Hamas recently claimed that the US was constantly pressuring the Palestinian Resistance Movement to accept an Israeli truce proposal. Osama Hamdan, the representative of Hamas in Lebanon, said that the US was doing so despite knowing the fact that the Israeli proposal did not honour Hamas’ condition of complete cessation of the brutal aggression of Tel Aviv against the Gaza Strip.

In Beirut, Hamdan told the press: “What is quoted by the American Administration is to put pressure on the (Hamas) movement, to accept the Israeli (truce) proposal without modification; it’s a way to beautify the image of this ugly administration.” He stressed that the Zionist Regime has been waging a genocidal war against Gaza since October 7, 2023 with the support of the US, adding that Washington DC provided Tel Aviv with unfaltering military, as well as political, support.

Although Hamdan admitted that the war began soon after a surprise retaliatory operation by the Palestinian Resistance group against the occupied territories, he blasted the Israeli Defence Forces for killing nearly 38,000 Palestinians, most of them women, children and adolescents. According to the senior Hamas official, any proper truce deal should end the war, ensuring the complete withdrawal of the Israeli Forces from the coastal sliver and involvement of a genuine prisoner exchange deal. However, Israel stated that it would accept only temporary pauses in fighting until Hamas was “eradicated”, added Hamdan.

Meanwhile, Hamdan made it clear that Hamas would defend Gaza with its resources at any cost, stating that it would be impossible for the Zionist Regime to eliminate the Resistance Movement from the Palestinian territory. “Once again, Hamas is ready to deal positively with any proposal that secures a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive withdrawal from Gaza Strip, and a serious swap deal,” he stressed.

Gaza Facing Critical Lack of Basic Necessities
(TRT World) The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) has reported that hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are deprived of life necessities, like adequate shelter, food, medicine and clean water. It has further noted that the number of crossings into the enclave “remains far too limited”.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said in the last week of June 2024 that at least 34 people, most of them children, died of hunger, while UNRWA warned that more than 50,000 children needed urgent treatment for acute malnutrition. More than 37,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 86,800 others injured, according to local Health Authorities.

Over the past eight months into the Israeli War, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

ICJ: Israel’s Presence In Palestine ‘Unlawful’
The top UN court has issued an unprecedented, sweeping condemnation of Israel’s rule over Palestinian lands it captured 57 years ago, judging Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian territories as unlawful and calling on it to end.

The ICJ’s (International Court of Justice) statement, called an advisory opinion, was sought by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) following a Palestinian request in 2022. The statement came against the backdrop of Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza that has killed over 38,800 people.

The ICJ held a week-long session in February 2024 to hear submissions from Palestine, along with 49 other nations and three international organisations. A separate, high-profile case that South Africa has brought before the court accuses Israel of committed genocidal acts during its Gaza offensive.

This is not the first time the ICJ has been asked to give its legal opinion on Israeli policies. In 2004, it had handed down an opinion, declaring that parts of the wall erected by Israel in occupied Palestinian territory were illegal and should be torn down.

Interestingly, the advisory opinion by the ICJ is not legally binding, but in can increase diplomatic pressure on the Jewish Nation and may also fuel moves for the recognition of a Palestinian State. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will transmit the advisory opinion to the 193-member UNGA that will decide on how to proceed further. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu has slammed the ICJ’s opinion as a decision of lies. As expected, the Palestinian Presidency has hailed it as historic.

Israel did not comply with the previous ICJ ruling, as it has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War of 1967. According to Palestinian figures, about 725,000 settlers live in 176 Jewish-only settlements and 186 outposts in the occupied West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law.

With inputs from TRT World.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das