🧵 on Netanyahu’s address to Congress. 1st observation is the thunderous applause this man received upon entry to the People’s House as it’s called. Important to remind that the Prosecutor of the ICC is pursuing for arrest for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity 1/ Netanyahu invokes the racist trope of “culture of death” vs. “culture of life”. To standing ovations, Netanyahu: US & Israel must stand together because when they do, they win. He called the attack that rescued 4 captives & slaughtered 120 Palestinians “breathtaking”2/

🧵On ICJ ruling on Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territory. The Court finds it has jurisdiction over the issue & rejects arguments made by a handful of states to the contrary & considers arguments that it would negatively impact negotiations as theoretical. 1/ President of the ICJ goes over other legal aspects pertaining to questions forwarded by the UN General Assembly on the issue and defines parameters of the ruling it will deliver. 2/

Day 2 of ICJ hearings on additional provisional measures to stop the genocide. Israel is delivering its argument. Thoughts & comments here 👇🧵 First the whining: Israel had very little time to review the 10-page request of South Africa. Israel is taking measures to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Gaza (a lie debunked by absolutely everyone). Israel is conducting a moral war against 'Khamas'.

Day 1 of the second public ICJ hearing on the genocide case against Israel, where South Africa will argue why the Court needs to issue additional preventive measures & amend the orders (2) it issued in January & March. I will post thoughts & analysis in this 👇 🧵 ICJ already accepted South Africa's case vs Israel for violating the Genocide Convention so Israel already stands accused of committing genocide & will stand trial for that in coming months (what's called the merits case). This hearing is about provisional measures in the interim

1. What is happening in Rafah is NOT a 'limited operation'. AlMawasi is NOT a 'humanitarian' or 'safe' area. In fact, the war on Gaza is escalating dramatically. Here are a few thoughts on how and why this is the case. A short🧵 2. The Israeli offensive on Rafah started with sealing off of Rafah & Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossings. For 5 days now, no aid, medicine, or fuel have entered Southern Gaza, where the majority of the population is. That means the population is on fast track to starvation

Important not to over estimate what Biden said to CNN: 1. Biden said he would suspend the large bombs IF Israel carries out a major offensive into Rafah, meaning he doesn’t see what’s happening as amounting to that. 2. Biden told CNN Israel hasn’t crossed his red lines yet. 🧵1/5 3. Biden repeated what was already admitted by his admin: US bombs killed many civilians (in reference to high profile bombings early on in the war that killed 100s in Jabalia). This is not new & it ignores the tens of thousands also killed by smaller US-supplied weapons. 2/5

🧵On the Hamas announcement on accepting ceasefire proposal: 1. What’s on the table is a 3-phase ceasefire deal, each phase lasting 42 days. It involves return of the displaced to the north without Israeli intervention, unobstructed flow of aid & withdrawal of 🇮🇱 troops from Gaza 2. Hamas showed flexibility but will not get everything it wanted: Not all Palestinian detainees & captives will be released. A clear cut commitment to cessation of war is not in the text but they’re banking on promises from US & mediators that there would be no going back to war

Observations about the ongoing discussions at the UN Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, where Gaza and Palestine's application for UN membership are the focus. 👇🧵 Nearly 1/3 of UN members asked to intervene in the discussions, with many foreign ministers from around the world participating. The message is very clear: international concern & frustration over the persistent political failure to stop the genocide is at a boiling point.

Will post comments, analysis, and summaries on Germany's defense against charges of complicity in genocide and other violations of international humanitarian law on this 🧵. The hearing starts at 10am (now). You can watch the live feed here: webtv.un.org/en/asset/k11/k… 1st presentation: Germany has always been a proponent of int'l law; Nicaragua has a one-sided view of the 'conflict'; Germany has learned from its past: 🇮🇱 security is at the center of our foreign policy. We support Israel's right to exist & to defend itself per the law

I will post thoughts, comments, and context on ICJ hearing in the case against Germany for complicity in Genocide and other breaches of international humanitarian law in this 🧵 Nicaragua will present its case today while Germany will present its defense tomorrow. These hearings are about the urgent provisional measures Nicaragua has asked the Court to order, including stopping Germany's supply of weapons to Israel.

🧵The US draft resolution at the Security Council was not adopted & that is a good thing. It received 2 vetoes from China and Russia + negative vote from Algeria. Guayana abstained while rest of members voted in favor. This draft was marketed as a ceasefire resolution. It wasn’t. The text was disastrous. It lacked any mention of the continuing Israeli crimes, including deliberately starving 2.3 million Palestinians. It would gave legislated a total exoneration of Israel, closed the debate on Gaza & done nothing to get a ceasefire, which is what is needed.

🚨Tomorrow @CIJ_ICJ will hear interventions by Palestine & 52 other states + Arab League & OIC on the legality of the Israeli occupation. See schedule👇 & watch live on This is a landmark case & the # of interventions is unprecedented. My thoughts 🧵 webtv.un.org




Background: This case was initiated by the UN General Assembly a year ago. It’s not a out a specific Israeli policy or action like the case brought by South Africa on the Genocide in Gaza or the case brought by the UN about Israel’s annexation Wall 20 years ago.

Now that it's clear on the fact that Biden has no intention of stopping Israel's planned Rafah ground assault, which will be an absolutely horrific development of epic proportions, it's important to understand why a Rafah assault is the worst thing so far in this genocidal war 🧵 1. Rafah's population increased sixfold during the war. This didn't happen by chance. Israel designed the war that way: to push as much of the population as possible to the border with Egypt & at least aim for "thinning out" the population if not outright complete expulsion

🧵The US, Canada & Australia launched a coordinated assault against UNRWA on Friday timed to coincide with the ICJ order on preventive measure and designed to deflect from the significant implications of that order. It's a callous attack that targets Gaza's starving population The announcements of a funding freeze (almost identical) are based on unverified Israeli allegations that a handful of staffers (out of 1000s) were involved in 10/7 attacks. This compounds their complicity in the genocide, aiding Israel in starving the population in Gaza.

It's day 90 of Israel's war on life in Gaza (About 100,000 Palestinians killed, injured, & under the rubble). This is the most documented genocide in history. Still, I feel that there are some basic issues that need to be spelled out again, so here we go 🧵: 1. Palestinians are 1 people. There are no "people of Gaza". It's one nation (About 14 million strong living inside historic Palestine & exile). Painting 🇵🇸s as "communities" or tribes & clans is inaccurate & insulting, echoing a colonial mindset. Please don't use such language.

Nasrallah's speech had many messages that will resonate with youth in the region. Here's a 🧵about some of them: 1. International laws and resolutions are a joke: It's hard to find someone in the region who would disagree. Israel has never respected UN resolutions & US hijacking of the UN's ability to take action on Gaza has made the most ardent believers in the international system lose faith. This is very relevant to Lebanese politics where parties opposed to Hezbollah say it must adhere to international resolutions & disarm. The global system has lost

🧵on the ceasefire in Gaza: Day 1 of the ceasefire unveiled horrific images of massive destruction & revealed the fate of so many who were killed on the roads while trying to flee. People tried to know the fate of their loved ones. Will post here some of those images as they come The shock of how devastated Gaza is was overwhelming. In the north (L) in Gaza City (Center) and the South (R). People shared images of neighborhoods flattened, of Gaza City’s Rashad Shawa cultural center gone, of buildings caked over. The trauma is collective.

🚨🧵Director General of Ministry of Health in Gaza from Indonesia Hospital in N Gaza: Israeli army has given the hospital a final warning. We are hoping to evacuate the remaining 200 patients from the hospital. Yesterday we transported 450 patients & accompanying family members. People want to leave the hell that the hospital has turned into. Patients are desperate and afraid. We have not been able to help them or offer them medical assistance because we’ve run out of medicine to give them. Burn patients need specialized care that we cannot offer them.

🧵Some context and background on Palestinians detained & imprisoned by Israel: 1) A Palestinian "prisoner" does not refer to someone tried & convicted in a normal court of law that follows due process. Palestinians are detained by Israeli soldiers, addameer.org/israeli_milita… no arrest warrant, no right to a phone call, no lawyers present. 2) Palestinians are interrogated without lawyers present & widespread abuses amounting to torture, are documented by human rights orgs. This links to some testimonies. addameer.org/publications/s…

🧵Update on Gaza: The situation inside Al Shifa Hospital continues to deteriorate. The conditions are horrific. Director of the hospital told Aljazeera: Another preemie has died. ICU patients are dying. It's a matter of time before they all die. 50 in all have died. Army gave us food for 200, we are nearly 7000. They gave us 3 incubators. We already have 50. They're junk without electricity. The Director of Orthopedic Medicine broke down while talking to Aljazeera: Patients we fought to keep alive, amputees, their wounds are festering. We're helpless

🧵Update Director of Shifa to Aljazeera: Israeli soldiers blew up the water line while digging a trench. We don’t have a drop of water. 1 kidney patient patient has died due to lack of dialysis. 4 others are critical. 2 of the injured also died. We can’t even evacuate the bodies Israeli soldiers are in radiology, maternity, & burns unit. They took the bodies in the morgue & entrance we don’t know where. We asked the soldiers to give us electricity to conduct dialysis for the patients. There was no response. Soldiers’ claims they brought fuel are lies.