Israel has intensified airstrikes in Gaza Strip despite Friday order by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it takes steps to prevent acts of genocide in the besieged city.
According to Al Jazeera, at least 174 Palestinians were killed and 310 others injured from Friday to Saturday midday as the Israeli army continued its onslaught on Gaza, the territory’s health ministry has said.
The ICJ had on Friday ordered that Israel takes all measures within its power to prevent genocide in Gaza and allow aid to enter the enclave. But since then, Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has continued as dozens of Palestinians, including women and children, were killed overnight following airstrikes and shelling in Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah, according to Wafa News Agency.
Citing the latest update by Gaza’s health ministry, Al Jazeera reported that at least 26,257 Palestinians in Gaza had been killed and 64,797 wounded since a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which Tel Aviv said killed nearly 1,200 people.
“Israeli occupation committed 18 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, leaving 174 martyrs and 310 injured during the past 24 hours.
“Many people are still trapped under rubbles and on roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” the ministry noted in a statement.
Reacting to the ICJ ruling, the United Nations (UN) secretary-general, António Guterres, said he hoped Israel would comply with the International Court of Justice ruling.
In a statement from Stéphane Dujarric, the UN chief’s spokesperson, Guterres, noted that decisions of the ICJ were binding and he “trusts that all parties will duly comply with the order from the court.”
In a separate statement, the UN chief said he was “horrified” by the ‘serious’ allegations implicating several staff members at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7.
The African Union Commission chairman, Moussa Faki Mahamat, had welcomed the ICJ interim ruling on Israel’s war in Gaza, saying it respects international law.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council will meet on Wednesday over ICJ’s decision, the council’s presidency announced.
The meeting was called by Algeria, whose Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would give “binding effect to the pronouncement of the International Court of Justice on the provisional measures imposed on Israeli occupation.”
On their part, India and France have expressed concern about the massive loss of civilian lives in the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, urging Tel Aviv to respect international humanitarian law and create conditions, including a humanitarian ceasefire for aid to flow to the enclave.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed these views in a joint statement issued by the Foreign Ministry in New Delhi on Friday night.
The director of the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs in Gaza, Georgios Petropoulos, said the months-long war had left 2.2 million people at risk of starvation in the Gaza Strip.
“Everyone in Gaza needs aid now and the war must stop. We can only meet a third of the population’s need for clean drinking water,” he told Al Jazeera.
Australia, UK others suspend UN agency funding over Israeli allegations
Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Italy and other western countries have suspended their funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees after Israel accused several employees of involvement in Hamas’s October 7 attack.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she was “deeply concerned” by the allegations against the agency, UNRWA. “We are speaking with partners and will temporarily pause the disbursement of recent funding,” she wrote on a social media platform, X.
Canada’s International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen, on Friday announced that Ottawa had “temporarily paused any additional funding to UNRWA while it undertakes a thorough investigation into these allegations.”
Italy has decided to suspend financing of the UNRWA, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.
The British government has said it would be “temporarily pausing any future funding” to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
“United Kingdom is appalled by the allegation that UNRWA staff members were involved in the October 7 attack against Israel,” the foreign office said.
