Israel-Palestine live: Israel’s response to South Africa’s genocide case at the ICJ ends
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During a speech in Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday, demonstrators advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza momentarily disrupted US President Joe Biden.
“20,000 dead Palestinians; their blood is on your hands,” demonstrators shouted to Biden.
A small group of about six demonstrators were removed from the event while other attendees chanted “Four more years”.
“I understand their passion and I’ve been quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce and significantly get out of Gaza,” Biden said in response.
“Twenty thousand dead Palestinians. Their blood is on your hands."
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) January 8, 2024
US President Biden was interrupted during his speech in South Carolina by pro-Palestine activists calling for a ceasefire in Gaza pic.twitter.com/R9QAkH1CIy
On Monday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi expressed that it is intolerable for the international community to permit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lead the Middle East towards a broader regional war.
State media reported that Safadi, in a phone conversation with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna, emphasised the increasing daily risk of war expansion due to Israel’s ongoing infliction of “death and destruction in Gaza.”
Israeli forces fatally shot three Palestinians in Tulkarm, a city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry announced on Monday.
No more details on those who were killed were provided.
In the 18 months leading up to 7 October, the West Bank had already seen the highest levels of unrest in years, Reuters reported.
However, tensions have escalated significantly following the Israeli military's war in Gaza.
Hundreds of pro-Palestine protestors on Monday blocked the entrances to three major bridges and a tunnel in New York City to demand a ceasefire in the war on Gaza.
The Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg Bridges were shut down for a few hours on Monday morning, along with the Holland Tunnel. All are major entrance points to get into lower Manhattan, a business hub. Activists chanted, “No business as usual”.
“Blockades are currently taking place across lower Manhattan, constructing roads out of the city simulating the siege of Gaza in which there are no exits. Actionists are demanding a permanent ceasefire, an end to occupation, and to free all Palestinian prisoners,” one activist wrote on X.
According to protestors, these were all part of a larger action to disrupt New York City rush hour. The New York Police Department advised people to use alternate routes and to expect major delays.
Attending the protests were members of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, the Palestinian Youth Movement, Writers Against the War on Gaza, and Jewish Voice for Peace New York City.
According to videos on social media, multiple protestors were arrested.
HAPPENING NOW: Pro-Palestine supporters are taking simultaneous direct action across New York City.
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) January 8, 2024
Supporters are forming human chains in front of the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan bridge, and Holland Tunnel. pic.twitter.com/ucCIRppHUJ
The Islamic Jihad group released a video showing an Israeli captive being held in Gaza on Monday.
The captive is believed to have been taken from Nirim Oz on 7 October, according to Haaretz. His mother was also taken captive but then later released.
In the video, the captive speaks in both English and Hebrew, addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He says: “You have left me in captivity. You left me to face death.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed efforts to prevent the war on Gaza from spreading in a meeting with the EU's High Representative Josep Borrell in Saudi Arabia on Monday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
Palestinian lawmaker Ahmad Tibi accused the Israeli government on Monday of “legitimising” genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, according to Israeli media.
“The finance minister said that there are two million Nazis in Gaza,” Tibi said, referring to statements by Bezalel Smotrich. “This is how you legitimise genocide.”
“And when it sounds Nazi, looks Nazi, it’s neo-Nazi. Even if the minister is Jewish,” he added.
The comments come after Smotrich and national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir have called for the “voluntary” and “encouragment” of migration of Palestinians from Gaza, and heritage minister Amichai Eliyahu suggesting Israel could drop a nuclear bomb on the beseiged enclave.
Several countries across Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America have signed up to a global day of action that will see marches take place on Saturday demanding Israel end its bloody offensive on the besieged Gaza Strip.
UK-based advocacy groups organising the initiative say the marches, which will take place on 13 January - the 99th day of Israel's offensive on Gaza - seek to mobilise people to demand a permanent ceasefire and an end to Israeli attacks on the embattled territory.
Marches are planned in dozens of cities from countries including the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Jordan, Turkey and several others.
The Palestinian Forum in Britain, one of several British groups organising the campaign, said the growing number of cities joining the global action "reflects a shared commitment to ending the violence in Gaza".
"Together, we stand united in the #GazaGlobalAction campaign, sending a resounding message that the world demands change, justice and a future free from violence," the forum said.
Read more: Activists gear up for global 'day of action' ahead of 100th day of war
Famine, drought and epidemics form a "triangle of death" in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra warned on Monday.
"The United Nations and its institutions must carry out urgent and focused interventions to prevent the health and humanitarian catastrophe to which the displaced are exposed," said al-Qudra.
Exclusive footage obtained by Middle East Eye shows a Palestinian woman being shot by Israeli forces in the streets of Gaza City’s centre on 12 November, as she and others attempted to evacuate the area while holding white flags amid the intense Israeli assault on northern Gaza.
Jordan's King Abdullah said on Monday that Israel had created a whole generation of orphans through a "brutal" war on Gaza, where he said around over 30,000 people, mostly women and children, had been killed or were missing as a result.
Medical Aid for Palestinians said on Monday that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is rapidly deteriorating as a result of Israel bombing sanitation systems as well as bakeries and supermarkets.
According to the organisation, around 71,000 cases of diarrhoea have been recorded in children.
The United Nations children's organisation Unicef added that 90 percent of children under two years now meet the definition of “severe food poverty,” in the besieged enclave.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called on National Unity ministers Benny Gantz, Gadi Eisenkot and Gideon Sa’ar to leave the coalition, according to Israeli media.
Lapid added that “this government is not qualified to lead the war” and Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu is not qualified to lead the country.”
He said that former opposition lawmakers entered the government following the outbreak of the war, because they believed it was in the best interest of the country, but that is not true now.
“This is not a unity government, this is not an emergency government. They are not saving the State of Israel, they are saving Netanyahu,” he said.
Israeli NGO B’Tselem said on Monday that Israel is starving Gaza, and that around 2.2 million people are surviving in Gaza “on almost nothing, routinely going without meals”.
“The desperate search for food is relentless, and usually unsuccessful, leaving the entire population – including babies, children, pregnant or nursing women and the elderly – hungry,” the statement read.
According to the organisation, most cultivated fields have been destroyed, and accessing open areas during the war is dangerous in any case.
Bakeries, factories and food warehouses have been bombed or shut down due to Israel shutting off all fuel and electricity to the Strip since 9 October. Stockpiles in private homes, stores and warehouses have also run out.
B’Tselem also said that Israel was “deliberately denying the entry of enough food into Gaza to meet the population's needs,” and called for Israel to allow food into Gaza under the obligation of international humanitarian law.
At least 103 soldiers were wounded fighting in Gaza in the last 24 hours and at least two were in serious condition, said the Israeli military according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.
The figures of the Israeli army are likely an undercount and several Israeli papers have reported that the number of wounded soldiers in Gaza is several times higher than the official figures.
