Day 90 of the Israel-Hamas Gaza War
1. A Senior Hamas Deputy Leader Was Assassinated in Beirut Lebanon
Saleh al-Arouri was killed in Beirut. The killing is attributed to Israel. Since October 7th, when thousands of Hamas operators attacked the communities in southern Israel executing a massacre of more than 1,200 people, taking hostage 249 people, Israel announced that it will chase after those who are responsible for the event.
Al-Arouri served time in Israeli prison on charges of terror, he was released to Gaza and later immigrated to Turkey and then to Lebanon. From there he ensured that Hamas operators are well trained and he was also in charge of planning operations against Israel, including the October 7th attack. Israel did not take responsibility for the assassination.
The fact that he was killed on Lebanese soil creates stronger ties between Hamas in Gaza and Hizbollah in Lebanon. The head of Hizbollah, defined as a terrorist organization by Israel and other nations, delivered a speech on Wednesday night, promising that Israel will pay a price for the killing. Meanwhile Israel intensified its military hold on the northern border with Lebanon.
Killing leaders of Hamas, especially Yehiyeh Sinwar, who is the master mind behind the October 7th attach, is one of the main targets of the Israeli war on Gaza. Israeli intelligence believes that he is hiding in one of the deep tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip, from which he is managing the defense and further attacks.
2. South Africa Submitted a Suit Against Israel at the International High Court in The Hague
South Africa accused Israel on genocide in Gaza. Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, more than 22,000 people were killed, the vast majority of them civilians including children, women, and the elderly. Thousands are still buried under the rubble, 70% of the houses in northern Gaza are destroyed, all are outcomes of Israeli military operations in Gaza, that started as a retaliation after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
South Africa used the announcements and declarations of Israeli ministers and members of Knesset (the Israeli parliament) to support the suit. For example the minister of agriculture, who was the head of the Shin Beit, announced that Israel is operating a second Naqba in Gaza (the Naqba is the evacuation, deportation of thousands of Palestinians from their towns and villages during Israel’s war of independence back in 1948/9 when Israel was established). The Naqba is a Palestinian term and is part of the Palestinian national narrative. A member of Knesset said in an interview that Israel should hit Gaza with a nuclear bomb and eliminate everybody, another one said that Israeli army should not differentiate between civilians and Hamas operators, and that all of the people in Gaza deserve to die. Some talk about the need to resettle in Gaza by Israelis, others speak about a plan to transfer all Palestinians from Gaza, and more.
South Africa demanded a ceasefire in Gaza until the case is discussed, and demanded that the court issue an interim order to Israel’s response.
Israel decided not to ignore the suit, as it has done in past suits, but to defend itself.
3. The Academic Year Started Two and a Half Months Late
The academic year was due to start in mid-October 2023, after the Jewish Holidays. The attack of Hamas on October 7th and the subsequent war that Israel started in Gaza delayed the start.
After weeks of discussions, negotiations with the student organizations, the universities and the colleges decided to start the academic year. The main challenge is the fact that close to twenty percent of the student body is still serving in the army reserves in Gaza or on the northern border, and are thus unable to join classes, not even via remote access.
In addition, some of the students are displaced from their homes, either because they lived in the communities that were attacked by Hamas on October 7th, and their houses were destroyed or burned down, or they live in communities on the border with Lebanon, that also had to evacuate their homes due to a tangible security threat.
It is important to mention in this context that two public colleges, one close to the border with Gaza and the other on the border with Lebanon, can’t open their campuses, due both to ongoing security alerts and to the fact that these areas are still not habitable due to security threats.
4. The USA Sunk Three Ships Owned by Yemenite Rebel Organization
An American navy aircraft carrier shot and sunk three ships owned by the Houthis. The Houthis are a militant organization based in Yemen that fight for total control of the country. The organization is affiliated with Iran, and has operated for some years by shooting missiles towards Saudi Arabia. Since the start of the war in Gaza, the Houthis have decided to take part in the war against Israel and have fired tens of ballistic missiles towards southern Israel. All the missiles have been knocked down by either the American navy, the Israeli Air Force or Israel’s Iron Dome. Yemen is located in a key location that threatens commercial maritime transport from the far east to Europe (through the Suez Canal). Many maritime carriers have decided to take the longer route around the southern tip of Africa to avoid the danger of missiles. That route is more expensive, much longer and makes all products much more expensive for consumers.
5. Israeli Supreme Court Nixes Cancellation of the Reasonableness Clause
A week after a draft ruling was leaked to the media, the Israeli High Court of Justice published a final ruling against the amendment to the law calling for the cancellation of the reasonableness clause. While a narrow majority of eight versus seven justices were in favor of revoking the cancellation of the clause, an overwhelming majority of 12 out of 15 justices ruled that the court has the authority to perform judicial review of basic laws and intervene in extreme cases in which the Knesset oversteps is constituent powers.
The public debate over the amendment to the Basic Law: the Judiciary, was heated, and a centerpiece of the mass demonstrations against the judicial overhaul, in the months leading up to the Hamas October 7th attack and the war that ensued. The publication of the ruling reignited the debate, as some of the majority justices based their decision, according to legal commentators, on Israel’s unusual constitutional structure, which features (among other things) a lack of any separate dedicated procedure for setting constitutional norms.
An overwhelming majority of the Supreme Court panel ruled that the Court has the power to strike down basic laws. Some members of this majority based their decision on the problematic practice of passing and amending basic laws with relative ease, indicating that they are treated as having low value and have become a pawn in the hands of the parliamentary majority; and on the Court’s role in defending the constitutional project. A basic law can be passed by a simple majority of Knesset members, meaning that it can be politically motivated and does not have to gain broad consensus.
While activists and jurists opposing the judicial overhaul lauded the court ruling, members of the government coalition criticized the timing of the court ruling. Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin, one of the architects of the judicial overhaul, said: "The decision of the judges of the Supreme Court to publish the verdict during wartime is the opposite of the spirit of unity required these days for the success of our fighters at the front. Through this verdict, the judges are actually taking into their hands all the powers, which in a democratic regime are supposed to be divided in a balanced way between the three authorities”. Levin also implied that the coalition will continue its efforts to propose legislation designed to curb the authority of the judiciary.
For Further Reading:
Assassination in Beirut: Here, here, here
South Africa: Here, here, here