Netanyahu is defiant after UN court ruling as deaths in Gaza offensive continue
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday pushed back after the International Court of Justice ruling to limit death and destruction in the military’s Gaza offensive, declaring that “we decide and act according to what is required for our security.” Among the first deaths reported since the ruling, witnesses said three Palestinians were killed in an airstrike that Israel said targeted a Hamas commander.
Israel’s military is under increasing scrutiny now that the top United Nations court has asked Israel for a compliance report in a month. The court’s binding ruling on Friday stopped short of ordering a cease-fire, but its orders were in part a rebuke of Israel’s conduct in its nearly 4-month war against Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
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The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, the main organization aiding Gaza’s population amid the humanitarian disaster, said nine countries suspended their funding following Israel’s allegations that a number of Gaza staff members participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war. Those include the United States, Britain, Italy and Finland.
Agency chief Philippe Lazzarini said it would be “immensely irresponsible” to sanction it and the community it serves at such a desperate time for Gazans, especially after it quickly fired the “small group” of staffers. The 13,000-strong agency, which relies almost entirely on countries’ contributions, said it now runs shelters for over 1 million people and its lifeline “can collapse anytime now.”
The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, destroyed vast swaths of Gaza and displaced nearly 85% of the territory’s 2.3 million people. The Hamas attack in southern Israel killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and about 250 hostages were taken.
At least 174 Palestinians were killed over the past day, the Health Ministry in Gaza said.
It does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its tolls, but has said about two-thirds are women and children.
