Pride News Daily NEWS
Related Articles
By Sardar Khan Niazi
The leaders of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, according to a joint statement released regarding reports about Israel’s planned military operation in Rafah, warning against catastrophic consequences for the 1.5 million Palestinians trapped there.
They are concerned that Israel is planning a ground offensive into Rafah. A military operation into Rafah would be catastrophic, the statement by the prime ministers of the three countries said.
Should the Israeli assault on Rafah go ahead, the risk of atrocities is serious, real, and high, says the UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it would press ahead with an offensive against Hamas in Rafah, the last refuge for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza, after allowing civilians to vacate the area.
However, international human rights groups have warned that more than 1.4 million Palestinians who are sheltering in Rafah have nowhere left to go after Israel destroyed all remaining areas it previously said were designated safe zones.
The leaders also said the International Court of Justice’s January ruling in a genocide case brought by South Africa obligated Israel to protect civilians and deliver basic services and essential humanitarian assistance.
The protection of civilians is paramount and a requirement under international humanitarian law. Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas.
In Cairo, mediators from the United States, Qatar, and Egypt are seeking to broker a deal that would suspend fighting and see the release of the roughly 130 hostages still in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Israel did not receive in Cairo any new proposal of Hamas on the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement following Israeli media reports that the country’s delegation was told not to rejoin negotiations until Hamas softens its stance.
While he did not comment directly on the reports, Netanyahu said that I insist that Hamas drop their delusional demands, and when they drop these demands, we can move forward.
Meanwhile, CIA director William Burns joined the talks with David Barnea, head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, while a Hamas delegation was in Cairo Wednesday.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who governs the Israeli-occupied West Bank, called on Hamas to rapidly agree to a truce and stave off further tragedy for Palestinians.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation meanwhile revealed that its director, Christopher Wray, had made an unannounced trip to Israel to meet with the country’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Wray also met with FBI agents based in Tel Aviv, according to a statement from the bureau.
Spain and Ireland have asked the European Union to examine urgently whether Israel is complying with its human rights obligations in Gaza under an accord that links rights to trade ties.
The Spanish and Irish Prime Ministers Pedro Sanchez and Leo Varadkar sent a letter to the European Commission urging it to act urgently on the Gaza crisis.
Given the critical situation in Rafah, Ireland, and Spain have just requested the European Commission urgently review whether Israel is complying with its obligations to respect human rights in Gaza, Sanchez wrote on X, formerly.
By continuing to provide military assistance to Israel in its war on Gaza, countries become partners in the conflict and are seen by many as complicit in the actions committed by Israeli forces. They should discontinue their military support for Israel.
The obligation to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law is set down in Article 1, common and identical in each of the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949, plus the first and third Additional Protocols.
