Bolivia joins South Africa’s ICJ genocide case against Israel/node/2574580/world
Bolivia joins South Africa’s ICJ genocide case against Israel
Bolivia already announced in November it was severing diplomatic ties over what it described as the “disproportionate” attacks on Gaza by Israel. (AFP)
Bolivia joins South Africa’s ICJ genocide case against Israel
Updated 09 October 2024
AFP
THE HAGUE: Bolivia has joined South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice that alleges the Israeli Gaza offensive breaches the UN Genocide Convention, the court said on Wednesday.
The South American country is the latest of several nations, including Colombia, Libya, Spain and Mexico, adding their weight to the case against Israel, which vehemently denies the accusations.
Bolivia already announced in November it was severing diplomatic ties over what it described as the “disproportionate” attacks on Gaza by Israel.
At the time, Israel slammed the move as “a surrender to terrorism.”
In a January 26 ruling that made headlines around the world, the ICJ told Israel to do everything possible to prevent acts of genocide during its military operations in Gaza.
The court has also ordered Israel to ensure “unimpeded access” to UN-mandated investigators to look into allegations of genocide.
South Africa has returned several times to the ICJ, arguing that the dire humanitarian situation in the territory compels the court to issue further fresh emergency measures.
In its submission to the court made public on Wednesday, Bolivia argued: “Israel’s genocidal war continues, and the Court’s orders remain dead letters to Israel.”
While ICJ rulings are legally binding, the court has no concrete means to enforce them.
In a separate ruling in July, the ICJ issued an “advisory opinion” that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory was “unlawful” and should end as soon as possible.
Israel’s Gaza campaign has killed at least 42,010 people, the majority of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
The UN has described the figures as reliable.
The offensive was prompted by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Israel has intensified strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon since September 23, leaving more than 1,150 people dead, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Head of hostage NGO believes US journalist Tice still in Syria
Zakka said he had no information on Tice’s precise location but suspected that a deal, possibly involving pressure from Assad’s ally Russia, could see the American journalist released
Updated 15 sec ago
Reuters
DAMASCUS: The head of an American organization focused on hostage releases said on Monday he believes US journalist Austin Tice was still being held in Syria by people loyal to toppled leader Bashar Assad.
Speaking to Reuters in Damascus, Nizar Zakka said he believed Tice was being held by “very few people in a safe house in order to do an exchange or a deal.”
Zakka, a Lebanese businessman with US permanent residency who was held in Iran for four years until 2019 on charges of spying, is the president of Hostage Aid Worldwide.
He has traveled to Syria multiple times following Assad’s ouster by rebels on Dec. 8 in a bid to track down Tice, a former US Marine and a freelance journalist who was abducted in 2012 while reporting in Damascus on the uprising against Assad.
Debra Tice, mother of journalist Austin Tice who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, holds a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, U.S., May 2, 2023. (REUTERS)
Zakka said his group’s own investigation had revealed Tice was still in Syria, and that “a lot of progress” had been made in his hunt in recent weeks. But he added that Syria’s new rulers, led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), had not provided much assistance.
“We were hoping that HTS would help us more, but unfortunately HTS did not help us because they had their own concerns,” he said.
Zakka said he had no information on Tice’s precise location but suspected that a deal, possibly involving pressure from Assad’s ally Russia, could see the American journalist released.
Tice was detained at a checkpoint in Daraya, near Damascus, in August 2012. Reuters was first to report that Tice managed to slip out of his cell in 2013 and was seen moving between houses in the streets of Damascus’ upscale Mazzeh neighborhood.
He was recaptured soon after his escape, likely by forces who answered directly to Assad, current and former US officials said.
Tice’s mother Debra has voiced hope that upheaval in Syria will lead to freedom for her son and has expressed gratitude for efforts by journalists and other civilians searching for him, including from Hostage Aid Worldwide.
Zakka said he was in regular touch with Debra.
“She gave us all the power and the support for us to make it happen, to find Austin and to work for Austin,” he said.
France’s Marine Le Pen ‘will never forgive’ herself for expelling father
Jean-Marie Le Pen declared in 1987 that the Nazi gas chambers used to exterminate Jews are “just a detail in the history of World War II”
Updated 14 January 2025
AFP
PARIS: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said she will never forgive herself for expelling her father Jean-Marie Le Pen from her party, after he died last week aged 96.
Nicknamed “the devil of the Republic” by opponents, Jean-Marie Le Pen was often openly racist, made no secret of anti-Semitic views, for which he received criminal convictions, and boasted of torturing prisoners during the war against Algeria.
Marine Le Pen took over as head of the National Front (FN) in 2011 but rapidly took steps toward making the party an electable force, renaming it the National Rally (RN) and embarking on a policy known as dediabolization (de-demonization).
She slung her father out of the party for his anti-Semitic views in 2015. But the pair had reconciled in recent years.
“I will never forgive myself for this decision, because I know it caused him immense pain,” he told the Journal du dimanche (JDD) newspaper in an interview published on its website late Sunday.
“This decision was one of the most difficult of my life. And until the end of my life, I will always ask myself the question: ‘could I have done this differently?’,” she said.
Jean-Marie Le Pen declared in 1987 that the Nazi gas chambers used to exterminate Jews are “just a detail in the history of World War II.”
In 2014, he said of Patrick Bruel, a Jewish singer critical of Le Pen, that he would be part of “a batch we will get next time.”
Addressing such remarks, Marine Le Pen said: “It’s somewhat unfair to judge him solely on the basis of these controversies.”
After his long political career, “it is inevitable to have subjects that arouse controversy,” she argued, while saying it was “unfortunate” that Jean-Marie Le Pen “got bogged down in these provocations.”
The interview marked a rare insight from Marine Le Pen into her relationship with her father, who was buried on Saturday in a quiet family ceremony in his home region of Brittany in western France.
Marine Le Pen, who stood three times for the Elysee and is likely preparing another run in 2027, is extremely discreet about her private and family life.
News magazine Paris Match posted a picture of Marine Le Pen in tears on being informed of the news of her father’s death, but deleted the image following protests from the RN.
Jean-Marie Le Pen’s death was announced to AFP on Tuesday in a statement signed “Le Pen Family.”
But Marine Le Pen, who was on a plane taking her back from the cyclone-ravaged French island of Mayotte to mainland France, only learned of the news afterwards, during a stopover in Nairobi.
Some French media have interpreted this as a sign of conflict within her family and with her two sisters Marie-Caroline and Yann.
“At the time, I didn’t believe it (his death). Then... knowing that he was in very fragile health, I called my sister to find out what was going on. And she was the one who told me,” she said.
Zelensky says discussed idea of Western troops in Ukraine with Macron
Updated 14 January 2025
AFP
KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he spoke with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Monday and discussed the idea of Western “contingents” being deployed to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian leader did not say whether he was talking about the West sending combat troops or peacekeepers as part of a settlement to end the nearly three-year war with Russia.
“Today I spoke with the president of France. It was a rather long and detailed conversation. We discussed defense support — various forms of defense, arms packages for Ukraine,” Zelensky said in his evening address.
“We also discussed the deployment of partner contingents and the training of our military,” he added.
Macron has floated the idea of sending Western troops to Ukraine before, including last month when he and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk discussed the possibility of stationing peacekeepers there in the event of a ceasefire.
Moscow accelerated its advances in Ukraine last year, as Kyiv’s overstretched army suffered from exhaustion and a lack of manpower.
US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to bring a swift end to the fighting when he enters office next week, raising fears in Ukraine that it will be forced to make major territorial concessions in exchange for peace.
Several Daesh fighters killed in Somalia’s Puntland state
“The security forces are advancing onto key hideouts of the terrorists to flush them out”
Updated 14 January 2025
AFP
MOGADISHU: Somali security forces said they killed several Daesh fighters and seized eight terrorist outposts during ongoing military operations in the semi-autonomous Puntland region.
Daesh has a relatively small presence in Somalia compared to the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab, but experts have warned of growing activity.
A United Nations counter-terrorism official last year warned of increased attacks by Daesh affiliates in Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.
Somali military officials said Monday’s operation in the northern province was centered around the Cal Miskat mountains in the Bari region.
“The security forces took control of eight Daesh military outposts including a major one in the Cal Miskat mountains; several gunmen including foreign fighters had been killed in the military operations” the Puntland army said in a statement.
“The army shot down around nine drones loaded with explosives which Daesh tried to attack and detonate on the security forces during the fighting,” it said.
“The security forces are advancing onto key hideouts of the terrorists to flush them out.”
According to Ahmed Rage, one of the military commanders in the area, heavy fighting was underway as the Daesh “militias took positions inside a cave in the mountain,” but he added that the army was making “progress and continues to advance onto the stronghold positions.”
According to experts and officials, Daesh in Somalia is run by Abdul Qadir Mumin, a Puntland native.
“He is the most important person, the most powerful one, he is the one controlling the global Daesh network,” said Tore Hamming from the International Center for the Study of Radicalization (ICSR).
What is behind the resurgence of vehicular-ramming terror attacks?
Bollards and urban design changes reduce VAW risks but aren't foolproof — a multi-layered approach is essential, says counterterrorism expert
Geofencing and blockchain forensics are emerging tools to track suspicious transactions and block vehicles from high-risk areas
Updated 3 min 38 sec ago
GABRIELE MALVISI
LONDON: Vehicles have a long history as tools of terror, but their use has surged in recent years, becoming a preferred method for attackers seeking to cause mass casualty events, creating headaches for security agencies.
On Jan. 1, at approximately 3:15 p.m. local time, a Ford pickup truck plowed into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. The FBI has classified the attack as terrorism.
The driver, identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a Texas native, was found to have a Daesh flag inside the vehicle. Before he was shot dead by police, Jabbar recorded videos referencing his divorce and how he joined Daesh earlier in the summer, authorities revealed.
Initially believed to have acted alone, investigators said on Monday they were pursuing leads related to his recent travels to Egypt, Canada, and several US cities.
On the same day as the New Orleans attack, another incident took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, when a Tesla Cybertruck packed with explosives burst into flames outside the Trump International Hotel.
The perpetrator, Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Green Beret and highly decorated soldier from Colorado Springs, refrained from labeling his actions as terrorism.
A Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel on Jan. 1. (AFP)
In notes discovered by authorities, Livelsberger, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, described the act as a “wake-up call” rather than a terrorist attack. Despite this, the method — the use of a vehicle as a weapon — was a common feature.
Earlier in December, a rented black BMW SUV was driven into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, central Germany, killing six and injuring almost 300. The suspect, Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, a German citizen of Saudi origin, was arrested at the scene.
While his social media history revealed anti-Islam and anti-immigration remarks, German authorities are continuing to search for a motive, emphasizing that he appeared to have acted alone.
While these incidents may seem unrelated, they again share a critical commonality: the weapon of choice.
“While accessibility is a key factor, vehicles also appeal to terrorists for strategic and technological reasons,” Danielle Cosgrove, a member of the Counterterrorism Group at the Atlantic Council, told Arab News.
“Their widespread availability and ability to blend into myriad environments allow attackers to operate under the radar,” she said, adding that platforms like peer-to-peer car rental services — including Turo, which was used by both US attackers — coupled with cryptocurrency payments, have made it easier for attackers to rent vehicles anonymously, avoiding traditional paper trails.
An artist lights candles at a memorial on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Getty Images/AFP)
Since the turn of the century, terrorism has shaped global debates and drastically influenced government policies and budgets. According to the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, the US alone — by far the largest spender — allocated around $8 trillion to the global war on terror between 2001 and 2022.
Despite this immense expenditure, the number of “vehicle-as-a-weapon,” or VAW, attacks has risen. More than 40 such incidents have occurred globally in recent years, although the exact figure varies due to inconsistent reporting and regional definitions.
A 2019 study by the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University found that the majority of these attacks took place in Israel and the West Bank.
FASTFACTS
• Vehicle-as-a-weapon attacks have surged globally, with more than 40 incidents in recent years targeting crowded areas.
• Groups like Daesh and Al-Qaeda promote vehicle attacks for their accessibility, ease of use, and high casualty potential.
• Experts advocate AI surveillance, stricter rental policies, and smart urban designs to prevent future vehicle-based attacks.
“Vehicle-based attacks remain prevalent because they are able to exploit gaps in both physical security and digital infrastructure,” Cosgrove said.
She explained that while “modern counterterrorism efforts have become highly effective at identifying organized plots, lone-wolf terrorists — often radicalized online — pose a different kind of challenge.”
Although terrorist groups began using ramming attacks in the 1990s, calls for such attacks intensified a decade later. In 2010, Al-Qaeda encouraged its followers through its magazine, Inspire, to use vehicles to “mow down the enemies of Allah.”
A car drives through the annual Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany. (CCTV Video)
The tactic — propelled by the rise of online forums and propaganda networks offering tactical guidance, including detailed step-by-step instructions — gained momentum years later, as groups like Daesh and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula publicly advocated for vehicle-based attacks, recommending four-wheel-drive pickup trucks for their strength and effectiveness in targeting crowded places such as markets and public events.
“Beyond logistical ease, vehicles create mass casualties in crowded areas and generate widespread media attention, aligning with terrorists’ goals of fear and disruption,” Cosgrove said.
In one of the deadliest VAW attacks in history, in July 2016, more than 80 people were killed and hundreds injured when a man drove a 19-ton truck through a crowd gathered to watch Bastille Day fireworks in Nice, southern France, before the driver was shot dead by police at the scene.
Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it a “special operation using a truck” carried out by one of its “soldiers” — Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian man with French residency status.
However, despite a 2022 French court sentencing eight individuals for aiding the attack, authorities found no concrete links between the perpetrator and the extremist group. The case highlighted what officials called “the extreme difficulty of the fight against terrorism.”
“The biggest challenge in spotting these attacks before they happen lies in identifying intent rather than capability,” said Cosgrove, explaining that vehicles, being easily accessible and requiring limited training or skill, allow attackers to “operate under the radar.”
She added that the “rise of AI-driven radicalization also complicates early intervention, as lone wolves often operate outside of traditional terrorist networks in spite of ideological backing.”
People attend a commemoration after the Christmas market car-ramming attack in Magdeburg, eastern Germany. (AFP)
While Daesh has claimed many VAW attacks in the US and Europe — where access to firearms is more restricted — authorities have struggled to establish concrete links beyond ideological inspiration. Regardless of the motives, such attacks have proven extremely difficult to prevent.
Following a wave of vehicle ramming incidents between 2014 and 2017, many cities implemented urban design changes, such as installing barriers and bollards. Yet, Cosgrove says these measures provide only limited reassurance.
“To mitigate these risks, cities and countries should adopt a multi-layered approach,” she said.
This includes artificial-intelligence-powered surveillance to flag anomalies such as erratic driving or rapid vehicle rentals under different aliases, stricter regulations for rental platforms such as “know your customer” policies, geofencing, smart urban design to limit access to high-risk areas, and blockchain forensics to track suspicious transactions tied to vehicle rentals or extremist financing.
However, with the rapid advance of technologies like self-driving cars, Cosgrove says authorities must act swiftly to address potential vulnerabilities. “Self-driving cars introduce both risks and opportunities,” she said.
Police secured the area where a car exploded in Las Vegas. (Getty Images/AFP)
“On one hand, autonomous vehicles could be hijacked digitally, turning them into remotely controlled weapons. On the other hand, self-driving technology also presents opportunities for prevention,” allowing autonomous technology to be programmed with safeguards like geofencing to block entry into pedestrian zones or high-risk areas.
“The key challenge will be cybersecurity. As autonomous vehicles become more widespread, policymakers ought to prioritize regulations to close vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.
“Strengthening digital security, enforcing smarter regulations, and designing urban defenses must go hand in hand to address both physical and digital vulnerabilities in the fight against terrorism in a digital age.”
