#international-law

#international-law

Colombia has condemned US airstrikes on vessels allegedly involved in drug-smuggling off the coast of South America, urging Washington to immediately halt further attacks in the Pacific and Caribbean. The plea came after Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of defense, announced two new strikes on Wednesday, which were the first to hit the Pacific and left at least five people dead. According to US figures, at least nine attacks have now been carried out since early September, killing 37 people. A broad range of experts have said the campaign is illegal.

Israel must allow aid into Gaza, and its restrictions on doing so over the past two years have put it in breach of its obligations, the UN's top court has found. The stinging advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice in The Hague also found that Israel had a duty not to impede the supply of aid by UN organisations including the beleaguered UN Palestinian relief agency Unrwa, which has been in effect banned from the territory since January.

Only a decolonised plan centred on Palestinian sovereignty can bring lasting peace to Gaza. United States President Donald Trump's 20-point Gaza peace plan offers some constructive proposals on hostages, humanitarian aid, and reconstruction. Yet it is marred by an unmistakable colonial framework: Gaza is to be overseen by Trump himself, with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other outsiders cast as trustees for Palestinian governance, while Palestinian statehood is deferred indefinitely.

George Mitchell, the great US advocate for the Northern Ireland peace agreement, described diplomacy as 700 days of failure and one of success. In Gaza, tragically, there have been 730 days of failure and none of success. Indeed, the destruction, the death toll and the spillover of the conflict into other countries is a monument to shame diplomacy and what remains of international law. Arguably, it is the profession's lowest point since 1939.

When Vladimir Putin met with Donald Trump in Alaska in August, one prominent strand of social-media commentary had nothing to do with the possibility of a deal to end Russia's war against Ukraine (the meeting's ostensible purpose). Rather, it turned on the question of whether Putin-who faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, stemming from Russia's wartime actions-could conceivably be arrested when he stepped foot on U.S. soil.

'Now is the time to escalate pressure on Israel', said the party's spokesperson on foreign affairs

More than 30 legal experts have called on the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to bar Israel and its clubs from competitions over the atrocities in Gaza. The letter, addressed to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin on Thursday, said banning Israel is imperative, citing a report by United Nations investigators that confirmed Israel is carrying out a genocide against Palestinians.

A Forever War is a powerful investigation into the war on Gaza, challenging Israel's response to the Hamas-led attacks in October 2023. Global condemnation of Israel's war on Gaza recently echoed around the United Nations, where many states continued to label it genocide. Yet Israel has largely ignored international opinion, even pressure from the United States. With a ceasefire now on the table just days before the second anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, this film examines

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said his country's navy will join Italy in sending warships to protect the Global Sumud Flotilla, which has come under drone attack in international waters en route to deliver aid to Gaza. Speaking to reporters in New York on Wednesday, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Sanchez said international law must be respected and the citizens of 45 nations participating in the aid mission had every right to sail in the Mediterranean unharmed.

US not entitled to use lethal force against Venezuelan vessels

Navi Pillay, chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, made the announcement of the UN inquiry to Al Jazeera on Tuesday. We've identified the president [Isaac Herzog], the Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and the former minister of defence [Yoav Gallant] based on their statements and the orders that they've given, Pillay said in an interview.

If he wins his fall election, Zohran Mamdani would order New York's police department to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu in the event that the Israeli prime minister ever traveled there, the city's leading mayoral candidate said in a recent interview. Mamdani the Democratic nominee in the 4 November election alleged to the New York Times on Thursday that Netanyahu was a war criminal who was committing genocide with Israel's military campaign in Gaza, according to a report published by the outlet on Friday.

The Trump administration is seeking sweeping changes to the rights of asylum seekers that experts say would "decimate" the global refugee system established after World War II, a new report finds. Reuters, citing internal documents from the State Department and an agency spokesperson, finds the administration is proposing a framework in which asylum seekers would be forced to apply for protection in the first country they enter, not a country of their choosing.

Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned in the strongest terms the cowardly Israeli attack on a residential building housing Hamas leaders in the capital Doha, calling the assault a blatant violation of all international laws and norms. The State of Qatar affirms that it will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behavior and its continued tampering with regional security, as well as any action targeting its security and sovereignty, ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, the most ambitious and largest maritime mission to try to reach Gaza to date, set sail from various ports at the end of August. It comprises nearly 1,000 participants, including the Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, the former mayor of the Spanish city Barcelona Ada Colau, and the Irish actor Liam Cunningham. The flotilla, which is defined as a fleet of ships under one command, was warmly received during a stopover in Tunisia on Sunday.

Layne Smith, left, clears vegetation to prevent flames from spreading to his home as a fire burns through the Chinese Camp community of Tuolumne County. Multiple structures have burned in the historic Gold Rush town after thousands of lightning strikes ignited a spate of fast-moving fires in the dry rural foothills of the eastern Sierra. Chinese Camp, named for the Chinese miners who settled there, is a registered California landmark filled with historic structures and home to roughly 60 residents. Photograph: Noah Berger/AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been able to rely on the United States' absolute backing throughout his country's war on Gaza. While the administration of former US President Joe Biden may have occasionally expressed discomfort over the crises it was enabling in Gaza, the Donald Trump administration has yet to exhibit similar qualms, even going so far in February as to suggest that all of Gaza's population be ethnically cleansed.