Kamis, 11 Januari 2024

Israel officials support Gaza destruction, court hears - BBC

Police disperse protesters outside the ICJ in The HagueGetty Images

Israel's plan to "destroy" Gaza comes from "the highest level of state", the UN's top court has heard.

The claims were made by South African lawyers as it presented its case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice.

South Africa also called on the court to order Israel to cease military operations in Gaza.

Israel - which will present its defence on Friday - has vehemently rejected the accusations as "baseless".

The court will deliver only an opinion on the genocide allegation, although it is being closely watched.

Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, a lawyer for the High Court of South Africa, told the ICJ Israel's "genocidal intent" was evident "from the way in which this military attack is being conducted".

"The intent to destroy Gaza has been nurtured at the highest level of state," he said.

"Every day there is mounting, irreparable loss of life, property, dignity, and humanity for the Palestinian people," Adila Hassim, also representing South Africa, told the court.

"Nothing will stop the suffering, except an order from this court."

In its evidence submitted before the hearing, South Africa said Israel's actions were "intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group".

Israel will offer its defence on Friday, but has previously said its actions in the Gaza Strip are justified because it is responding to Hamas's deadly attacks on 7 October.

But speaking in court on Thursday, South Africa's Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said that no attack "can provide justification for or defend breaches of the [Genocide] Convention".

Israel is a signatory to the Genocide Convention of 1948, which defines genocide and commits states to prevent it.

The ICJ is the United Nation's highest court, based in The Hague in the Netherlands. Its rulings are theoretically legally binding on parties to the ICJ - which include Israel and South Africa - but are not enforceable.

In 2022, the court ordered Russia to "immediately suspend military operations" in Ukraine, an order that was ignored.

Public hearings in South Africa's genocide case against Israel began on Thursday at the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
Getty Images

Under international law, genocide is defined as committing one or more acts with the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

There were angry scenes outside the ICJ's building, known as the Peace Palace, as Dutch police struggled to keep groups of Palestinian and Israeli supporters apart.

Hundreds of people waving Palestinian flags gathered outside the ICJ, calling for a ceasefire. Israeli supporters set up a screen showing images of some of the hostages still being held in Gaza.

Red and white police tape has been placed outside the ICJ in an attempt to bring some semblance of order to the chaotic scenes outside.

It was in contrast to the formality inside the court, where the Israeli delegation is listening to South Africa's lawyers accuse the country's forces of committing genocide in Gaza.

Israel's delegation is expected to highlight its right to self-defence under international law - this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has no intention of permanently displacing the people of Gaza, or occupying the territory.

Unlike the International Criminal Court (ICC), the ICJ cannot prosecute individuals for crimes such as genocide, but its opinions carry weight with the UN and other international institutions.

Pro-Israelis take part in a demonstration during a hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
Getty Images

On Wednesday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said: "Our opposition to the ongoing slaughter of the people of Gaza has driven us as a country to approach the ICJ."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the accusations "atrocious and preposterous".

"We will be in the International Court of Justice and we will present proudly our case of using self-defence… under humanitarian law," he said.

He added that the Israeli army was "doing its utmost under extremely complicated circumstances on the ground to make sure that there will be no unintended consequences and no civilian casualties".

Caroline Glick, a former adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the case was "an affront to the basic concept of morality and reasonableness".

Zane Dangor, director general of South Africa's department of international relations and cooperation, told BBC's Africa Daily programme that the allegation of genocide against Israel is a "strong allegation" but that it "is not one that is unfounded".

He described South Africa's case as "very meticulous". While condemning the Hamas attacks of 7 October, he said nothing "could justify the level of killings" that is taking place in Gaza.

The ICJ could rule quickly on South Africa's request for Israel to suspend its military campaign - but a final ruling on whether Israel is committing genocide could take years.

South Africa has been highly critical of Israel's military operation in Gaza, and its governing African National Congress has a long history of solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

It sees parallels with its struggle against apartheid - a policy of racial segregation and discrimination enforced by the white-minority government in South Africa against the country's black majority, until the first democratic elections, in 1994.

In Gaza, more than 23,350 people - mostly women and children - have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, since the war began in the aftermath of Hamas's 7 October attacks on southern Israel. In those attacks some 1,300 people were killed - mainly civilians - and about 240 others taken hostage.

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2024-01-11 12:33:12Z
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Taiwan opposition presidential candidate rules out unification talks with China - Financial Times

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  1. Taiwan opposition presidential candidate rules out unification talks with China  Financial Times
  2. Taiwan presidential election tests ties with China | BBC News  BBC News
  3. On Taiwan's islands close to China's mainland, threats are in sharp focus ahead of election  Sky News
  4. Taiwan Heads to the Polls  Heritage.org
  5. Taiwan hits back at China for ‘repeated interference’ in upcoming elections  Al Jazeera English

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2024-01-11 07:09:33Z
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Ecuador ‘in state of war’ against drug cartels’ terror campaign - Al Jazeera English

With city streets largely deserted apart from a massive military deployment, Ecuador found itself in a “state of war” as drug cartels waged a brutal campaign of kidnappings and attacks in response to a government crackdown.

Hundreds of soldiers patrolled the capital, Quito, where residents were gripped by fear over a surge in violence that has also prompted alarm abroad.

The small South American country has been plunged into crisis after years of increasing control by transnational cartels that use its ports to ship cocaine to the United States and Europe.

The latest outburst of violence was sparked by the discovery on Sunday of the prison escape of one of the country’s most powerful narco bosses, Jose Adolfo Macias, known by the alias “Fito”.

On Monday, President Daniel Noboa imposed a state of emergency and nighttime curfew, but the gangs hit back with a declaration of “war” – threatening to execute civilians and security forces.

They also instigated numerous prison riots, set off explosions in public places and waged attacks in which at least 14 people have been killed.

More than 100 prison guards and administrative staff have been taken hostage, the prisons authority said.

In the port city of Guayaquil, attackers wearing balaclavas stormed a state-owned TV station on Tuesday, briefly taking several journalists and staff members hostage and firing shots in dramatic scenes broadcast live before police arrived.

Local media reported some of the attackers were as young as 16.

This attack, in particular, spread panic among the general population, many of whom left work and closed shops to return to the safety of their homes.

“Today we are not safe, anything can happen,” said Luis Chiligano, a 53-year-old security guard in Quito who explained he was opting to hide rather than confront “the criminals, who are better armed”.

Noboa said on Wednesday that the country was now in a “state of war,” as he promised not to yield to the gangs.

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2024-01-11 07:13:47Z
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Rabu, 10 Januari 2024

US and UK navies repel largest Houthi attack on Red Sea shipping - BBC

Two figures stand in a room of the HMS Diamond, looking out at a fiery sceneUK Ministry of Defence

UK and US naval forces have repelled the largest attack yet by Yemen's Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea, the UK defence secretary says.

The Iran-backed group launched at least 21 drones and missiles overnight, according to the US military.

They were shot down by carrier-based jets and four warships, it added. No injuries or damage were reported.

The Houthis have not commented, but they have targeted vessels in response to the war in the Gaza Strip.

They have claimed - often falsely - that the ships were linked to Israel.

The US military's Central Command said Tuesday's attack was the 26th since 19 November.

At around 21:15 local time (18:15 GMT), Iranian-designed one-way attack drones, anti-ship cruise missiles and anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen towards international shipping lanes in the southern Red Sea, it added.

Eighteen drones, two cruise missiles and one ballistic missile were shot down by F/A-18 warplanes from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower, which is deployed in the Red Sea, and by four destroyers, the USS Gravely, USS Laboon, USS Mason and HMS Diamond.

HMS Diamond shot down seven Houthi drones using its Sea Viper missiles and guns, a British defence source told the BBC. Each of the missiles costs more than £1m ($1.3m).

"The UK alongside allies have previously made clear that these illegal attacks are completely unacceptable and if continued the Houthis will bear the consequences," UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps warned in a statement.

"We will take the action needed to protect innocent lives and the global economy," he added.

A week ago, the US, UK and 10 other countries - including Germany, Italy, Australia, Bahrain and Japan - issued a similar warning in a joint statement that was widely interpreted as a threat of military action against Houthi targets in Yemen, including where missiles are stored and launched.

They said the attacks posed "a direct threat to the freedom of navigation that serves as the bedrock of global trade in one of the world's most critical waterways".

A map showing the Bab al-Mandab strait, which sits between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea on the African coast

Almost 15% of global seaborne trade passes through the Red Sea, which is linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez canal and is the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

The fear is that fuel prices will rise and supply chains will be damaged.

The International Chamber of Shipping says 20% of the world's container ships are now avoiding the Red Sea and using the much longer route around the southern tip of Africa instead.

The Houthis say they have been targeting Israeli-owned or Israel-bound vessels to show their support for the Iran-backed Palestinian group Hamas since the start of the war in Gaza in October.

On Friday, the foreign ministry of the Houthi-run government in Sanaa rejected the Western allies' statement and insisted navigation was "totally safe" in the Red Sea "except for ships headed for ports in occupied Palestine".

"This is a humanitarian measure in the wake of the barbaric practices committed by the Zionist entity [Israel] against civilians in Gaza," it said, adding that the stance would not change "until the lifting of the savage siege" of the Palestinian territory.

Formally known as the Ansar Allah (Partisans of God), the Houthis began as a movement that championed Yemen's Zaidi Shia Muslim minority.

In the early 2000s, they fought a series of rebellions against the Yemeni government in a bid to win greater autonomy for their northern heartland on the border with Saudi Arabia.

In 2014, the Houthis took control of the capital, Sanaa. They seized large parts of western Yemen the following year, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in support of the international-recognised Yemeni government.

The ensuing war has reportedly killed more than 150,000 people and left 21 million others in need of humanitarian assistance.

Saudi Arabia and the US have accused Iran of smuggling weapons, including drones and cruise and ballistic missiles, to the Houthis, in violation of a UN arms embargo. Iran has denied the allegation.

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2024-01-10 11:16:48Z
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France's 'baby Macron' faces stiff test as prime minister - Financial Times

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2024-01-10 05:00:06Z
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Armed gangs and prison breaks: how Ecuador was plunged into chaos and bloodshed - The Guardian

Few Ecuadoreans were prepared for just how swiftly and steeply the security situation in their country could plummet. Murder and violence linked to drug trafficking has soared, as the country has become one of the most dangerous in Latin America.

Until just a few years ago, Ecuador was a corner of relative peace sandwiched between the world’s two biggest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, which have recently seen their own violent internal conflicts between security forces and nominally leftist rebels linked to the lucrative drugs trade.

Facing its own surge in violence, Ecuador’s young president, Daniel Noboa, has declared a state of “internal armed conflict”, designating 20 drug trafficking gangs as terrorist groups and authorising Ecuador’s military to “neutralise” the crime factions “within the bounds of international humanitarian law”.

That announcement came as Ecuador was plunged into chaos and bloodshed after the country’s most notorious gang leader and druglord, Adolfo Macías, alias Fito, escaped from prison on Sunday. Noboa’s subsequent declaration of a state of emergency prompted criminals to unleash a wave of attacks inside and outside prisons which have seen police and prison guards murdered and a TV station invaded by armed gangsters during a live broadcast.

Ecuadoreans are terrified. Not so long ago Ecuador was better known for its volcanoes, its rich biodiversity and even as a retirement retreat for US senior citizens enjoying the temperate climate and lower cost of living on their pensions.

“We’ve never seen this before,” says Fernando Carrión, a security expert with the Latin American Social Sciences Institute in Quito. “We always defined ourselves as an island of peace.

“But we saw this coming,” he adds.

The rate of violent deaths in the South American country in 2017 was five per 100,000 inhabitants, Carrión says. It is now 46, which “makes 2023 the most violent year in Ecuador’s history”, he says. According to police records, 2023 saw at least 7,592 violent deaths, compared with 4,426 in a year earlier.

The latest explosion of violence is linked to the jailbreak not just of Macías but also of another gang leader, Fabricio Colón, who escaped prison during disturbances on Monday night. The prosecutor’s office has linked Colón, a leader of the Los Lobos gang, to the assassination of the presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio last year and death threats against the attorney general, Diana Salazar.

Never before have organised crime’s tentacles reached so far into the corridors of power, says Carrión, and now several gangs are rebelling against the new president’s tough approach as he attempts to shake up their control of the prisons, pledging to militarise jails, lengthen sentences and isolate powerful kingpins like those who just escaped.

Soldiers in an armoured vehicle patrol Quito’s historic centre after the outbreak of violence

Last week, Noboa pledged to follow the lead of El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, and construct two maximum security prisons using the same company and design as those built by the popular leader.

Trapped between economic hardship, extortion rackets and the very real risk of being the victim of violent crime, many Ecuadoreans have chosen to flee. Tens of thousands have risked it all, heading north via the perilous Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama, becoming the second largest nationality after Venezuelans to make the journey, according to Panama’s migration office.

Much of Ecuador’s rising violence has been driven by competition between an expanding cluster of local crime gangs, who learned their brutally violent scare tactics from their backers, the rival Mexican drug cartels Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation.

Now, however, those bloodthirsty tactics are being turned against a common enemy – the Ecuadorian state.

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2024-01-10 07:17:00Z
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Israel-Hamas war latest news: UK and US warships stop largest Houthi attack in Red Sea - The Telegraph

US and UK forces shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels toward international shipping lanes in the Red Sea, the US military said.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement: “Iranian-backed Houthis launched a complex attack of Iranian designed one-way attack UAVs... anti-ship cruise missiles, and an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen into the Southern Red Sea.”

The force said no injuries or damage were reported, adding that this was the 26th Houthi attack on commercial shipping lanes in the region since November 19.

Grant Shapps, the British defence secretary, said it was the “largest attack from the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea to date”.

On X, formerly Twitter, he wrote: “Deploying Sea Viper missiles and guns, [HMS] Diamond destroyed multiple attack drones heading for her and commercial shipping in the area, with no injuries or damage sustained to Diamond or her crew.”

The incident came ahead of a scheduled vote at the United Nations Security Council on a resolution that would demand an immediate halt to attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on merchant and commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

Last week, 12 nations, led by the US, warned the Houthis of consequences unless they immediately halted targeting ships in the region.

The Houthis have vowed to continue attacks until Israel halts the conflict in Gaza, and warned that it would attack US warships if the group itself was targeted.

Various shipping lines have meanwhile suspended operations in the region, instead taking the longer journey around Africa.

Follow the latest updates below

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2024-01-10 10:37:00Z
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