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Palestinian Goal at ICJ: ‘Tighten the Noose’ Around Israel ‘and End It’
Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), presides over the ICJ during a ruling on South Africa’s request to order a halt to Israel’s Rafah offensive in Gaza, in The Hague, Netherlands, May 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Johanna Geron
According to the Palestinian Authority (PA), its request to join South Africa in the case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (IJC) is not about getting Israel to cease operations in Rafah, or even to stop the so-called “genocide” against Palestinians. Rather, the objective of the case is to “tighten the noose” around the entirety of “colonialist” Israel, and to “end it.”
This essentially includes a bid to put all of Israel on trial — its “governmental policy and institutions, legal system, governance system, and military system,” says PA Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Omar Awadallah.
To be clear, when the PA deputy foreign affairs minister refers to “this colonialist system,” he is referring to the State of Israel itself.
Awadallah is doing just what PA leader Mahmoud Abbas did at the UN when he defined Israel as “another entity in our historical homeland,” established and planted by Britain and the United States “for their own colonialist purposes” [Archive News, YouTube channel, May 15, 2023].
Awadallah is also reiterating the way PA Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh described Israel as “a colonialist entity that occupied our land and expelled our people” [Official PA TV, Oct. 23, 2023].
The following is the text of Awadallah’s interview on official PA TV:
Official PA TV host: “The State of Palestine asked to join South Africa in its lawsuit against Israel before the [UN] International Court of Justice.”
…
PA Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Omar Awadallah: “There are attempts by some of the states to show that in Israel — the authority that is actually managing the occupation — there are a few extremists who are committing a number of crimes against the Palestinian people, and we say to them “no.” The International Court of Justice is putting on trial the governmental policy and institutions, legal system, governance system, and military system in Israel, in the sense that all of Israel is accused of committing this crime, along with our process at the International Criminal Court (ICC) that is putting the individuals on trial … As we have always said, this is part of the legal process that the Palestinian [PA] leadership is implementing to tighten the noose on this colonialist system to dismantle it and end it.”
[Official PA TV, June 3, 2024]
Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is PMW’s Founder and Director. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip
Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
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