what to remember from Friday February 16

Cairo is building a closed and secure camp in the Sinai to accommodate Palestinians from Gaza who would flee the war in the event of an offensive on Rafah.

The Israeli attack in Rafah seems to be taking shape. This military operation will be carried out “after having coordinated with Egypt”, assured, Friday February 16, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs. According to Wall Street Journal and an Egyptian NGO, Cairo is building a closed and secure camp in the Sinai to accommodate Palestinians from Gaza who would flee the war in the event of an offensive on Rafah. Here is what to remember from February 16.

International Court of Justice rejects new South African request against Israel

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest judicial body of the United Nations, rejected South Africa’s additional request against Israel, which announced a major offensive against Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, finding that the Jewish state had to respect the measures already ordered.

Pretoria had already referred the matter to the ICJ, based in The Hague, arguing that Israel’s operations in Gaza amounted to a violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The court has yet to rule on this point, but on January 26 it ordered Israel to prevent any possible act of genocide and to allow access for humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

Joe Biden calls for “a temporary ceasefire” in Gaza

The United States is raising its voice. Joe Biden demanded, Friday February 16, “a temporary ceasefire” in Gaza “to get the hostages out”. Until then, the American president had rather called for a “truce” or a “break” in the fights. A semantic debate that matters for the United States.

“I hope that in the meantime, the Israelis will not carry out a massive ground invasion”added the American president, who was questioned by the press at the White House about a possible military offensive on the town of Rafah, in the south of Gaza, where 1.4 million people are crowded together, most of them displaced by the fights.

Hezbollah leader attacks Israel

Hassan Nasrallah vowed he would make Israel pay “by blood” the price of civilians killed in Lebanon during the week, ensuring that his party’s precision missiles could reach the southern tip of the enemy country. “Our women and our children who were killed (…), the enemy will pay the price for their blood shed”, declared the leader of the Lebanese Islamist movement in a televised address. He warned that his training “had an enormous precision missile capability” which can cover Israeli territory “from Kiryat Shmona to Eilat”.

A “terrorist attack” in southern Israel

At least two people were killed on Friday following a “terrorist attack” suspected at a small bus station in Kiryat Malakhi, a town in southern Israel, a hospital and police said. According to rescuers, six people were injured and transferred to two hospitals. A spokeswoman for one of them, Kaplan Hospital, said two of the injured people transferred to the facility had died.