‘Mass casualties’ at Gaza centre sheltering IDPs
- The International Court of Justice says it will decide this Friday on South Africa’s requested provisional measures against Israel in genocide case.
- UNRWA reports “mass casualties” as training centre sheltering tens of thousands of displaced people in Khan Younis catches fire after being struck amid fierce fighting.
Palestinian journalists Dahdouh and Azaiza share photo
Motaz Azaiza posed for a photo with Al Jazeera’s Wael Dahdouh and shared it on X. Both reporters have received praise for their work amid dangerous conditions on the ground in Gaza, where dozens of journalists have been killed since the beginning of Israel’s assault.
Dahdouh arrived in Qatar for medical treatment last week. The photojournalist Azaiza evacuated Gaza yesterday and also traveled to Qatar.
“Our smile is a kind of resilience,” he said in a post showing him with Dahdouh.
UNRWA chief says attack on UN shelter shows ‘blatant disregard’ for rules of war
UNRWA leader Philippe Lazzarini has spoken out against the shelling of a UN shelter in Gaza earlier on Wednesday. At least nine were killed and 75 injured after two tank rounds struck a building sheltering 800 people.
“Another horrific day in Gaza. The number of those killed is likely higher. Khan Younis vocational training centre is one of the largest UNRWA facilities sheltering nearly 30,000 displaced people,” Lazzarini said in a social media post.
“The compound is a clearly marked UN facility and its coordinates were shared with Israeli Authorities as we do for all our facilities. Once again a blatant disregard of basic rules of war.”
Key US Republican calls South Africa’s ICJ case ‘anti-Semitic’
Elise Stefanik, a top legislator in the US House of Representatives, noted that Republicans are “unified” in rejecting South Africa’s petition to the UN court accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention.
Dozens of lawmakers from President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party had also joined Republicans in signing on to a letter expressing “disgust” at the case.
“I joined a letter condemning South Africa for filing an anti-Semitic case against our ally Israel that perpetuates false and dangerous allegations against the Jewish state,” Stefanik said in a social media post.
The UN defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. Israel has killed more than one percent of Gaza’s population since October 7.
US says that it intercepted Houthi missiles launched at US-flagged ship
The US Central Command has said that the Houthis launched three anti-ship ballistic missiles at a US-flagged container ship off the coast of Yemen earlier on Wednesday.
“One missile impacted in the sea. The two other missiles were successfully engaged and shot down by the USS Gravely (DDG 107),” CENTCOM said in a statement. “There were no reported injuries or damage to the ship.”
This confirms reports from shipping giant Maersk of an incident we reported earlier.
US again says Israel is transitioning to ‘low intensity’ operations in Gaza
At least 210 Palestinians have been killed in the last 24 hours alone as Israel relentlessly pounds Khan Younis, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
But the White House says Israel is moving to a “low-intensity” phase of the war.
“They are pursuing, on the ground, more targeted operations, particularly against the [Hamas] leadership. They are relying less on airstrikes,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.
Kirby declined to comment on the Israeli shelling of a UNRWA facility housing displaced people in Khan Younis, saying that he does not have “any background” on the incident.
