IN response to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s so-called day-after plan for Gaza, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, said yesterday that: ‘Gaza will only be part of the independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.’
He added: ‘Any plans to the contrary are destined to fail. Israel will not succeed in attempts to alter the geographic and demographic reality in the Gaza Strip.
‘If the world wants security and stability in the region, it must end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and recognise the independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,’ Abu Rudeineh stressed.
The Presidential spokesman continued, ‘Netanyahu’s proposed plans aim to perpetuate Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.’
- FOR the fifth consecutive day, the International Court of Justice in The Hague continued its public hearings regarding the legal implications arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.
Addressing the ICJ, Namibia’s Justice Minister, Yvonne Dausab, demanded that the court recognises Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories as illegal.
She made the following remarks: ‘The parallels between Palestine and Namibia are “striking and painful”.
‘Instead of exerting their right to govern themselves, “Palestinians and Namibians suffered the loss of human dignity … and the outright theft of their land and natural resources”.’
Namibia still suffers from the effects of a long and unlawful occupation. The ICJ ‘played a vital role in our liberation struggle’. In its 1971 opinion, the court confirmed the right to self-determination as a ‘legal imperative’, paving the way to Namibia’s independence in 1990.
Because of Namibia’s experience with apartheid, ‘We cannot look the other way in the face of the brutal atrocities committed against the Palestinian people. We ask the court not to look away either’, she added.
- Israeli occupation forces committed a total of 10 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, resulting in the tragic killing of 104 Palestinians and leaving 160 others injured, according to medical reports.
Local health authorities confirmed that the death toll from the Israeli onslaught since October 7 has risen to 29,514 reported Palestinian fatalities, with an additional 69,616 individuals sustaining injuries.
The number of victims is expected to increase further as rescue and emergency teams face challenges in accessing the affected areas, with hundreds more feared buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
Earlier today, Israeli warships opened fire off the coast of Rafah, while fighter jets carried out an airstrike targeting the western areas of the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Additionally, the Israeli occupation army detonated and destroyed residential neighbourhoods in the same region.
