Israel Weekly News Roundup, May 24, 2024
Five things you need to know
Israel at War - Day 231
1. On Friday The ICJ Ordered Israel to Immediately Halt its Offensive in Rafah Following Announcements Earlier That the Court is Seeking Arrest Warrants
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel on Friday to “immediately halt” its offensive in Rafah, Southern Gaza. The court cited “exceptionally grave” developments for the already “extremely vulnerable” population in Rafah since its previous orders, and said it was “not convinced that the evacuation effort” for Palestinian civilians in Gaza is sufficient to “alleviate the immense risk.” It deals another blow to Israel as the country faces increasing international isolation. Israel, which has rejected the genocide charges, has previously described the case as “divorced from the facts.”
Earlier this week, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Karim Khan announced that the court is seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, the leader of the Al Qassem Brigades, and Ismail Haniyeh, as well as for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Responses from Israel, Hamas, and world leaders were quick to follow. France and Germany, both signatories to the Rome Statute and members of the ICC, expressed support for the independence of the ICC. This is in response to calls from Israel and the U.S. to sanction chief prosecutor Karim Khan. Germany, however, expressed its reservation about the equivalence between Hamas and Israel expressed by the announcement.
Top Israeli officials called on "nations of the civilized world" to declare that they will not adhere to nor honor such arrest warrants. According to Israeli analysts, should the court move forward and issue the warrants, it would be difficult for leaders and foreign ministers of countries that recognize the ICC’s authority to meet with the two Israeli officials. Several Israeli law experts criticized the prosecutor’s equivalence between Hamas, a terror organization that perpetrated the October 7th attack on Israel, and the state of Israel, a sovereign state that has the right and obligation to defend itself against such an attack. However, some of them also said that Israel’s actions in Gaza and the statements made by far-right members of the government facilitated the prosecutor’s decision.
PM Netanyahu said in a media interview that he rejected Khan's definitions of Israel's conduct in Gaza. "We have supplied half a million tons of food and medicine with 20,000 trucks. This guy is out to demonize Israel. He's doing a hit job."
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that "the parallel between Hamas, a terrorist organization, and the State of Israel, is despicable and outrageous. The State of Israel is not a party to the court and does not recognize its authority."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also criticized the equivalence drawn by the ICC between Hamas and Israel and said that "the extremely wrongheaded decision” will only hamper the prospects for a ceasefire and hostage deal. Blinken added that the US administration will work with Congress on an appropriate response.
In the Arab world, responses to the ICC prosecutor’s intent to issue arrest warrants were mostly positive. Oman's foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, condoned the ICC's "clear-eyed judgment" and said "history will remember the real criminals committing genocide and war crimes against humanity." Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that all states and organizations should be "held responsible for the killing of civilians."
It has been a challenging week for Israel in the international diplomatic arena, following the decisions from Norway, Spain, and Ireland to announce their recognition of a Palestinian state. While according to analysts this recognition may have a limited impact in the near future, it will put pressure on Israel to engage in negotiations for a two-state solution.
2. PM Netanyahu Received an Offer that Israel be Party to a Deal Between the US and Saudi Arabia
American National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, met with PM Netanyahu earlier this week and presented a deal to him. President Biden wishes to sign a deal with Saudi Arabia, in which the US will provide a security umbrella to the Saudis, especially against Iran, including helping Saudi Arabia with the construction of a civil nuclear reactor. Both sides are willing to include Israel in the deal. If that happens, Saudi Arabia will recognize Israel and the two countries will establish diplomatic relations. This is extremely important to Israel in general and PM Netanyahu in particular, since Saudi Arabia is the most important player in the Arab world. But this package comes with a challenge. The Saudis demand that PM Netanyahu will declare, as part of the deal, that Israel will work towards a two-state solution. PM Netanyahu refuses to make such a statement. If he does the government may fall, since the extreme right parties oppose any kind of even a small hint that Israel will be willing to agree to the establishment of a Palestinian State. They say that Israel cannot allow rewarding the Palestinians with a state after the attacks of October 7th. Sullivan came to Israel straight from Saudi Arabia.
3. Ministry of Communication Confiscated Broadcast Equipment of Associated Press in Sderot, Reversing its Decision After Harsh International Criticism
The Minister of Communication, one of the most extreme members of the Likud party, decided to broaden the implementation of a law that enables him to close the offices of foreign media if they endanger state security and ordered the shutdown of a live feed from the Associated Press cameras in Sderot. This law, which is called the “Al Jazeera Law”, passed a few weeks ago, and was meant to enable the closing of the offices of Qatar-based network Al Jazeera, which Israel claims is a mere propaganda agent against Israel.
The offices of Al Jazeera in Israel were closed but the Ministry of Communication decided to reach out further and confiscated the broadcasting equipment of one of the biggest and most important news agencies in the world, the Associated Press (AP). Cameras of AP were located in Sderot, a small town on the border with Gaza, and live streamed a general view of the Gaza Strip. AP has thousands of subscribers, and media outlets from all over the world, including in Israel, which use the feed and other journalist products, as does Al Jazeera. The news of this action was quickly distributed worldwide and generated strong pushback. Even President Biden criticized this action in a speech. That caused PM Netanyahu to order the Minister of Communication to reverse his decision and return the equipment to the news agency.
This step was another milestone in an already long journey by the government to control the media in Israel and to put more obstacles in the path of journalists, especially from the foreign press corps, to do their work professionally.
4. IDF Recovers Bodies of a Further Three Dead Hostages from Gaza, Video of the Abduction of Female IDF Soldiers Released
This Friday the Israeli military said its forces recovered overnight the bodies of a further three hostages from northern Gaza, adding that they were killed and abducted during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. The IDF said the men's bodies were recovered from the northern town of Jabalya in a joint operation with Israel's domestic intelligence agency.
Last Friday, shortly before the Sabbath, the IDF spokesman released a special statement, announcing that the IDF had recovered the bodies of four people, two women and two men, who had been held by Hamas since October 7th. According to the IDF spokesman, three of them were killed while fleeing the Nova rave site, and their bodies were abducted to Gaza.
According to the IDF spokesperson, the bodies were found in Hamas tunnels during a major IDF operation in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. The recovery of the bodies was made possible thanks to intel obtained by the IDF and Shin Bet during the interrogations of Hamas members arrested on October 7th.
**Trigger Warning** On Wednesday evening, all major media outlets in Israel broadcast a short video documenting the abduction of female military surveillance soldiers from the Nachal Oz military base, near the Gaza border. Accompanied by trigger warnings, the harrowing video, cut and edited from nearly three hours of footage caught on the cameras of Hamas members, shows the young women, wounded and terrified, surrounded by Hamas armed fighters. The video was released with the permission of the families of the female hostages, who told the media that they had run out of actionable options after negotiations for a ceasefire/hostage deal reached a dead-end in the last two weeks.
Following the release of the video, and after weeks of pleading with senior politicians to meet with them, Ministers Gallant, Gantz, Der’i, and Eisenkot finally met with hostages’ families just before the war cabinet meeting. PM Netanyahu declined to meet with them.
5. Knesset Opens Summer Session Amid War and Protests
The 25th Knesset reconvened for its summer session after six weeks of spring recess, amid one of the most severe security and diplomatic crises in the county’s history.
On Saturday evening, two days before the Knesset session opening, War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz made a public statement, threatening to quit the government unless PM Netanyahu introduces a “day-after” plan for Gaza by early June. "If you put the national over personal [priorities], you will find in us partners in the struggle," Gantz said, and added: "But if you choose the path of fanatics and lead the entire nation to the abyss, we will be forced to quit the government." PM Netanyahu dismissed Gantz’s threat and said that it would mean "defeat for Israel".
On Monday, in conjunction with the opening of the Knesset summer session, tens of thousands of protestors calling for the dispersion of the Knesset and new elections, and the release of all hostages, took part in a day of disruption that included car convoys driving slowly on route one to Jerusalem, art installations and demonstrations outside the Knesset.
Hostage families and their supporters attended Knesset committee meetings and called upon members of the Knesset to act for the immediate release of the hostages. At the Law and Constitution committee session focusing on selective enforcement by police against hostage families and their supporters protesting the government, a coalition MK lashed out at a mother of a hostage and said: “Your protests are covered by Al-Jazeera, they are ruining us”.
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