Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Yahia Sinwar and two other Hamas leaders were all pointed out by the ICC for genocide and Prosecutor Karim Khan has indicated that he is seeking to issue arrest warrants for all – a piece of news not welcomed by the Israeli leadership and which was met with harsh words and accusations of antisemitism.
A particular grievance of the Israeli officials, for example, was that this case put an equivalence between Israel and Hamas and that such a move is hindering Israel’s right to defend itself. This opinion was also shared by US officials, including Anthony Blinken.
Rafah is emptying out according to the IDF, with more than 950.000 people reported to have fled the southern Gaza city after the first evacuation order from May 6th. It is, as of yet, unclear where all have left and it is likely that they will disperse in different “safe zones” all over the Strip. At this time, the UNRWA distribution center and the WFP warehouse in Rafah are closed due to fighting in the eastern part of the city and food distribution is suspended as a consequence. Between 13 and 19 of May, both the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings have been opened for two days, through which only 48 aid trucks have passed.
A further 100.000 people have also been displaced in northern Gaza because of the heavy fighting which is currently taking place. It is also unlikely that this is the last time the civilians will be moving around since the war will keep on going for a while yet, with little chance of a peace or a ceasefire deal being reached in the next few weeks, this latest news from the ICC also adding to the obstacles which negotiations face. According to several news sources, 300.000 to 400.000 civilians are still present in the city, in and around the coastal areas of it.
Tempers are flaring up in Israel as some officials are calling for the extension of the IDF, this time into southern Lebanon, with one calling for the complete destruction of Hezbollah. This would ensue more suffering by civilians but it remains unclear if these calls for escalation are just political positioning, deterrence or just populism. It is also worth mentioning that since the war started on October 7, 2023, Hezbollah has been firing rockets into northern Israel and has caused the displacement of 70.000 civilians in Israel.
In Ukraine, another emergency is unfolding, with the renewed attack of the Russian Federation into the northern part of the country, in the Kharkiv area, where more than 10.000 civilians were evacuated and the situation there is souring because of the air raids, shelling and bombing. The international agencies for humanitarian work are also worried by the fact that the northern Ukrainian city was already hosting more than 200.000 internally displaced people.
The global situation did not look in any way positive regarding civilian casualties in 2023, with the United Nations alone having counted more than 33.000 such casualties in armed conflicts, which is also an increase of 72% compared with 2022. These numbers are thought to be unfortunately higher than what the reports are showing and this current year has the potential to see not only similar, but higher stats in this department.