Gaza: International calls for peace

European and Arab leaders call Israel to stop the attacks in Gaza

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also called for "pressure on Israel to halt the massacre in Gaza" during the Arab League summit in Baghdad, where Arabs and UN leaders voiced similar calls. Italy's government on Saturday also upped its exhortations to Israel to stop deadly military strikes in Gaza, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani saying: "Enough with the attacks." 

"We no longer want to see the Palestinian people suffer," Tajani said during a trip to Sicily, in remarks relayed by his spokesman. "Let's come to a ceasefire, let's free the hostages, but let's leave people who are victims of Hamas alone," he was cited as saying.

Israel's military has announced it is in the "initial stages" of a new offensive in Gaza aimed at defeating Hamas, after resuming its offensive on March 18, ending a two-month truce in its war against Hamas triggered by the group's October 2023 attack.

More than 100 people in Gaza were killed in Israeli strikes on Friday and another 10 on Saturday, according to the Gaza civil defence agency.

International condemnation has escalated over Israel's military actions, and its blockage of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, where more than two million people lived before the war started.

Israel's army said the goal of its latest offensive is to "seize control of areas within the Gaza Strip".

Multiple calls for peace

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also called a little earlier on Saturday for "pressure on Israel to halt the massacre in Gaza" and said Madrid plans a UN resolution demanding an International Court of Justice ruling on Israel's war methods.

Sanchez told the Arab League summit in Baghdad that world leaders should "intensify our pressure on Israel to halt the massacre in Gaza, particularly through the channels afforded to us by international law", adding that the "unacceptable number" of victims of the Israel-Hamas war violates the "principle of humanity".

Demonstrations took place in Hamburg, Germany, in the US, and in Paris, France, from Gare du Nord, starting at 2pm local time to call for the end of "massacres" and to mark the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, the forced displacement of Palestinians started in 1948 by Israel.

As Arab leaders on Saturday held this summit in Baghdad, they also urged the international community as well to apply pressure for a Gaza ceasefire and humanitarian aid access to the besieged Palestinian territory.

"We call on the international community... to exert pressure to end the bloodshed and ensure that urgent humanitarian aid can enter without obstacles all areas in need in Gaza," the leaders said in a joint final statement at the summit.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged his US counterpart Donald Trump to apply pressure for a ceasefire.

"I call on President Trump, as a leader who wants to consolidate peace, to apply all necessary efforts and pressure for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip," which would pave the way "for a serious political process in which he would be a mediator and a sponsor," Sisi said in his address to an Arab League.

Finally, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called for a permanent and immediate ceasefire in Gaza. 

"We need a permanent ceasefire, now," Guterres told leaders gathered in Baghdad. "I am alarmed by reported plans by Israel to expand ground operations and more."

Talks in Doha

Israel and Hamas resumed ceasefire talks on Saturday in Doha in Qatar, both sides said, even as Israeli forces ramped up a bombing campaign that has killed hundreds of people over 72 hours, and mobilised for a massive new ground assault.

A senior Hamas official said this new round of indirect negotiations with Israel, aimed at ending the war in Gaza, started "without any preconditions" on Saturday.

"Hamas will present its viewpoint on all issues, especially ending the war, (Israel's) withdrawal and prisoner exchange."

Prior rounds of negotiations have failed to secure a breakthrough on ending the war, and a two-month ceasefire between the sides fell apart when Israel resumed its operations in Gaza on 18 March.

The renewed fighting came after Israel imposed a total aid blockade on the territory that UN agencies warn has created critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel and medicines.

 (with AFP) 

Paris for Palestine

 

Paris

17 May 2025

Bvd Barbès

Solidarité

 

US - Africa summit for 2025

 Semafor reveals:

The Trump administration plans to host a summit for African leaders this year in order to shift its relationship with the continent, according to the US State Department’s senior official for African affairs.

“‘Trade, not aid,’ a slogan we’ve seen thrown around for years, is now truly our policy for Africa — a shift I know you have long sought and one that I am committed to strengthening,” Troy Fitrell said in a speech at an American Chamber of Commerce event in Abidjan on Wednesday.

Fitrell, addressing a separate event on Tuesday, said that “commerce, migration, and peace,” would be Washington’s priorities in its relationship with Africa. He later placed an emphasis on “commercial diplomacy,” with all US ambassadors in Africa now being evaluated on how effectively they advocate for American business.

Fitrell, previously an ambassador to Guinea, did not immediately provide further details of the summit, but it is an idea that many Africa watchers in Washington had pushed for ahead of the incoming administration. The last US-African leaders summit was hosted by President Joe Biden in December 2022.

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Zikora is recruiting

 

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May Newsletter

 

Human rights in limbo, war crimes & our struggle for joy

More worrying news this month of May, but with a promise to commit to resistance...

Melissa Chemam

May 13, 2025

Read via Substack:

Human rights in limbo, war crimes & our struggle for joy

More worrying news this month of May, but with a promise to commit to resistance...

Melissa Chemam

May 13, 2025

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Gaza on our minds

 

The Guardian:

12/05/2025 Monday briefing: Is Israel using starvation as a weapon of war?

Annie Kelly

Good morning.

If anyone thought that military sieges were consigned to the history books, they need only look at the images coming out of Gaza of starving children and obliterated landscapes as food, fuel and medicine – readily available just a few kilometres away – continue to be withheld.

Gaza has been under a total military blockade by Israel since the beginning of March. The Israeli government, which last week announced plans to begin the military conquest and occupation of the Gaza Strip, says it will refuse to allow in aid until it can take control of its distribution and be assured that it will not be siphoned off by Hamas.

The aid agencies still operating inside the Gaza Strip say that they have run out of food and, without immediate access to humanitarian supplies, it will be hunger, not bombs, that will kill people in increasing numbers.

Despite facing accusations that it is using starvation as a weapon of war, Israel, backed by the US, continues to insist that it is acting in compliance with international humanitarian and human rights laws.

For today’s newsletter, I talked with Paola Gaeta, director of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, about whether we are seeing war crimes being committed with impunity in Gaza, and the possible consequences of Israel’s new strategy.

In depth: The world is at a ‘moral crossroads’ over Gaza

Human rights groups say there can now be no doubt that Israel intends to control humanitarian aid as part of its intended conquest of the Gaza Strip. Last week, more than 20 UN experts said that the desperate situation facing over 2 million people trapped in Gaza placed the world at a moral crossroads, facing a choice between acting to halt the violence or witnessing the annihilation of the Palestinian population in the territory. We are all collectively, they said, descending into a “moral abyss”. What is Israel saying it wants to do in Gaza? Last week Israel approved a plan for Operation Gideon’s Chariots, a military campaign involving the mass mobilisation of tens of thousands of reservist soldiers to facilitate the conquest of the Gaza Strip. This would involve the displacement of most of Gaza’s population to zones “clean of Hamas”. Israeli officials are also talking openly about potential “voluntary” displacement from the territory altogether to allow the implementation of a reconstruction plan announced by Donald Trump in January. The language used has been stark and brutal. Last week Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said that Gaza would be “entirely destroyed”. The UN and aid agencies recoiled in horror at the news. In what many would see as an understatement, Volker Türk, the UN’s high commissioner for human rights, said it represented a “dangerous moment for the civilian population”. Why is there no humanitarian aid going into Gaza? Israel has restricted food, fuel and medical supplies going into Gaza for most of the war, but no aid at all has gone into Gaza for more than two months now. Israel has repeatedly justified its ongoing siege of the strip and its humanitarian aid blockade with claims of defence and security concerns, and says that Hamas is diverting and profiting from aid brought in by international organisations. It also says that it will not let any food, fuel or medicine into Gaza until Hamas release all the remaining hostages it still holds. How does this stand under international law? In July 2024, the international court of justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the UN, ruled that the Gaza Strip was under occupation by Israel. Paola says that under international humanitarian law, an occupying power has a duty to provide relief and aid to the local population. Not allowing humanitarian aid into the strip is illegal under international law and potentially a war crime. “But Israel, backed up by the United States, does not accept the ICJ’s ruling that it is an occupying force,” says Paola. “And so it says that means it does not have a legal obligation to ensure that the civilian population’s basic needs are met.” She says that when it comes to humanitarian law, if you are not an occupying force, you can retain some power over the control and distribution of humanitarian aid to make sure it is not diverted to a warring party. “So in this way they are insisting that they are still in compliance with international law.” Paola says that many human rights lawyers like herself believe that Israel has “changed the grammar” of international humanitarian law and the Geneva conventions throughout the conflict. ‘There is no doubt in my mind that they are abusing the system,” she says. “They have bombed hospitals, killed journalists and destroyed civilian infrastructure and are arguing that they are still following international humanitarian law because it is a proportional response to the threat they are facing.” Is the starvation of a civilian population a war crime? Using starvation as a method of warfare is a war crime under international law, specifically prohibited by the Geneva conventions and their Protocols. Despite the World Food Programme and others saying all food stocks are gone and malnourishment is widespread, Israel denies that it is using hunger as a weapon of war, with some politicians saying there are enough supplies of water and food inside the strip. Israel has already been accused of using hunger as a means of displacement when it deprived the north of Gaza of food in October 2024 to displace the civilian population to the south. The international criminal court (ICC) arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu issued last year cites starvation as a method of warfare as one of the charges. What is Israel saying it’s going to do to get supplies to civilians? Israel has said that in order to ensure that aid gets to civilians, it intends to take control of the distribution and administration of humanitarian assistance through a series of “hubs” or distribution points controlled by the Israeli military. Under the proposal, private companies (which at the moment appear to be from the US and Egypt) would run these hubs, distributing aid to civilians who have been “screened”. Paola says this would essentially allow the Israeli military to decide who could receive food and medicine. It could also allow Israel to create aid deserts to displace civilians forcibly from their homes and land. “Under international law, aid must not be used to achieve military objectives,” she says. “It must be impartial.” International humanitarian organisations and the United Nations have said they cannot accept what Israel is proposing as it does not “live up to the core fundamental humanitarian principles of impartiality, neutrality and independent delivery of aid”. As one aid worker told the Guardian, it is an attempt to “centralise, privatise and militarise aid” delivery, which will mean people are excluded from humanitarian assistance, which could make the aid organisations themselves complicit in war crimes. Yet over the weekend, the United States has begun pressing aid organisations to accept Israel’s terms. There are fears that this could create an impossible environment for aid organisations to continue operating inside Gaza – the last international witnesses to what is happening on the ground. Can anyone force Israel to let aid in? Ever since Donald Trump’s plan to create a riviera of the Middle East in the ruins of the Gaza Strip, and what Andrew Roth labelled in a recent analysis his “walkaway diplomacy”, an emboldened Netanyahu has seemed unstoppable. Trump has shown flashes of concern for Gaza’s population, saying that he will help civilians “get some food” despite the blockade. “But the silence and complicity of the rest of the world has been shameful,” Paola says. “The international community could stop this but we are choosing not to.” There are some signs that the prospect of watching Palestinians in Gaza starve to death in real time has prompted some action. Last week, for example, the Dutch government, seen as one of Israel’s most loyal EU allies, called for an urgent review of the EU-Israel association agreement, describing the ban on aid going into Gaza as a clear breach of international humanitarian law. Paola says that there have also been serious attempts at the highest judicial levels to hold Israel to account. As well as the ICC arrest warrants, the ICJ recently heard evidence on the legality of Israel’s withholding of humanitarian aid. Yet the judicial system is slow and the ICJ’s judgments nonbinding, with no one required to take concrete action to implement its rulings. ‘The hope is that it will become unsustainable for governments to keep supporting a country that has ruled to have committed war crimes,” she says. Paola accepts that Israel’s alleged disregard for international humanitarian laws could encourage other countries to follow suit in future conflicts. Yet she says it is more crucial than ever to defend laws such as the Geneva conventions and keep faith with the values they were built on. “What is happening is horrifying,” she says. “But it is not the humanitarian laws that are failing, it is the will of governments to uphold them. They are our moral GPS. It has never been more important to fight for them and the values they represent, not just for people in Gaza but for all of us.

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Anti-fascist Village, Paris, 10 May 2025

 

Anti-fascist Village, Place du Pantheon, Paris, 10 May 2025

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 More on this soon

UN experts say: "End unfolding genocide or watch it end life in Gaza."

 

 UN experts say world's states face defining choice:

End unfolding genocide or watch it end life in Gaza...

 

End unfolding genocide or watch it end life in Gaza: UN experts say States face defining choice

07 May 2025

GENEVA – Escalating atrocities in Gaza present an urgent moral crossroads and States must act now to end the violence or bear witness to the annihilation of the Palestinian population in Gaza – an outcome with irreversible consequences for our shared humanity and multilateral order, UN experts warned today, demanding immediate international intervention.

“While States debate terminology - is it or is it not genocide? - Israel continues its relentless destruction of life in Gaza, through attacks by land, air and sea, displacing and massacring the surviving population with impunity,” the experts said.

“No one is spared - not the children, persons with disabilities, nursing mothers, journalists, health professionals, aid workers, or hostages. Since breaking the ceasefire, Israel has killed hundreds of Palestinians, many daily - peaking on 18 March 2025 with 600 casualties in 24 hours, 400 of whom were children.”

“This is one of the most ostentatious and merciless manifestations of the desecration of human life and dignity,” the experts said.

The aggression has transformed Gaza into a landscape of desolation, where nearly half of the casualties are children and thousands remain displaced. The group of experts cited over 52,535 deaths, of which 70 percent continue to be women and children, and 118,491 injuries as of 4 May 2025.

Since March 2025, coinciding with the end of the ceasefire, Israel has reinstated an even harsher blockade on Gaza, effectively trapping its population in misery, hunger, and disease. “Under constant bombardment, amid homes reduced to rubble, streets turned into zones of terror and a devastated environment, 2.1 million survivors are facing the direst humanitarian crisis,” the experts said. “Food and water have been cut off for months, inducing starvation, dehydration, and disease, which will result in more deaths becoming the daily reality for many, especially the most vulnerable.”

Amid this carnage, Israeli statements that fluctuate between outright blocking of aid and conditional releases incumbent on other strategic goals, showcase a clear intent to wield starvation as a weapon of war, and uncertainty in the population for a basic need, increasing the risk for trauma and mental health injuries, they warned.

“Not only is delivering humanitarian aid one of Israel’s most critical obligations as the occupying power, but its deliberate depletion of essential necessities, destroying of natural resources and calculated push to drive Gaza to the brink of collapse further corroborates its criminal responsibility,” the experts said.

“These acts, beyond constituting grave international crimes, follow alarming, documented patterns of genocidal conduct.”

The experts called on states to transcend rhetoric and take enforceable action to immediately end the carnage and ensure accountability for perpetrators.

“The world is watching. Will Member States live up to their obligations and intervene to stop the slaughter, hunger, and disease, and other war crimes and crimes against humanity that are perpetrated daily in complete impunity?”

International norms were established precisely to prevent such horrors. Yet, as millions protest globally for justice and humanity, their cries are muted. This situation conveys a deadly message: Palestinian lives are dispensable, and international law, if unenforced, is meaningless,” the experts said.

They recalled that the Palestinian right to self-determination is irrevocable. “States must act swiftly to end the unfolding genocide, dismantle apartheid, and secure a future in which Palestinians and Israelis coexist in freedom and dignity.

“Arrest warrants from the ICC against Israeli leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity require immediate action and compliance. The ICJ Advisory Opinion mandates an end to the prolonged occupation, and the deadline the General Assembly has set is 17 September 2025,” the experts said.

Continuing to support Israel materially or politically, especially via arms transfers, and the provision of private military and security services risks complicity in genocide and other serious international crimes, they warned.

“The decision is stark: remain passive and witness the slaughter of innocents or take part in crafting a just resolution. The global conscience has awakened, if asserted - despite the moral abyss we are descending into - justice will ultimately prevail,” they said.

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*The experts: Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967; George Katrougalos, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order; Gehad Madi, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants; Gina Romero, Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association; Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; Astrid Puentes Riaño, Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment ; Paula Gaviria Betancur, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons; Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences Nicolas Levrat, Special Rapporteur on minority issues; Farida Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the right to education; Ashwini K.P. Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; Heba Hagrass, Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities; Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation; Graeme Reid, Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing; Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food; Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders: Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Siobhán Mullally, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; Jovana Jezdimirovic Ranito (Chair-Rapporteur), Ravindran Daniel, Michelle Small, Joana de Deus Pereira, Andrés Macías Tolosa, Working Group on the use of mercenaries; and Geneviève Savigny (Chair-Rapporteur), Carlos Duarte, Uche Ewelukwa, Shalmali Guttal, Davit Hakobyan, Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas and Bina D’Costa (Chair), Barbara G. Reynolds, Isabelle Mamadou, Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, Laura Nyirinkindi (Chair), Claudia Flores (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Estrada Tanck, Ivana Krstić, and Haina Lu, Working group on discrimination against women and girls. 

Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. 

Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. 

Sudan update: Attacks on Port Sudan

 

RSF drone strikes pound Port Sudan, putting aid deliveries to Sudanese civilians at risk

Drones attacks have pounded on Port Sudan since Sunday, while the city, temporary capital since the destruction of Khartoum had until this week been spared by the conflict. The port city is home to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people, who are living with relatives or in makeshift camps.

Another drone strike targeted Port Sudan on Wednesday morning, according to an army source, marking the fourth straight day the seat of the army-backed government has come under attack.

The drones "were met with anti-aircraft missiles," the source said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

A series of explosions were heard in the city, near the Flamingo base, just north of the city, the country’s largest naval base in the wartime capital Port Sudan, followed by a cloud of smoke.

War has raged since April 2023 between Sudan's regular armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which the government has called a "proxy" of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Nationwide, the war has already killed tens of thousands of people in two years and uprooted 13 million.

Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast had until this week been a safe haven for civilians, hosting hundreds of thousands of displaced people and United Nations offices. But on Sunday a first drone strike began, blamed on the RSF.

New front

Drones struck across Port Sudan all day on Tuesday, hitting the main port, the city's power station and the country's last functioning international airport.

Witnesses also told AFP they heard explosions from anti-aircraft missiles west of the city, which has also come under repeated attack this week.

The city on the Red Sea coast had become the base for the army-aligned government after the RSF swept through much of the capital Khartoum at the start of the conflict.

These drone strikes on Port Sudan opened a new front, targeting the army's main stronghold in eastern Sudan after it drove the RSF back westwards across much of central Sudan, including Khartoum, in March.

Rupture with the UAE

This Wednesday's attack comes a day after the Sudanese authorities cut ties with the UAE, accusing it of supplying weapons used by the RSF to strike Port Sudan and declaring the Gulf country an "aggressor" state.

The UAE has long denied supporting the RSF, despite reports from UN experts, US politicians and international organisations.

But Sudan's army continues to accuse the UAE of supplying both makeshift and highly advanced drones to the RSF. 

Sudan's army-aligned information minister, Khalid al-Aiser, on Tuesday pointed the finger at the UAE again, saying it was supplying "its proxy" the RSF.

The International Court of Justice on Monday threw out a case brought by Sudan against the UAE, accusing it of complicity in genocide by supporting the RSF.

The army-aligned foreign ministry said it "respected" the ruling based on the ICJ's lack of jurisdiction, adding that it "cannot legally be interpreted as a denial of the violations".

Disruption

The strikes on Port Sudan have raised fears of disruption to humanitarian aid across Sudan, where famine has already been declared in some areas and nearly 25 million people are suffering dire food insecurity.

UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said he was "very concerned by ongoing drone strikes on Port Sudan, a hub for our humanitarian operations and key entry point for aid".

Nearly all aid into Sudan flows through the port city, which the United Nations has called "a lifeline for humanitarian operations". It has warned of more "human suffering in what is already the world's largest humanitarian crisis".

The United States on Tuesday condemned the drone attacks "on critical infrastructure and other civilian targets in Port Sudan and throughout the country". These attacks represent "a dangerous escalation in the Sudan conflict," the State Department said.

Spain also condemned the attacks, calling them a "violation of international law and a threat to peace efforts".  

The war has effectively split Sudan in two, with the army controlling the centre, north and east while the RSF holds nearly all of Darfur in the west and parts of the south.

 (with newswires)