This Thursday, March 7, it was learned that representatives of the Hamas group left Cairo after days of fruitless negotiations on a truce in Gaza between the Islamist group and the Israeli Army. However, the movement that controls the enclave stressed that the talks, through mediators and from which Benjamin Netanyahu's Government has been absent, will continue until a ceasefire pact is reached. Meanwhile, South Africa requested emergency measures from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the face of the humanitarian crisis and the risk of widespread famine in the Palestinian enclave.
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At least 30,800 people have already died in Gaza until this March 7, when five months have passed since the escalation of the ongoing war.
The vast majority of fatalities are civilians and while new limits are being reached in the already extreme situation of the Gazan population, new difficulties are being recorded in reaching a new truce.
Sources cited by the Reuters news agency indicated in recent hours that The Hamas delegation for ceasefire negotiations left Cairo on Wednesday after failing to reach an agreement.. However, the Islamist group stressed that the talks will continue, through the mediating governments, Qatar, Egypt and the United States, until they reach an agreement.
Sami Abu Zuhri, senior official of the Islamist movement, He accused the Israeli side, which did not send representatives to the latest round of talks, of having “frustrated” all efforts by mediators to reach an agreement before Ramadan.
The source maintained that the negotiations in the Egyptian capital did not achieve a breakthrough because Benjamin Netanyahu's government rejected the group's demands to end its offensive in the enclave. withdraw their forces, guarantee the freedom of entry of aid and the return of the displaced to their areas of residence.
On the Israeli side, they insist on their demand that Hamas provide a list with the names of the hostages who remain alive and in their possession, a demand that the group has so far resisted meeting, which has raised the ire of the majority-Jewish state. The movement that controls Gaza maintains that Netanyahu's troops must first stop their attacks.
As time runs out to reach a truce before the start of Ramadan – an ultimatum given by Israel to launch a full-fledged incursion into Rafah in the south, where the majority of displaced Gazans are located – new obstacles are emerging.
A report from 'The Times of Israel' highlights that Foreign Minister Israel Katz instructed his diplomats to pressure the UN to declare Hamas a terrorist organization, after that organization pointed out “convincing information” that the Islamist movement had committed sexual violence during its attack on October 7, which triggered the current escalation of the war. An accusation that the group's militants rejected.
South Africa asks ICJ for urgent measures against risk of famine in Gaza
Within the framework of their complaint against Israel's offensive in Gaza, presented since the end of 2023, on Wednesday the representatives of Pretoria indicated that they were forced to request before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order more measures for the Netanyahu Administration “in light of new events and changes in the situation in Gaza. In particular, by the risk of “generalized famine” faced by the population of the enclave after five months of war.
The plaintiff added that its new request is also motivated by the “continued and flagrant violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide” (…) by Israel.
During hearings last January, South Africa described the actions of Israeli troops as “a pattern of genocidal behavior.” A statement that was flatly denied by the defendant, who justified the “right to defense.”
On January 26, the ICJ ordered Israel to “prevent acts of genocide.” However, he did not order a ceasefire. Pretoria insists that the Army of the Jewish-majority country is not only committing “genocide”, but is on the rise, while deepening the humanitarian crisis.
Pretoria denounced on March 6 “manifest violations” of the provisional actions agreed by the court in The Hague and called for “new provisional measures” or a modification of the previous ones “to urgently guarantee the security of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, including more than a million children.
Therefore, and given the “extreme situation of urgency”, Pretoria urges the highest court of the United Nations to act without the need to hold new hearings.
On February 28, The UN indicated an “imminent” risk of famine in northern Gaza, which affects at least a quarter of the inhabitants, 576,000 people. However, the organization stressed that the situation could extend to the entire besieged coastal strip because practically all of the inhabitants of the enclave urgently need food.
As the scourge deepened, Jordan launched humanitarian aid from the air, an act that was followed by the United States, while Israel rejects accusations of blockades on the entry of water, food and other basic elements for survival by land.
With Reuters, AP and local media
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