2024-01-12 11:12:01
South Africa in a landmark court case on Thursday accused Israel of violating the United Nations Genocide Convention, saying not even the Hamas attack on October 7 could justify the events in Gaza. Pretoria has urgently appealed to the highest court of the UN to order Israel to “immediately suspend its military operations” in the Gaza Strip.
Information to remember
⇒ Houthi rebels bombed by Washington and London
⇒ Israel ready to defend itself against accusations of “genocide” in Gaza
⇒ Al Jazeera rejects Israeli accusations over journalists killed in Gaza
US and UK bomb Houthis in Yemen
The Israel-Hamas conflict moves this Friday to Yemen where the United States and the United Kingdom carried out overnight strikes against the Houthi rebels, who for weeks have been threatening international maritime traffic in the Red Sea in “solidarity” with Palestinians in Gaza.
READ ALSO: Conflict in the Middle East: last round before conflagration
These strikes targeted military sites in several towns controlled by the Houthis, indicated the television channel of this rebel group, member of the “axis of resistance”, a group of armed movements hostile to Israel and established by Iran which also includes Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah. The capital Sanaa and the port city of Hodeida, where AFP correspondents said they heard several explosions, as well as Taiz and Saada were targeted.
The American-British operation was carried out “successfully” in “direct response to the unprecedented attacks by the Houthis on international ships in the Red Sea”, affirmed American President Joe Biden. He spoke of sustained “defensive” action to protect international trade in particular.
Houthis will continue targeting ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea
A spokesperson for the rebels in Yemen, Mohamed Abdel Salam, for his part affirmed this Friday that the Houthis will continue to target ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea, denouncing the “unjustified” American-British strikes against his movement.
READ ALSO: Gilles Kepel: “After the failure of Gaza, Israel redirects its offensive against the ‘axis of evil'”
“There is no justification for this aggression against Yemen, since there was no threat to international shipping in the Red Sea […]and the target was and will remain Israeli ships or those heading towards the ports of occupied Palestine,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“The American-British enemy (…) carried out 73 raids, targeting the capital Sanaa, and the governorates of Hodeidah, Taiz, Hajjah and Saada. These raids resulted in the death of five martyrs and injured six other members of our armed forces”, Yahya Saree declared on his X account on Friday, affirming that this “aggression (…) will not go unanswered”.
Strikes against Houthis ‘necessary’ and ‘proportionate’, says Sunak
US and British strikes against Yemeni Houthi rebels are “limited, necessary and proportionate”, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said.
READ ALSO: Bernard Haykel: “The United States could strike the Houthis directly in Yemen”
“Despite repeated warnings from the international community, the Houthis have continued to carry out attacks in the Red Sea, again this week against British and American warships. This cannot continue […] We therefore took limited, necessary and proportionate measures in self-defence,” he said in a statement.
“The Houthis bear responsibility” for the regional escalation,” according to Paris
The Houthi rebels in Yemen, targeted by American and British airstrikes, bear “extremely heavy responsibility for regional escalation” through their attacks on ships in the Red Sea, Paris said on Friday. France, which has deployed a frigate in the area, “demands that the Houthis immediately end” their attacks and recalls that States have “the right” to react, according to a press release from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Paris “will continue to assume its responsibilities and contribute to maritime security in this area in conjunction with its partners”, adds the Quai d’Orsay, recalling that the Languedoc frigate had destroyed drones in the area in December.
Iran and Russia condemn these strikes
Iran condemned the airstrikes on Friday, saying it was an “arbitrary action” and a “blatant violation of the sovereignty” of this country.
The spokesperson for Russian diplomacy also condemned the strikes on Friday, denouncing a measure leading to “escalation” and having “destructive objectives”. “The US strikes in Yemen are a new example of the distortion by the Anglo-Saxons of UN Security Council resolutions and a total disregard for international law in the name of an escalation in the region for achieve their destructive goals,” Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram.
Israel ready to defend itself against accusations of “genocide” in Gaza
Israel will respond this Friday to what the country calls “atrocious” allegations that it is committing “genocide” in Gaza, in a landmark legal case before the UN’s highest court. “No, South Africa, it is not us who came to perpetrate a genocide, it is Hamas,” declared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the hearings.
READ ALSO: Israel accused of genocide: how the Jewish state intends to defend itself
“We will continue our defensive war, the justice and morality of which are unrivaled,” he added. “In fact, it is those who violently attack Israel who continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the massacre of Jews,” said US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. Washington has also distanced itself from some of the Israeli criticism of South Africa.
Israel, which will speak this Friday before the magistrates of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which sits in The Hague, described the case as “absurd” and “atrocious” and accused Pretoria on Thursday of behaving like “the legal arm of the terrorist organization Hamas”.
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