International Court of Justice is set to begin hearings in genocide case against Israel. Here's what's at stake
From CNN's Christian Edwards
The International Court of Justice is set to open a two-day hearing in proceedings brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, which could lead the court to order an emergency suspension of Israel’s military campaign in the enclave.
The ICJ, established in 1945, is the United Nations’ top court and hears cases brought by states accusing others of violating their UN treaty obligations. South Africa and Israel are signatories to the 1948 Genocide Convention, meaning they are obliged not to commit genocide and to prevent and punish it. The convention automatically grants the ICJ jurisdiction over signatory states.
In an 84-page filing to the ICJ, South Africa argued that Israel is committing genocide by killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing serious mental and bodily harm, forced evacuation, widespread hunger, and by creating conditions “calculated to bring about their physical destruction.”
“Israel has engaged in and failed to prevent or to punish acts and measures which are genocidal, constituting flagrant violations of Israel’s obligations,” the filing said. It also accused Israel of failing to stem incitement to genocide in public pronouncements by its officials.
The UN defines genocide as an act “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” The UN says that it was developed “partly in response to the Nazi policies of systematic murder of Jewish people during the Holocaust.”
The ICJ’s 15-judge panel, which sits in The Hague in the Netherlands, has been expanded by an additional judge from each side in this case. Israel will be represented by retired Supreme Court justice Aharon Barak, an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, and South Africa by Dikgang Moseneke, the country’s former deputy chief justice.
South Africa is scheduled to present its oral arguments on Thursday and Israel the next day.
After the hearing concludes Friday, it could be days or weeks before the judges issue a decision on the emergency measures. Israel will be able to challenge the jurisdiction of the court and could seek to have the case thrown out.
2 min ago
Israel to appear in World Court as US warns Houthis over Red Sea attacks. Here's the latest
From CNN staff
Israel is set to appear before the International Court of Justice on Thursday in a high-stakes case that could determine the course of the brutal war in Gaza.
South Africa is taking Israel to the ICJ, also known as the World Court, on claims that it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and failing to prevent genocide.
Israel has called the case a "blood libel," a thinly veiled accusation of antisemitism.
Here's what else you need to know:
Red Sea on edge: The UN Security Council on Wednesday approved a resolution calling on Yemen’s Houthi rebels to cease their "brazen" attacks in the Red Sea as the United States warned the Iran-backed militants would face "consequences" for their actions. "I'm not going to telegraph or preview anything that that might happen,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Bahrain Wednesday. "We’ve made clear ... there will be consequences." His warning comes as the Houthis show no signs of de-escalation and the potential for a regional flare-up looms large.
Gaza crisis: The World Health Organization chief said delivering desperately needed aid to Gaza faces "nearly insurmountable challenges," due to Israeli bombardment, restrictions on movement, fuel shortages and interrupted communications. WHO officials also warned of the "horrific" food situation in the strip, which has become a breeding ground for "a cocktail for diseases." Meanwhile, a British doctor told CNN that nothing prepared him for the daily horror of working in a Gaza hospital.
Blinken visit: The top US diplomat discussed "ongoing efforts to minimize civilian harm" and increase the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Gaza during a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the US State Department said. He also urged Israel to pass on a tax revenue it takes from Palestinian imports to the PA.
Sexual violence: A UN envoy on sexual violence will travel to Israel and the West Bank to gather information on reports of sexual assaults committed during Hamas' October 7 attack and its aftermath. Hamas has repeatedly denied allegations that its fighters committed sexual violence during the attack despite the evidence.
Tunnel tour: CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joined the Israeli military to tour what the IDF alleges are tunnels used by Hamas under Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Watch the video.
9 min ago
UN Security Council demands Houthis halt Red Sea attacks as US warns of "consequences"
From CNN's Richard Roth, Haley Britzky, Jennifer Hansler and Kathleen Magramo
The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday approved a resolution calling on Yemen’s Houthi rebel group to “cease its brazen” attacks in the Red Sea, as the United States and Britain hinted at military strikes.
The warnings come as the Iran-backed militants continue a weeks-long campaign to launch drones and missiles at vessels in the commercially vital shipping lane, which they say are revenge against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.
The UN Security Council vote was 11 in favor, 0 against, and four abstentions, including Russia and China.
Earlier Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned “there will be consequences” for the continued Houthi attacks, as he makes a diplomatic tour of the region to try to cool tensions.
US Navy warships have shot down many of the Houthi projectiles in recent weeks, including a particularly sustained barrage of attacks on Tuesday.
Region on edge: The war in Gaza has fueled fears of a wider regional conflict — with the narrow but vital Red Sea a potential flashpoint.
The UN resolution condemned some two dozen Houthi attacks on merchant vessels since November 19, when the Houthis attacked and seized the commercial vessel, Galaxy Leader.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield blamed Iran for helping the Houthis, emphasizing that the resolution demands the group stop violating international law.
“The United States applauds today’s adoption by the United Nations Security Council of a resolution co-penned by the United States and Japan condemning Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea,” she said in a statement Wednesday. “The resolution unequivocally demands that the Houthis cease their attacks and underscores the Council’s support for navigational rights and freedoms of vessels of all States in the Red Sea in accordance with international law.”
The Houthis have said they will only relent when Israel allows the entry of food and medicine into Gaza; the group’s strikes could be intended to inflict economic pain on Israel’s allies in the hope they will pressure it to cease its bombardment of the enclave.
WHO chief highlights health care challenges in Gaza due to lack of access to enclave
From CNN's Carma Hassan
Zaki Shaheen, a retired nurse who turned his shop into a clinic to help displaced Gazans, treats a wounded man at his makeshift clinic in Rafah, Gaza, on January 10. AFP/Getty Images
Although many around the world rang in the new year earlier this month, “2024 is not a happy new year,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.
This Sunday will mark 100 days since the Israel-Hamas conflict, Tedros noted, adding that “the situation is indescribable.”
In Gaza, “People are standing in line for hours for a small amount of water, which may not be clean, or bread, which alone is not sufficiently nutritious. Only 15 hospitals are functioning, even partially,” Tedros said. “Delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza continues to face nearly insurmountable challenges. Intense bombardment, restrictions on movement, fuel shortages and interrupted communications make it impossible for WHO and our partners to reach those in need,” he said. “We have the supplies, the teams and the plans in place. What we don't have is access.”
Disruptions to the health care and water sanitation systems, the lack of food and water as well as having people displaced in the winter is “a cocktail for diseases,” said Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO’s representative in the occupied Palestinian territories.
WHO Health Officer Dr. Teresa Zakaria, the incident manager for the escalation of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestine territories, said the agency’s surveillance systems are capturing the manifestation of diseases, but they aren’t able to verify the bacteria, parasite or virus causing the illnesses.
“We have seen increased reports of acute respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, jaundice. But again, these are just manifestations of multiple diseases and we can't get to the bottom of it because we're not in a position to even test, collect samples and test,” she said. “We don't know what we're dealing with,” she said, adding, “There are a lot of diseases that may actually just spread undetected and that is extremely concerning because by the time we actually find out about it, it will be at a very late stage for which then containing it will be extremely difficult.”
The agency canceled six planned missions to northern Gaza since December 26 “because our requests were rejected and assurances of safe passage were not provided,” the director-general said.
2 hr 31 min ago
Israel's military took CNN on a tour of what it says is a Hamas tunnel under Khan Younis. Here's what we saw
From CNN's Nic Robertson, Joe Sheffer and Mohammed Tawfeeq
Editor’s Note: CNN reported from Gaza under Israel Defense Forces' escort at all times. As a condition for journalists to join the embed with the IDF, media outlets must submit footage filmed in Gaza to the Israeli military for security review. CNN did not submit its final report to the IDF and retained editorial control.
On the streets of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the scars of war are clear to see.
The city’s heavily damaged buildings bear testament to some of the fiercest fighting that has taken place in the nearly 100 days since the devastating Hamas attacks on October 7 that killed more than 1,200 people and sparked Israel’s war in Gaza. In the more than three months since, at least 23,357 people in Gaza have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. CNN cannot independently confirm those numbers due to the difficulty of access to Gaza for international media.
But the carnage above ground tells only half the story of the Israel Defense Forces’ effort to drive out Hamas from a city it has described as a “main stronghold” of the militant group.
It is below ground, in the massive Hamas tunnel networks that the IDF says stretch for miles in all directions that its soldiers face a task with no obvious parallel in modern military history.
Dan Goldfus, IDF Division Commander, told CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson he believes some of the more than 200 people taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 were held in tunnels under the heart of Khan Younis, including some of the 106 who are still believed to be in Gaza.
Some of the tunnels are 60 meters deep (nearly 200 feet), according to Goldfus. Some are wide and some narrow. Penetrating them is a notoriously dangerous task.
WATCH THE REPORT:
Goldfus says the biggest issue facing his troops is the “multi-dimensional” nature of the fighting “on all fronts.”
"We are maneuvering underground to reach each and every terrorist formation, each and every militant," he said.
He led a CNN team on a tour that illustrated the complexity of the task.
The tour took the team down a metal ladder and two flights of stairs, wiring visible all the way, to about 15 meters (50 feet) under the ground.
The CNN team descended over 20 meters (65 feet), taking steps into a complex network. Yet asked how deep this tunnel went, Goldfus replied, “This is not a very deep tunnel.”
Some, he said, are nearly three times as deep.
Branching off from the side of the tunnel CNN entered, the ceiling was so low it was impossible to stand up straight. And at the end was a small room with a metal frame around the door.
It is in small rooms like this where some of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas have been kept, Goldfus claims.
It is a grim, unforgiving place for anyone, whether hostage or soldier, but Goldfus says the IDF will continue its fight until Hamas is eliminated.
This week, the IDF claimed to have completed the dismantling of Hamas' command structure in northern Gaza and said it was switching its focus to southern and central Gaza.
Goldfus knows his job is far from over.
"If we give in to the Hamas, we give in to this area, you have to understand that, and I think no sovereign state would agree to such a thing," he says.
He believes the IDF’s objectives are clear:
"The enemy has brought us, drawn us in, by slaughtering our people, and we know why we're in here and what we're doing very clearly. And I think that we're here to do the job till the end."
42 min ago
Food situation in Gaza is "horrific," WHO official says
From CNN's Niamh Kennedy
Palestinians wait to collect food at a donation point in a refugee camp in Rafah, southern Gaza, on December 23, 2023. Saher Alghorra/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
Lack of access to food in Gaza has created a "horrific situation" for the millions of displaced residents in the Palestinian enclave, a World Health Organization official said Tuesday.
The remarks from WHO emergency coordinator Sean Casey come as multiple aid agencies warn of the risk of famine in Gaza more than three months after the outbreak of Israel's war with Hamas.
In northern Gaza, there is "almost no food available and everybody we talked to begs for food," Casey told a news briefing Tuesday.
Casey, who has carried out several WHO missions to northern Gaza, said each time his team delivered medical supplies to the region, they were asked to bring food the next time.
"That's not possible for a number of reasons including coordination and security concern," he said.
The United Nations' health agency has "no communication with entire areas," but Casey said when he meets a patient who has had a double amputation and asks for food or water, it is clear "they're not getting their basic needs met."
WHO has been unable to reach northern Gaza since December 26 and was forced to cancel six planned missions, according to briefing notes sent to CNN.
Many people in central Gaza are also going hungry because there is not enough food coming in, Casey said.
Even in southern Gaza, closest to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt where deliveries are received, not many people are eating a full meal a day, he said.
"It's a horrific situation across the board," Casey said.
1 hr 46 min ago
Hamas no longer controlling large parts of Gaza, Israel says
From CNN's Lauren Izso
Hamas is no longer in control in large parts of Gaza, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said Wednesday.
"Today, there is no effective Hamas rule in a large part of the Gaza Strip," Gantz said during a press conference in Tel Aviv. "Public institutions have been destroyed. It does not provide education or medical services except through international organizations."
Gantz also reiterated the importance of the return of all hostages abducted in the October 7 attack, saying this is the priority in every combat decision.
"If any of the abductees are watching us now, it is important for you to know — we are doing everything so that you return to your loved ones who never stop fighting for you," he said.
2 hr 53 min ago
Blinken warns of "consequences" for attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Wednesday that “there will be consequences” for the continued Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
“I’m not going to telegraph or preview anything that that might happen,” Blinken said in a press gaggle in Bahrain. “We’ve made clear, we’ve been clear with more than 20 other countries that if it continues, as it did yesterday, there will be consequences.”
Blinken’s warning comes as the Yemen based Iranian-backed militant group shows no signs of de-escalation and the potential for regional flare-up looms large.
On Tuesday, the US Navy shot down 21 Houthi missiles and drones launched from Yemen, according to a statement from US Central Command, in one of the largest Houthi attacks to take place in the Red Sea in recent months.
There were no ships damaged in the attacks and no injuries as a result of the massive drone and missile launch, CENTCOM said.
The Houthis have recently carried out scores of attacks and seized a commercial vessel and its crew in what they claim is retaliation for the Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza. The attacks have already had consequences for the global economy as they have effectively closed one of the world’s main trade routes to most container ships.
There have been multiple signals in recent weeks that the US is considering taking more forceful military action to come in response to the Houthi attacks, even amid efforts to backchannel with Iran and the Houthis to urge them to de-escalate.
Israel is set to appear before the International Court of Justice on Thursday in a high-stakes case that could determine the course of the brutal war in Gaza.
The UN Security Council approved a resolution calling on Yemen's Houthi rebels to stop their "brazen" attacks in the Red Sea. The US and Britain hinted at military strikes, warning the Iran-backed militants would face "consequences."
The World Health Organization chief said delivering desperately needed aid to Gaza faces "nearly insurmountable challenges," due to Israeli bombardment, restrictions on movement, fuel shortages and interrupted communications.
WHO officials also warned of the "horrific" food situation in the strip, which has become a breeding ground for "a cocktail for diseases." And a British doctor told CNN that nothing prepared him for the daily horror of working in a hospital in Gaza.
The International Court of Justice is set to open a two-day hearing in proceedings brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, which could lead the court to order an emergency suspension of Israel’s military campaign in the enclave.
The ICJ, established in 1945, is the United Nations’ top court and hears cases brought by states accusing others of violating their UN treaty obligations. South Africa and Israel are signatories to the 1948 Genocide Convention, meaning they are obliged not to commit genocide and to prevent and punish it. The convention automatically grants the ICJ jurisdiction over signatory states.
In an 84-page filing to the ICJ, South Africa argued that Israel is committing genocide by killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing serious mental and bodily harm, forced evacuation, widespread hunger, and by creating conditions “calculated to bring about their physical destruction.”
“Israel has engaged in and failed to prevent or to punish acts and measures which are genocidal, constituting flagrant violations of Israel’s obligations,” the filing said. It also accused Israel of failing to stem incitement to genocide in public pronouncements by its officials.
The UN defines genocide as an act “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” The UN says that it was developed “partly in response to the Nazi policies of systematic murder of Jewish people during the Holocaust.”
The ICJ’s 15-judge panel, which sits in The Hague in the Netherlands, has been expanded by an additional judge from each side in this case. Israel will be represented by retired Supreme Court justice Aharon Barak, an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, and South Africa by Dikgang Moseneke, the country’s former deputy chief justice.
South Africa is scheduled to present its oral arguments on Thursday and Israel the next day.
After the hearing concludes Friday, it could be days or weeks before the judges issue a decision on the emergency measures. Israel will be able to challenge the jurisdiction of the court and could seek to have the case thrown out.
Israel is set to appear before the International Court of Justice on Thursday in a high-stakes case that could determine the course of the brutal war in Gaza.
South Africa is taking Israel to the ICJ, also known as the World Court, on claims that it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and failing to prevent genocide.
Israel has called the case a "blood libel," a thinly veiled accusation of antisemitism.
Here's what else you need to know:
Red Sea on edge: The UN Security Council on Wednesday approved a resolution calling on Yemen’s Houthi rebels to cease their "brazen" attacks in the Red Sea as the United States warned the Iran-backed militants would face "consequences" for their actions. "I'm not going to telegraph or preview anything that that might happen,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Bahrain Wednesday. "We’ve made clear ... there will be consequences." His warning comes as the Houthis show no signs of de-escalation and the potential for a regional flare-up looms large.
Gaza crisis: The World Health Organization chief said delivering desperately needed aid to Gaza faces "nearly insurmountable challenges," due to Israeli bombardment, restrictions on movement, fuel shortages and interrupted communications. WHO officials also warned of the "horrific" food situation in the strip, which has become a breeding ground for "a cocktail for diseases." Meanwhile, a British doctor told CNN that nothing prepared him for the daily horror of working in a Gaza hospital.
Blinken visit: The top US diplomat discussed "ongoing efforts to minimize civilian harm" and increase the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Gaza during a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the US State Department said. He also urged Israel to pass on a tax revenue it takes from Palestinian imports to the PA.
Sexual violence: A UN envoy on sexual violence will travel to Israel and the West Bank to gather information on reports of sexual assaults committed during Hamas' October 7 attack and its aftermath. Hamas has repeatedly denied allegations that its fighters committed sexual violence during the attack despite the evidence.
Tunnel tour: CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joined the Israeli military to tour what the IDF alleges are tunnels used by Hamas under Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Watch the video.
The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday approved a resolution calling on Yemen’s Houthi rebel group to “cease its brazen” attacks in the Red Sea, as the United States and Britain hinted at military strikes.
The warnings come as the Iran-backed militants continue a weeks-long campaign to launch drones and missiles at vessels in the commercially vital shipping lane, which they say are revenge against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.
The UN Security Council vote was 11 in favor, 0 against, and four abstentions, including Russia and China.
Earlier Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned “there will be consequences” for the continued Houthi attacks, as he makes a diplomatic tour of the region to try to cool tensions.
US Navy warships have shot down many of the Houthi projectiles in recent weeks, including a particularly sustained barrage of attacks on Tuesday.
Region on edge: The war in Gaza has fueled fears of a wider regional conflict — with the narrow but vital Red Sea a potential flashpoint.
The UN resolution condemned some two dozen Houthi attacks on merchant vessels since November 19, when the Houthis attacked and seized the commercial vessel, Galaxy Leader.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield blamed Iran for helping the Houthis, emphasizing that the resolution demands the group stop violating international law.
“The United States applauds today’s adoption by the United Nations Security Council of a resolution co-penned by the United States and Japan condemning Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea,” she said in a statement Wednesday. “The resolution unequivocally demands that the Houthis cease their attacks and underscores the Council’s support for navigational rights and freedoms of vessels of all States in the Red Sea in accordance with international law.”
The Houthis have said they will only relent when Israel allows the entry of food and medicine into Gaza; the group’s strikes could be intended to inflict economic pain on Israel’s allies in the hope they will pressure it to cease its bombardment of the enclave.
Zaki Shaheen, a retired nurse who turned his shop into a clinic to help displaced Gazans, treats a wounded man at his makeshift clinic in Rafah, Gaza, on January 10. AFP/Getty Images
Although many around the world rang in the new year earlier this month, “2024 is not a happy new year,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.
This Sunday will mark 100 days since the Israel-Hamas conflict, Tedros noted, adding that “the situation is indescribable.”
In Gaza, “People are standing in line for hours for a small amount of water, which may not be clean, or bread, which alone is not sufficiently nutritious. Only 15 hospitals are functioning, even partially,” Tedros said. “Delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza continues to face nearly insurmountable challenges. Intense bombardment, restrictions on movement, fuel shortages and interrupted communications make it impossible for WHO and our partners to reach those in need,” he said. “We have the supplies, the teams and the plans in place. What we don't have is access.”
Disruptions to the health care and water sanitation systems, the lack of food and water as well as having people displaced in the winter is “a cocktail for diseases,” said Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO’s representative in the occupied Palestinian territories.
WHO Health Officer Dr. Teresa Zakaria, the incident manager for the escalation of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestine territories, said the agency’s surveillance systems are capturing the manifestation of diseases, but they aren’t able to verify the bacteria, parasite or virus causing the illnesses.
“We have seen increased reports of acute respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, jaundice. But again, these are just manifestations of multiple diseases and we can't get to the bottom of it because we're not in a position to even test, collect samples and test,” she said. “We don't know what we're dealing with,” she said, adding, “There are a lot of diseases that may actually just spread undetected and that is extremely concerning because by the time we actually find out about it, it will be at a very late stage for which then containing it will be extremely difficult.”
The agency canceled six planned missions to northern Gaza since December 26 “because our requests were rejected and assurances of safe passage were not provided,” the director-general said.
Editor’s Note: CNN reported from Gaza under Israel Defense Forces' escort at all times. As a condition for journalists to join the embed with the IDF, media outlets must submit footage filmed in Gaza to the Israeli military for security review. CNN did not submit its final report to the IDF and retained editorial control.
On the streets of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the scars of war are clear to see.
The city’s heavily damaged buildings bear testament to some of the fiercest fighting that has taken place in the nearly 100 days since the devastating Hamas attacks on October 7 that killed more than 1,200 people and sparked Israel’s war in Gaza. In the more than three months since, at least 23,357 people in Gaza have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. CNN cannot independently confirm those numbers due to the difficulty of access to Gaza for international media.
But the carnage above ground tells only half the story of the Israel Defense Forces’ effort to drive out Hamas from a city it has described as a “main stronghold” of the militant group.
It is below ground, in the massive Hamas tunnel networks that the IDF says stretch for miles in all directions that its soldiers face a task with no obvious parallel in modern military history.
Dan Goldfus, IDF Division Commander, told CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson he believes some of the more than 200 people taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 were held in tunnels under the heart of Khan Younis, including some of the 106 who are still believed to be in Gaza.
Some of the tunnels are 60 meters deep (nearly 200 feet), according to Goldfus. Some are wide and some narrow. Penetrating them is a notoriously dangerous task.
WATCH THE REPORT:
Goldfus says the biggest issue facing his troops is the “multi-dimensional” nature of the fighting “on all fronts.”
"We are maneuvering underground to reach each and every terrorist formation, each and every militant," he said.
He led a CNN team on a tour that illustrated the complexity of the task.
The tour took the team down a metal ladder and two flights of stairs, wiring visible all the way, to about 15 meters (50 feet) under the ground.
The CNN team descended over 20 meters (65 feet), taking steps into a complex network. Yet asked how deep this tunnel went, Goldfus replied, “This is not a very deep tunnel.”
Some, he said, are nearly three times as deep.
Branching off from the side of the tunnel CNN entered, the ceiling was so low it was impossible to stand up straight. And at the end was a small room with a metal frame around the door.
It is in small rooms like this where some of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas have been kept, Goldfus claims.
It is a grim, unforgiving place for anyone, whether hostage or soldier, but Goldfus says the IDF will continue its fight until Hamas is eliminated.
This week, the IDF claimed to have completed the dismantling of Hamas' command structure in northern Gaza and said it was switching its focus to southern and central Gaza.
Goldfus knows his job is far from over.
"If we give in to the Hamas, we give in to this area, you have to understand that, and I think no sovereign state would agree to such a thing," he says.
He believes the IDF’s objectives are clear:
"The enemy has brought us, drawn us in, by slaughtering our people, and we know why we're in here and what we're doing very clearly. And I think that we're here to do the job till the end."
Palestinians wait to collect food at a donation point in a refugee camp in Rafah, southern Gaza, on December 23, 2023. Saher Alghorra/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
Lack of access to food in Gaza has created a "horrific situation" for the millions of displaced residents in the Palestinian enclave, a World Health Organization official said Tuesday.
The remarks from WHO emergency coordinator Sean Casey come as multiple aid agencies warn of the risk of famine in Gaza more than three months after the outbreak of Israel's war with Hamas.
In northern Gaza, there is "almost no food available and everybody we talked to begs for food," Casey told a news briefing Tuesday.
Casey, who has carried out several WHO missions to northern Gaza, said each time his team delivered medical supplies to the region, they were asked to bring food the next time.
"That's not possible for a number of reasons including coordination and security concern," he said.
The United Nations' health agency has "no communication with entire areas," but Casey said when he meets a patient who has had a double amputation and asks for food or water, it is clear "they're not getting their basic needs met."
WHO has been unable to reach northern Gaza since December 26 and was forced to cancel six planned missions, according to briefing notes sent to CNN.
Many people in central Gaza are also going hungry because there is not enough food coming in, Casey said.
Even in southern Gaza, closest to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt where deliveries are received, not many people are eating a full meal a day, he said.
"It's a horrific situation across the board," Casey said.
Hamas is no longer in control in large parts of Gaza, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said Wednesday.
"Today, there is no effective Hamas rule in a large part of the Gaza Strip," Gantz said during a press conference in Tel Aviv. "Public institutions have been destroyed. It does not provide education or medical services except through international organizations."
Gantz also reiterated the importance of the return of all hostages abducted in the October 7 attack, saying this is the priority in every combat decision.
"If any of the abductees are watching us now, it is important for you to know — we are doing everything so that you return to your loved ones who never stop fighting for you," he said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Wednesday that “there will be consequences” for the continued Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
“I’m not going to telegraph or preview anything that that might happen,” Blinken said in a press gaggle in Bahrain. “We’ve made clear, we’ve been clear with more than 20 other countries that if it continues, as it did yesterday, there will be consequences.”
Blinken’s warning comes as the Yemen based Iranian-backed militant group shows no signs of de-escalation and the potential for regional flare-up looms large.
On Tuesday, the US Navy shot down 21 Houthi missiles and drones launched from Yemen, according to a statement from US Central Command, in one of the largest Houthi attacks to take place in the Red Sea in recent months.
There were no ships damaged in the attacks and no injuries as a result of the massive drone and missile launch, CENTCOM said.
The Houthis have recently carried out scores of attacks and seized a commercial vessel and its crew in what they claim is retaliation for the Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza. The attacks have already had consequences for the global economy as they have effectively closed one of the world’s main trade routes to most container ships.
There have been multiple signals in recent weeks that the US is considering taking more forceful military action to come in response to the Houthi attacks, even amid efforts to backchannel with Iran and the Houthis to urge them to de-escalate.
