Rafah bombings (Edited by Mumsnet)

@onegrumpyoldwoman I doubt Israel will listen in any case.

Yes, they continue to act with impunity and utter disgrace by intensifying air strikes minutes after the ruling
Striking in central Rafah now

Ha Ha Ha

And sadly Israel are very far away from defeating Hamas - their strategy of 'defeat and repeat' could drag this out for up to a decade - US have have said this isn't 'feasible'

A rather imperious and arrogant posting that contributes nothing to the discussion.

Perhaps Israel should leave the UN if it doesn't want to be subject to it's court

See you didn't acknowledge your mistakes

I doubt Israel will listen in any case.

They are so close to defeating Hamas that they won't stop now.

Well it doesn't seem likely that Netanyahu will listen so no surprises there.
However, the rest of the world can see the their despicable actions in Rafah, that have little to no regard for human life and that despite one of the world's top courts asking them to stop, they still continued.
It also puts alot of pressure on countries who are supplying arms to Israel.

If I'm ever charged with a crime I'm going to try the "I don't recognise the court" line and see how far I get.

Israel is a rogue state that has long ignored international law. Hopefully this ruling will put some pressure on the states that continue to enable them.

It's the ICJ not the ICC and Israel do recognise the ICJ as part of their membership of the UN

From sky
The top United Nations court said the humanitarian situation in Rafah had "deteriorated further" since its previous court order for Israel to improve it, adding the situation there was classed as "disastrous".

Excellent
Thanks for the update

So?

Israel doesn't recognise the ICC, so the ICC can't order them to do anything.

Hamas were also told to give back the hostages immediately and that didn't happen.

ICJ orders Israel to halt Rafah military offensive

‘Congested mass of people living in deplorable conditions’

Suze van Meegan, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s emergency response leader in Gaza, says many civilians are trapped in western Rafah as Israeli troops fight their way towards them.

“The city of Rafah is now comprised of three entirely different worlds: the east is an archetypal war zone, the middle is a ghost town, and the west is a congested mass of people living in deplorable conditions,” she said in a statement.

Update on Rafah

Israeli tanks advanced to the edge of a crowded district in the heart of Rafah on Wednesday during one of the most intense nights of bombardment of the southern Gaza city since Israel launched its offensive there this month. Residents and militants told Reuters that tanks had taken up new positions farther west than before along the southern border fence with Egypt. They said Israeli troops were now stationed on the edge of the Yibna neighbourhood at the centre of Rafah.

I think that the Israeli authorities will be satisfied when they reach their goal - a goal that can only be something that we aren’t being told - like push the Gazan’s out of Gaza.

Otherwise from every point of view Rafah makes no sense. obviously it wlll kill and maim thousands of innocent civilians but it doesn’t seem to make sense for Israel’s stated goals either.

The US strongly stated that it won’t help them reach their military goals. I think the US wouldn’t have been against Rafah if it would genuinely take out Hamas - despite the civilian cost.

@PoloMum
The images you posted were released by hostage families to try to pressure Netanyahu into dialogue with Hamas about hostage release for ceasefire deal. The daily fail is just capitalising on their suffering to promote its own agenda
From todays’s New York Times

“The families of several Israeli female soldiers taken hostage during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 released video of their abduction in an attempt to pressure the Israeli government to revive apparently stalled cease-fire talks that could pave the way for the captives’ release.”

@onegrumpyoldwoman I didn’t describe the attackers of 7/10 as “disciplined”
But it’s clear that it was a , planned organised and coordinated attack and Hamas was the organisation that planned , organised and coordinated it. So the perpetrators were accountable to these leaders.

Or do you think it was just a spontaneous thing that happened?

“Disciplined” like this, @Kindatired ?

@Kindatired Also, the breaking up of the terrorist group into small bands of undisciplined independent units not reporting to any authority doesn’t put the hostages in a better place, almost certainly the opposite.

Surely you don't think that the attackers on 7 October were "disciplined" ?

And who were they "reporting to" when they were driving around Gaza with the body of a female hostage in the back of a truck?

So when will Netanyahu be satisfied (he wants ten years!!) or will the US finally put their foot down and say enough is enough.

How long will the people in Gaza be expected to live like this.

@PeasfullPerson A ground offensive in Raffah will be a humanitarian catastrophe with no improvement in security for Israel and it puts the hostages at further ris of bombardment, shootings , starvation and diseases .

Hamas have reconstituted repeatedly in areas from which the IDF has pulled out. There are reports of Hamas starting garbage collection and running courts. A few weeks ago there was an article in the New York Times that said they were In smaller guerilla units of fewer men and Netanyahu has said it could take 10 years to eliminate them. There are hundreds of of tunnels for them to hide in, rubble, abandoned buildings, vulnerable civilians to terrorise and steal from.
Also, the breaking up of the terrorist group into small bands of undisciplined independent units not reporting to any authority doesn’t put the hostages in a better place, almost certainly the opposite

It's almost as though Israel's decision to invade as they did was a terrible idea, in terms of civilian casualities and infrastructural destruction as well as in terms of Israel achieving their alleged goals. As we all said at the time.

Well the options of what happens after Israel has searched Rafah are:
The Israeli forces leave and Hamas stays in control
The Israeli forces don't leave and end up in some kind of costly occupation (lives on both sides)
The PA are in control of Gaza backed by another country's military (except no country in their right mind would want to put troops into Gaza).
Hand it over to Egypt (except they don't want it)