Intense gun battles in S Gaza: Dozens killed

FE Team | Published: December 30, 2023 21:17:18

GAZA, Dec 30 (BBC/AFP/Reuters): Fierce Israeli tank fire and air strikes have been continuing in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, which Israel sees as a stronghold of Hamas. Residents have reported intense gun battles between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters there.
The Israeli army says it has struck targets across Gaza over the past 24 hours, and its troops have killed "dozens of terrorists" in Gaza City.
As Israeli ground operations drive tens of thousands of people to flee, there are reports of an increased spread of diseases.
The UN has complained that the volume of aid reaching the territory remains "woefully inadequate". Israel insists it's not limiting it and that the problem is with its distribution.
US approves 'emergency' sale
of munitions to Israel
The United States on Friday announced the approval of a $147.5 million sale of 155mm high-explosive artillery munitions and related equipment to Israel under an emergency provision that waives the usual congressional review.
The same provision was used earlier this month to approve the sale of nearly 14,000 rounds of 120mm tank ammunition to Israel, which is battling Hamas in Gaza in a highly destructive conflict that began with a shock attack by the Palestinian militants in October.
Israel requested that 155mm fuses, primers and charges be added to previous foreign military sale cases, increasing their estimated total cost from $96.51 million to $147.5 million and requiring a new notification, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement.
The secretary of state has determined that "an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to the government of Israel" of the weaponry, thereby waiving the normal requirement for review by Congress, according to the statement, which said the munitions will come from US Army stocks.
S Africa seeks ICJ genocide
order against Israel
South Africa asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday for an urgent order declaring that Israel was in breach of its obligations under the Genocide Convention in its ongoing crackdown against Hamas in Gaza.
In the latest development in Israel's war against Hamas, tens of thousands of newly displaced Gazans sought refuge in the centre of the Palestinian enclave on Friday after fleeing an Israeli tank offensive, while warplanes attacking the south flattened homes and buried families as they slept.
The court application is the latest move by South Africa, a vociferous critic of Israel's war, to ratchet up pressure after its lawmakers last month voted in favour of closing down the Israeli embassy in Pretoria and suspending all diplomatic relations until a ceasefire was agreed in Israel's war with Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.
In a statement from South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), the government said the application against Israel was filed on Friday.
"Israel, since 7 October 2023 in particular, has failed to prevent genocide and has failed to prosecute the direct and public incitement to genocide," DIRCO said in a statement.
It said it had requested that the ICJ declare "on an urgent basis that Israel is in breach of its obligations in terms of the Genocide Convention, should immediately cease all acts and measures in breach of those obligations and take a number of related actions."
The ICJ is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and helps settle disputes between states in accordance with international law.
South Africa has backed the Palestinian cause for statehood in Israeli-occupied territories for decades, likening the plight of Palestinians to those of the Black majority in South Africa during the repressive apartheid-era, a comparison Israel vehemently denies.