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Israel: South Africa’s Spurious Charge ‘Cheapens’ the Term ‘Genocide’

The UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

i24 News – Israel’s defense team on Friday marshaled a wealth of evidence and advanced a range of legal and moral arguments rebuffing the charge of “genocide” leveled at it by South Africa at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Rejecting the accusations of genocide as baseless, Israel accused Pretoria of playing “advocate of the devil” for Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group Israel is waging war against in Gaza following the October 7 massacre.

Dr. Gilad Noam told the court that accepting South Africa’s spurious claims would embolden terrorist groups and provide them with cover to commit crimes against humanity.

“Entertaining the applicant’s request would weaken efforts to punish genocide and instead of the court being an instrument to prevent terrorist horrors, would turn it into a weapon in hands of terrorist groups who have no regard for humanity and rule of law,” said Noam.

Accepting South Africa’s politicized misrepresentations “would signal to terrorist groups that they can commit war crimes and crimes against humanity and then seek the protection of this court,” Noam charged.

In conclusion, Israeli legal experts argued against the “cheapening” of the term “genocide,” coined after WWII to refer to the industrialized racist murder of six million Jews by the Nazis.

Galit Raguan, acting director of the international justice division at Israel’s justice ministry, attributed the civilian death toll in Gaza to Hamas, noting that “Urban warfare will always result in civilian harm.”

According to Raguan, these deaths, while tragic, represent a lawful consequence of targeting military objectives and do not amount to genocide. She further explicated that Hamas exacerbates civilian tolls by operating from within civilian areas, including schools and hospitals.

She further argued that the IDF has found incontrovertible evidence of Hamas military activity in every single hospital in the Gaza Strip.

The post Israel: South Africa’s Spurious Charge ‘Cheapens’ the Term ‘Genocide’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Beersheba Resident Arrested on Suspicion of Espionage for Iran

Doron Bokobza, who was indicted after Iran recruited him to collect intelligence Photo: i24/ Social media / 27A

i24 NewsAn indictment was filed against a resident of Beersheba, Doron Bokobza, who contacted Iranian intelligence and offered to sell them information including secrets to the nuclear research facility in Dimona.

In February, Bokobza was arrested on suspicion of committing security offenses, involving contact with Iranian police intelligence agents and carrying out tasks for them in exchange for money. He claimed to have access and knowledge of the nuclear facility.

According to the indictment filed against him, last December, Bokobza approached an Iranian recruiter via the Telegram app, writing: “I am Israeli, I want to cross over to you.” When asked by the recruiter why he was interested in doing so, the defendant replied that it was due to the government and his difficult financial situation.

Bokobza allegedly photographed military installations and transferred information to the Iranian handlers several days later.

The post Beersheba Resident Arrested on Suspicion of Espionage for Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Captive IDF Soldier Nimrod Cohen Identified from Horn Video Hamas Released

Nimrod Cohen, an IDF soldier who was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, by Gazan terrorists and has been held for more than 500 days. Photo: Hostages and Missing Families Forum

i24 NewsThe family of the Israeli soldier Nimrod Cohen, held captive in the Gaza Strip, said on Saturday that they had identified their son in the video published the day before by Hamas.

In this recording, Eitan and Iair Horn, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and other hostages whose faces have been blurred can be seen. The Cohen family says they recognized Nimrod, who appears wearing a t-shirt and bearing a characteristic tattoo.

In the video broadcast with the agreement of the Horn family, brothers Eitan and Iair are seen embracing. Iair Horn, freed on the 498th day of the war, declares: “They are making me leave my little brother here, to die,” while his brother Eitan, still in captivity, adds: “It is illogical to separate families in this way.”

“Get everyone out and don’t separate families, don’t destroy our lives,” Eitan said in the video. “Tell mom and dad to continue the protests and for this government to sign phase two to bring us all home.” He addressed the Prime Minister directly: “[Benjamin] Netanyahu, if you have a bit of heart, sign, sign today.”

Father Yehuda Cohen said during a demonstration of hostage families that his “son Nimrod is a soldier who was kidnapped from a burning tank. He is alive and he, like all the hostages, begs us from this hell to save them now. All of them, and all at once.”

“We are addressing President Trump – there are still 59 hostages in Gaza who are living a Holocaust,” he added. “Netanyahu is trying to sabotage your agreement, Mr. President. He is the one creating the current crisis in the negotiations. Don’t let him fail the agreement.”

About two weeks ago, Cohen revealed in an interview with Channel 12 that the family had received a message from Nimrod. “We got news from him last week, from two hostages who spent eight months with him in the tunnels,” the father explained. “I’m doing fine, don’t worry about me. I love you,” Nimrod conveyed to his parents through the former captives.

The post Captive IDF Soldier Nimrod Cohen Identified from Horn Video Hamas Released first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israel’s Right-Wing Camp Hails Order to Block Goods from Entering Gaza

Jewish Power party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks following the announcement of exit polls in Israel’s general election, at his party headquarters in Jerusalem November 2, 2022. REUTERS/Corinna Kern

i24 NewsIsrael’s right wing hailed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision on Sunday to halt goods and supplies from being brought to the Gaza Strip, demanding that hostages continue being released.

“I welcome the decision to halt the humanitarian aid, if it is implemented,” said former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir. “The decision has finally been made – better late than never. This should be the policy until the last of the hostages is returned. Now is the time to open the gates of hell, to shut off the electricity and water, to return to war, and most importantly, not to settle for just half of the hostages, but to return to President Trump’s ultimatum all the hostages immediately or hell will break loose on Gaza.”

Ben Gvir referred to US President Donald Trump’s warning that “all hell” would break out if all the hostages are not returned, while saying that it was ultimately Israel’s decision.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another right-wing firebrand, said that “the decision we made tonight to completely halt the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza until Hamas is destroyed or completely surrenders and all our hostages are returned is an important step in the right direction.”

He called for Israel to continue until “complete victory.”

Meanwhile, the far-right Order 9 movement, which opposed the entry of goods including humanitarian assistance into Gaza, said that its activists “reached the Kerem Shalom crossing area and it is indeed closed. We will stand guard that it will indeed remain so until the last of the kidnapped are returned”

“The transfer of aid that has strengthened the murderous terrorist organization Hamas for the past year and a half will stop until all the kidnapped are returned,” the movement said. “For many months, we have fought tooth and nail against the terrible failure to transfer aid to the enemy, which has now become clear that it will strengthen it for many months to come. We are now on the ground and will continue to stand guard well, and to ensure that this severe harm to the kidnapped will stop.”

The post Israel’s Right-Wing Camp Hails Order to Block Goods from Entering Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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