UK says it has ‘considerable concerns’ about ICJ ruling, rejects genocide accusation

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/uk-says-it-has-considerable-concerns-about-icj-ruling-rejects-genocide-accusation/

The British government said Saturday it had “considerable concerns” about a ruling by the United Nation’s top court that Israel should do everything it can to prevent any acts of genocide in Gaza.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Friday handed down its first judgment in a case brought by South Africa that also ordered Israel to allow humanitarian access to the Palestinian territory, but did not call for a ceasefire.

“We respect the role and independence of the ICJ. However… we have considerable concerns about this case, which is not helpful in the goal of achieving a sustainable ceasefire,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.

UK and Finland pause funding to key UN agency

https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-01-27-24/index.html

The United Kingdom and Finland on Saturday announced they are temporarily pausing funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) after allegations that 12 staff members were involved in the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas in Israel.

The United States, Australia, Canada and Italy have already announced they are suspending funding.

George Conway Reacts to E. Jean Carroll vs. Donald Trump Payout

 https://www.newsweek.com/george-conway-reacts-e-jean-carroll-vs-donald-trump-payout-1864540

On Friday, Trump was ordered to pay Carroll $83.3 million in damages and compensation in a verdict he condemned as "absolutely ridiculous." In an earlier case, a jury concluded Trump had sexually abused Carroll in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store during the 1990s, then defamed her when she went public with the allegation. The earlier jury found him liable for $5 million in damages. 

ICJ badmouths Israel for 35 minutes, then Israel wins

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-783874

For 35 minutes, the International Court of Justice bad-mouthed Israel, but then it surprised the Jewish state by not issuing any practical orders against the IDF.

There was no order to cease the war and there was no order for the IDF to withdraw from Gaza.

The most troubling practical item in the ruling for Israel is the need to report back to the ICJ in one month, something which leaves the door open to a more serious order at that time.

Israel wants UNRWA out of Gaza after staffers fired for involvement in Oct. 7 onslaught

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-to-seek-to-end-unrwa-gaza-activities-after-staffers-fired-for-oct-7-involvement/?utm_campaign=daily-edition-2024-01-27&utm_medium=email&utm_source=The%20Daily%20Edition

Israel will seek to stop the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees from operating in Gaza after the war, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Saturday, after UNRWA fired several staff members for their alleged involvement in Hamas’s murderous October 7 onslaught on southern Israel.

Trump’s push to deny Biden border victory aggravates lawmakers

 https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4430186-trump-push-to-deny-biden-victory-aggravates-lawmakers/

“But the reality is that we have a crisis at the border, the American people are suffering as a result of what’s happening at the border, and someone running for president ought to try to get the problem solved as opposed to saying, ‘Hey, save that problem. Don’t solve it. Let me take credit for solving it later,’” he told CNN’s Manu Raju.

Israel Offers Hamas 2-Month Ceasefire In Exchange for All Hostages

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/israel-offers-hamas-2-month-ceasefire-in-exchange-for-release-of-all-hostages?ref=home

Israel offered Hamas a two-month ceasefire in exchange for the return of all hostages—and the bodies of any hostages who may have died—as part of a deal brokered by representatives for Egypt and Qatar. Axios reported that Israel and Hamas would also agree how many Palestinian prisoners would be released per each Israeli hostage, who would be separated into categories based on gender, age, medical condition, and military service. According to the proposal, Israeli hostages who are women, men over 60 years old and the critically wounded or infirm would be released first. Israeli officials who spoke with Axios said the proposal includes plans to move some of its soldiers out of main population centers and allow for a gradual return of Palestinian civilians to Gaza City and the north of the Gaza Strip. They made it clear that Israel will not agree to end its offensive or to release all 6,000 Palestinian prisoners it holds, as Hamas has demanded.

Russia and Ukraine Agree on Trump

 https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-agree-trump-1862891

Russia and Ukraine have reached a rare point of agreement during the 23-month-long war: neither side believes that former President Donald Trump could bring an end to the conflict.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine would have never happened under his presidency and has promised to bring the war to an end within "24 hours" if reelected in November. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited Trump to Kyiv on two different occasions to deliver on his promise, although the Ukrainian leader has publicly doubted the former president's ability to find a peaceful end.

While speaking to reporters on Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow agrees they have "no understanding of how" Trump could end the war, adding that they have had no contact with the former president about such negotiations.

Hamas causes buildings to collapse - 21 IDF soldiers dead, several injured

 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-783287

Hamas forces fired a rocket-propelled grenade on multiple adjacent structures, along with landmines that the IDF forces had collected and brought into the buildings, which caused a total collapse that killed 19 soldiers and injured several others on Monday.

Trump Has Another Gaffe While Defending Cognitive State

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-has-another-gaffe-while-defending-cognitive-state-1862992

Former President Donald Trump appeared to briefly forget that Republican Congressman Ronny Jackson no longer serves as White House doctor while insisting that he is "a lot sharper than" GOP presidential rival Nikki Haley.

Trump, 77, has recently raised eyebrows over a series of blunders that have included slurring his words during campaign speeches, seemingly suggesting that former President Barack Obama is currently in office and most recently appearing to confuse Haley with former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Denial of Hamas' October 7 massacre spreads in US

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/syxgwasy6

According to The Washington Post, the number of massacre deniers in the United States is currently small, but growing. Some claim the IDF carried out the massacre to "justify genocide in Gaza," while others believe some hostages were kidnapped by Israel. Some are even confident that the United States is behind the attack.

Caged cells, mattresses, child's drawings found in Khan Younis tunnel

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bkyl87ck6

Accessed from inside a home, tunnel suffocating and humid, tunnel believed to hold 20 hostages at various times is booby trapped in anticipation of troops

Israeli Army Photos Reveal Alleged Hamas Hostage Cells in Gaza

 https://www.newsweek.com/israeli-army-photos-reveal-alleged-hamas-hostage-cells-gaza-1862538

New images released by the Israel Defence Forces show what they said was a network of underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip with cells where Israeli hostages were believed to have been held.

Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza still hold more than 100 of the over 230 hostages they seized during their unprecedented October 7 raid into Israel in which 1,200 Israelis were killed. That raid was followed by Israel's biggest offensive into the Gaza Strip, with air strikes and ground attacks that have killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

The tunnel where Israeli forces believe hostages were held was more than 2,700 feet long and 65 feet deep, according to an IDF statement sent to Newsweek. There was no immediate comment from Hamas or independent confirmation as to what the video and photos released by the Israeli forces showed.

The IDF said they had been recorded in the city of Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip.

"This tunnel was part of a branching underground network, dug by the Hamas terrorist organization, under Khan Yunis," IDF said. "At the end of the examination, the tunnel was destroyed."

Trump pushes back on claims of mental missteps

 https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4420056-trump-pushes-back-claims-of-mental-missteps/

During his rally on Friday, Trump appeared to have mixed up Haley and Pelosi while talking about the insurrection in the Capitol, to which the former U.N. Ambassador responded by saying that she was concerned to have somebody whose “mental fitness” is questioned while serving in the Oval Office. 

“The concern I have is, I’m not saying anything derogatory, but when you’re dealing with the pressures of a presidency, we can’t have someone else that we question whether they’re mentally fit to do this,” Haley said. 

During the Saturday rally, Trump continued the defense of his mental acuity, stating that he will let people know when he “goes bad”