EXPLANER
Israel’s Palestinian resettlement plan faces global condemnation as ICJ confirms it will hold public hearings. Here is the latest:
Here’s how things are going on Thursday, January 4, 2024:
Latest updates and human impact:
- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has confirmed that it will hold public hearings in The Hague on January 11 and 12 regarding the South African case against Israel.
- Rafah municipality head Ahmed al-Soufi told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that the number of displaced people who have arrived in Rafah, in the southernmost part of Gaza, is around one million since the start of war on October 7. Rafah’s usual population is around 300,000. .
- As exchanges of fire continue between Israel’s northern border and Lebanon’s southern border, the Israeli army says it will continue its attack on Lebanese territory as it sees fit, Al’s Hamdah Salhut reported Jazeera from occupied East Jerusalem.
- Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his heavily armed forces would fight to the end if Israel chose to expand the war into Lebanon.
- The latest Israeli strikes killed four men believed to be Hezbollah members in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura.
- Fourteen members of the same family – the Salah family – were killed overnight during an Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
- Israeli strikes continue near al-Amal hospital, the headquarters of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
- Israeli air and ground attacks have recently targeted the town of Khan Younis in southern Gaza and the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
Diplomacy and provision of aid:
- Tariq Habash, a senior policy adviser to the U.S. Department of Education, has resigned in protest over President Joe Biden’s approach to war. “The president must call for a permanent ceasefire,” he wrote in a statement. Message Wednesday.
- Humanitarian agencies have been unable to deliver aid to the northern Gaza Strip for the past three days, the UN agency OCHA reported on Wednesday. OCHA added that an active conflict coupled with access delays was the reason, but did not specify who was responsible.
- The Dutch Foreign Ministry described recent remarks by Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir regarding the resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza as “irresponsible”, in an article on X on Wednesday.
- The Netherlands, Germany, France and Saudi Arabia also condemned Israel’s calls for forced migration of Palestinians.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to make another visit to the Middle East, his fourth since the start of the Gaza war. He plans to stop in Israel.
Raids in the West Bank:
- A raid that began in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem has entered its second day, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Salhut reported. Residents say a massive number of Palestinians have been arrested, but the number has not yet been confirmed.
- In Nur Shams, armored bulldozers destroyed infrastructure and homes were ransacked, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Laura Khan reported from East Jerusalem.
- Water pipes, storefronts, commercial establishments and homes were destroyed.
- Another raid takes place in Tubas, in the northeast of the occupied West Bank. Salhut reported that a Palestinian died there in exchanges of fire.
- Several other raids took place in Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron and Bethlehem.
- A young Palestinian man was arrested Wednesday evening after being shot in the foot in Qalqilya, Wafa reported.