, the world and Americans forgot the planted listening devices during electioneering. Two weeks of bombings were supposedly due to a stalemate, or so that is what we are told. Lyndon B Johnson could not say much, except probably, 'Walk on, Henry Kissinger, walk on.' No amount of evidence could bite Kissinger's realpolitik in Cambodia, Vietnam or Latin America. Mass atrocities levied against innocent civilians, non-combatants and poor governments were met with repeated condonation. Political pragmatism is a wicked term for the human auditory canal. South Africa's application before the United Nations' judicial arm, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), was brought in December 29, 2023. Citing genocide and acknowledging Israel as a nation-state amongst the world's states, the ICJ shared its decision with the international community, inter alia, interdicting Israel from committing genocidal acts, permitting humanitarian aid and assistance to Palestinians, and directing that Israel report to the world's court on measures taken. Expectedly, Israel disregarded the judgement whilst most of the world's normal-thinking nations hailed the decision, awaiting action with bated breath. Breathe easy for Israel will not do a damn thing, is what many failed to realise. With the US and Russia at loggerheads over Ukraine, some odd incidents of allegedly purported Pakistani terror attacks on India, and a few other morphed international incidents, and a falling star from the link, the Palestinian genocide has paled in significance. Like Northern Ireland, the mind's conditioning shifted into gear. Perhaps, this is precisely what the intention was. Notoriously, international relations are ridden with diversion tactics, especially when they bring comfort to those who seek to remain clandestine. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ So, it is not puzzling when the moving spotlight repeatedly scavenge new prey. Such is a diversion. It is inordinately difficult to make room for anything other than what the victors choose after a tyrannical war on the world. Victor's justice paved the way for the UN's formation after World War II, preceded by the League of Nations. Even though Nuremberg was specially established for war crimes, inter alia, the victors considered it apt to establish a world court. Thus began a litany of insanity as witnessed by none else. The UN Charter is the ICJ's founding document, and the ICJ's powers are informed by the International Court of Justice's Statute. This means that the ICJ is de facto a world court, preceded by no other. Well, perhaps the US and the State of Israel are the glaring exceptions. Like parties to any dispute in daily ruminations, states, too, can muse themselves by presenting a matter for adjudication before the ICJ. Pacific settlement of disputes may be the ICJ's ethos, but political pragmatism reigns supreme. When a dispute is brought before any court of law for adjudication, the court is duty-bound to deliver a just verdict swiftly, deftly and judiciously, without fear, favour or prejudice. Upon a court's ruling or judgment, disputing parties must comply with the court's directive. Equally, these principles of transparency, accountability, and the rule of law apply to states bringing matters for consideration before the ICJ. However, international relations is a dynamic creature which impacts international law in a myriad of ways. Swayed mostly by the UN Security Council's permanent members, the US steers the UN's coffers and its activities. Additionally, the P5's veto power is severely weighted against justice being meted out. Poorer nations, with little wielding power, yield to those that control the coffers, also driven by political hegemony and trade needs. Thus, when the ICJ delivered its ruling in the South Africa obo Palestine v Israel matter, Israel could successfully rely on its US alliance, effectively setting aside the ICJ's ruling. Despotically arrogant, the rule of law was cast to an abandoned no-man's-land shore. International relations and international law are two sides of the same coin. Israel was judicially directed to cease all genocidal activities in Gaza. Israel was directed to take immediate and effective measures to provide humanitarian aid to all Palestinians. Israel was directed to report to the ICJ on these directives. Israel was directed to report on its domestic legal willingness to bring perpetrators to justice. Israel denied having occupied Gaza, and persisted in flagrant disregard of the ICJ's ruling, permitting little humanitarian aid to the long-suffering Palestinians who have not only been stripped of their land but also are imminently facing extermination. Sounds familiar? Yes, it takes us back to Nazi Germany. International law meant nothing then; it means nothing now, except if the victors wish to confer meaning. Kissinger, we intelligently understand, acted in the US's best interests, then found a persisting dominant military centre-stage.
Egypt Independent
13-05-2025
- Health
- Egypt Independent
One in five people in Gaza face starvation, report warns, as Israel's months-long blockade continues
CNN — One in five people in the Gaza Strip are facing starvation as the entire territory edges closer to famine, a new United Nations-backed report warns, after nearly three months of Israel's blockade of critically needed humanitarian aid. The warning comes as the UN and several NGOs, as well as civilians in Gaza, say the situation has deteriorated since Israel launched its renewed assault on the enclave in March, as residents struggle to access food, medicine and clean water. The enclave's entire population is experiencing 'high levels of acute food security' and the territory is at 'high risk' of famine, the most severe type of hunger crisis, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said in its latest report Monday. 'Goods indispensable for people's survival are either depleted or expected to run out in the coming weeks,' the IPC said. Food is running out, and what little is left is being sold at exorbitant prices that few can afford, it said. Israel imposed a humanitarian blockade on Gaza on March 2, cutting off food, medical supplies, and other aid to the more than 2 million Palestinians who live in the territory. Israel says the blockade, along with the military's expansion of its bombardment of Gaza, is intended to pressure Hamas to release hostages held in the enclave – but international organizations say it violates international law, with some accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war. There is a 'high risk' that famine will occur between now and the end of September, the IPC report warned, leaving most people in Gaza without access to food, water, shelter, and medicine. 'Only an immediate and sustained cessation of hostilities and the resumption of humanitarian aid delivery can prevent a descent into famine,' the report said. Shuruq Ayyad consoles her 12-year-old daughter Rahaf, who is suffering from malnutrition, at a school-turned-shelter in al-Rimal in central Gaza City on May 4. Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images Under the IPC system – a five-phase scale used to measure the severity of food insecurity – a famine can only be declared if data shows certain thresholds are met. Those conditions are: at least 20% of all households must face an extreme food shortage, 30% or more of children must be acutely malnourished, and at least 2 in every 10,000 people die every day because of outright starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease. The first threshold has already been met, according to the IPC. Nearly 469,500 people – around 22% of the population – will likely experience 'catastrophic' food insecurity, the highest phase on the IPC scale, between May and September, the report said. David Mencer, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, said Monday that 'famine has never happened' in Gaza, despite IPC warnings, and that if there is hunger in Gaza, it is caused by Hamas depriving civilians of humanitarian aid. Whilst largely pinning the blame on Hamas for rising hunger levels, US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Friday acknowledged the rapidly deteriorating situation in Gaza, telling CNN: 'If there wasn't a humanitarian crisis, there wouldn't be an effort to try to deal with it. So, the answer is, obviously yes, there is a humanitarian crisis.' Since March, Israel's renewed assault has displaced more than 430,000 people, the report said, disrupting essential services and the distribution of critical supplies. All 25 bakeries run by the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) were forced to shutter at the beginning of April due to lack of supplies, and food is running out at most of the 177 hot meal kitchens, according to the IPC report. And food prices are soaring. Prices for flour have increased 3,000% since February and 55-pound sack of wheat flour can run anywhere between $235 and $520, the report said. Pregnant women and children among the most at risk Children and pregnant women are at particularly high risk. Nearly 71,000 cases of acute malnutrition among children under five are expected between April 2025 and March 2026, the report said. And nearly 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will need treatment for acute malnutrition, it said. During the nineteen months since Israel launched its assault on Gaza in the wake of the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, people have resorted to scavenging for food, eating grass and animal feed, and drinking polluted water. Starving mothers have been unable to produce enough milk to feed their babies and parents have scrambled to keep their children alive, parents and doctors told CNN. Imran Rajab, a mother living in Gaza city, told CNN earlier this month she was forced to bake bread using flour from a garbage dumpster to feed her six children. People walk along a street lined with damaged storefronts and a shuttered bakery in northern Gaza on April 1. Hamed Sbeata/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images 'My kids are vomiting after they eat it. It smells horrible,' Rajab said. 'But what else can I do? What will I feed my children if not this?' Dr. Amjad Al-Muzaini, a gynecologist working in Gaza City, said women in Gaza are forced to choose between feeding their children or caring for their own health. Most often, they sacrifice their own well-being to ensure survival, he said. While doing cesarean surgeries, women were found to have severely deteriorated intestinal and uterine tissues, Al-Muzaini said, likely the effects of eating poor-quality and mainly canned foods. The WFP has said recently it is ready to surge enough aid into Gaza to feed the entire population for up to two months. UNRWA, the main UN agency supporting Palestinians, said it has nearly 3,000 trucks filled with aid waiting to cross into Gaza that is currently blocked by Israel. 'Families in Gaza are starving while the food they need is sitting at the border,' the WFP's Executive Director, Cindy McCain said on X. 'But WFP hasn't been able to get new aid in since 2 March.' 'If we wait for famine to be officially confirmed, it will be TOO LATE,' she said. Israel launched its war in Gaza following Hamas' October 2023 attack in which militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage. Since then, Israel's military campaign has killed almost 53,000 Palestinians. Since Israel resumed its bombardment in March, more than 2,500 Palestinians have been killed, according to figures provided by the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
