Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Israel’s attack on Rafah is part of an “endgame” in which Gaza is “utterly destroyed” as a place fit for human life, the UN’s highest court was told on Thursday.
South Africa asked the International Court of Justice to order a total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza amid what it called a “new and horrific phase” of the war.
In a two-hour pleading in The Hague, it said previous rulings by the 17-judge bench telling Israel to prevent genocide “have not succeeded” in protecting Palestinians.
“Israel must be stopped,” said South African lawyer Adila Hassim, who became visibly emotional as she told the court of the suffering of Palestinian children.
Israel, which denies South Africa's allegation of genocide, will take the floor in reply on Friday.
On another day of legal arguments over the war in the Middle East:
· South Africa said the destruction of Rafah, the “last refuge” in Gaza's south, would mean there is “no more Palestinian life in Gaza to speak of”
· The court heard Israel had sealed off aid routes and bombarded Rafah in “unprecedented violence” even by the standards of the past seven months
· One lawyer compared Israel's “spectacular destruction” of Rafah to the genocide of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995
· Israel's use of evacuation orders and talk of designated humanitarian zones was described to judges as “purely performative” because many people cannot flee
· Judges were urged to intervene to defend the court's authority and the rule of law after earlier rulings failed to quell the violence
· South Africa said many people especially in the West had “appeared unwilling to accept” that “people who look like us” could commit genocide
Full withdrawal
Lawyers for South Africa had initially sought an Israeli withdrawal only from Rafah, the southern tip of Gaza where many Palestinians are sheltering.
However, they widened the request to all of Gaza on Thursday because only a full retreat will “protect what is left of Palestinian life” in the strip, Ms Hassim said.
British barrister Vaughan Lowe, representing South Africa, said the attack on Rafah was part of a wider goal of “wiping Gaza from the map”.
“It has become increasingly clear that Israel’s actions in Rafah are part of the endgame in which Gaza is utterly destroyed as an area capable of human habitation,” he said.
“It was Rafah that brought South Africa to the court, but it is all Palestinians … who need the protection from genocide that the court can order.”
Judges declined a previous South African request in January to order a withdrawal by Israel, which argued this would deny it the right to self-defence.
The court has instead told Israel to do everything in its power to prevent genocide and to increase the flow of humanitarian aid.
However, the court was told Israel's talk of setting up humanitarian zones and evacuating civilians is “purely performative”.
South African barrister Max du Plessis said many of those sheltering in Rafah are “so starved that they can barely walk” and therefore unable to move elsewhere.
The ICJ was told Israel's closure of border crossings had served to “seal Gaza hermetically from the outside world” and deny life-saving aid.
Humanitarian need
Israel's failure to allow sufficient food and aid into Gaza has “plunged Gaza into unprecedented levels of humanitarian need even as compared with the catastrophic levels of the previous seven months”, Mr du Plessis said.
In addition, Israel has “deliberately attacked the very shelters to which it directed Palestinians to flee”, he told the court.
Attacking Rafah after “deliberately herding” Palestinians there through attacks on the rest of Gaza “leaves only one inference … and that is of genocidal intent”, he said.
He compared Israel's attack on Rafah to the mass killing of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995, for which Serb commanders were found guilty of genocide by the International Criminal Court.
Borrowing from a UN court's ruling on Srebrenica, he said destroying in full view of the world was “intended by Israel to serve as a potent example to all Palestinians of their vulnerability and their defencelessness”.
The ICJ is not considering at this stage whether Israel has committed genocide, a verdict that could take years.
Instead it is hearing a request by South Africa for an interim order to stop the genocide case being overtaken by events.
With Palestine lacking full UN status, South Africa is acting on its behalf under a precedent that all states have an interest in preventing genocide.
South Africa “is here because the Palestinian people are facing genocide in Gaza and your previous orders have not succeeded in protecting them against that”, Mr Lowe said.
Lawyers also called on the court to act in the name of the rule of law and “reassert its authority”.
“This may well be the last chance for the court to act,” said Blinne Ni Ghralaigh, an Irish lawyer representing South Africa.
Israel has previously described South Africa's genocide case as one-sided and blamed Hamas human-shielding tactics for the scale of the humanitarian crisis.
It says its offensive is a response to the Hamas violence on October 7 in which militants killed and kidnapped Israelis in a surprise attack.
In a second case filed by Nicaragua, the court last month refused a request to stop Germany providing arms to Israel.
The ICJ is separate from the International Criminal Court, which is believed to be considering arrest warrants for Israeli officials.
Predictions
Predicted winners for final round of games before play-offs:
- Friday: Delhi v Chennai - Chennai
- Saturday: Rajasthan v Bangalore - Bangalore
- Saturday: Hyderabad v Kolkata - Hyderabad
- Sunday: Delhi v Mumbai - Mumbai
- Sunday - Chennai v Punjab - Chennai
Final top-four (who will make play-offs): Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bangalore
The years Ramadan fell in May
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
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Gulf rugby
Who’s won what so far in 2018/19
Western Clubs Champions League: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens: Dubai Hurricanes
West Asia Premiership: Bahrain
What’s left
UAE Conference
March 22, play-offs:
Dubai Hurricanes II v Al Ain Amblers, Jebel Ali Dragons II v Dubai Tigers
March 29, final
UAE Premiership
March 22, play-offs:
Dubai Exiles v Jebel Ali Dragons, Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Dubai Hurricanes
March 29, final
Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
GREATEST ROYAL RUMBLE CARD
The line-up as it stands for the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia on April 27
50-man Royal Rumble
Universal Championship
Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns
Casket match
The Undertaker v Rusev
Intercontinental Championship
Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The Bludgeon Brothers v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship
Sheamus and Cesaro v Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy
United States Championship
Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
Singles match
Triple H v John Cena
To be confirmed
AJ Styles will defend his WWE World Heavyweight title and Cedric Alexander his Cruiserweight Championship, but matches have yet to be announced
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Brief scoreline
Switzerland 0
England 0
Result: England win 6-5 on penalties
Man of the Match: Trent Alexander-Arnold (England)
Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
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How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
