Francesca Albanese, U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories and one of the signatories to the statement, said on social media that sending weapons to Israel that may be used in Gaza “may amount to complicity in atrocity crimes.”
Israel has rejected the allegations of genocide brought by South Africa at the ICJ, while the Biden administration dismissed the filing as “meritless.”
The United States is facing increasing scrutiny over its provision of arms to Israel. On Friday, four Senate Democrats — Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich (both N.M.) — urged the Biden administration to ensure that future U.S. military aid to Israel does not “make an already catastrophic situation even worse.”
In a letter addressed to President Biden, the senators expressed their concerns in light of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel’s promised attack on Rafah, the southern city where nearly 1.5 million refugees are now crammed into.
Here’s what else to know
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a postwar plan that pushes for the country’s indefinite military control over Gaza. Under the proposal, Israel would maintain a security zone in northern Gaza and have a presence on the enclave’s southern border with Egypt. It also calls for Gaza’s “complete demilitarization.” The Palestinian Authority said Netanyahu’s plan was a bid to obstruct the creation of a Palestinian state.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reversed the Trump administration’s position on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, saying they are “inconsistent with international law.” He said the Biden administration “maintains firm opposition to settlement expansion.” Netanyahu’s government this week announced plans to build thousands more settlement homes after a shooting attack in the West Bank.
U.S. forces destroyed seven Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles that were prepared to launch toward the Red Sea, U.S. Central Command said. Centcom earlier said a British-owned vessel struck by Houthi militants this week is leaking oil into the Red Sea and has created an 18-mile-long oil slick. Some 41,000 tons of fertilizer aboard the Rubymar could also spill out, worsening environmental risks, it said. The crew has evacuated but the ship is taking on water, Centcom added.
At least 29,514 people have been killed in Gaza and 69,616 injured since the war began, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 237 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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