The Evening Wrap: Israel defends itself at the U.N. court against allegations of genocide

Accused of committing genocide against Palestinians, Israel defended its war in Gaza at the United Nations’ highest court on Friday, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the allegations as hypocrisy that “screams to the heavens”. Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has vehemently denied the accusations brought by South Africa in one of the biggest cases ever to come before an international court, one that has drawn international attention and protesters from both sides to the courthouse. South African lawyers asked the court on Thursday to order an immediate halt to Israeli military operations in the besieged coastal territory that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians. A decision on that request will probably take weeks, though the full case is likely to last years. “We live at a time when words are cheap in an age of social media and identity politics. The temptation to reach for the most outrageous term to vilify and demonize has become, for many, irresistible,” Israeli legal advisor Tal Becker told a packed auditorium at the ornate Palace of Peace in The Hague. He added that South Africa “has regrettably put before the court a profoundly distorted, factual and legal picture. The entirety of its case hinges on a deliberately curated, decontextualized and manipulative description of the reality of current hostilities.” Israel often boycotts international tribunals and U.N. investigations, saying they are unfair and biased. But, in a sign of how seriously they regard the case, Israeli leaders have taken the rare step of sending a high-level legal team. At the heart of the case are Israel’s actions in Gaza, where it launched a massive air and ground assault after Hamas militants crossed into Israel on Oct. 7, storming through communities and killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians. The assailants also abducted around 250 people, over half of whom are still held captive. More than 23,000 people in Gaza have been killed during the military campaign, according to the the Health Ministry in the territory, which is run by Hamas. Nearly 85% of Gaza’s people have been driven their homes, a quarter of the territory’s residents face starvation, and much of northern Gaza has been reduced to rubble. South Africa says this amounts to genocide and is part of decades of Israeli oppression of Palestinians. Retail inflation accelerates to four-month high of 5.7% India’s retail inflation accelerated to a four-month high of 5.7% in December 2023, from 5.55% a month earlier, led by an uptick in food prices that rose 9.5% nationally and breached the 10%-mark for urban consumers. Although rural consumers faced a slightly lower uptick in food prices at just under 9%, they faced higher overall inflation at nearly 6% compared to 5.5% faced by their urban peers in December. Despite a sharper year-on-year uptick in prices, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined 0.32% from November 2023 levels, with the Consumer Food Price Index easing by 0.9%. While price rise hardened in December, the average consumer price inflation for the October to December quarter has been 5.4%, moderately lower than the Reserve Bank of India’s projection of 5.6%. Within the food basket, inflation picked up in pulses (20.73%), vegetables (27.6%), fruits (11.14%), and Sugar (7.14%), while it was just fractionally lower for cereals and spices, which continued to record steep inflation of 9.9% and 19.7%, respectively, in December. Inflation continued to ease in the case of milk (5.1%), meat and fish (1.15%) and egg (4.4%). Meanwhile, the deflation in edible oil prices which had surged in 2022 after the Ukraine conflict, remained virtually unchanged from November levels at 15%. Interestingly, while consumer food prices rose faster in urban areas at 10.4%, rural consumers witnessed greater inflation in some products such as cereals (10.3%), milk, spices and sugar. Beyond food, most items saw lower inflation than November. Fuel and light prices fell 1% year-on-year, compared to a 0.8% dip in November. Transport and Communication prices rose 2%, slightly below November levels, while inflation in personal care and effects eased from 7.8% to 7.3% in December. As many as seven States recorded inflation of over 6% or beyond the RBI’s tolerance threshold for inflation, led by Odisha (8.7%), Gujarat (7.1%), Rajasthan (6.95%) and Haryana (6.7%). Karnataka and Telangana recorded an uptick of 6.65% each, followed by Maharashtra at 6.1%, as per calculations by the National Statistical Office (NSO) which computes inflation rates for 22 major States. Besides these States, Punjab, with an inflation rate of 5.95%, and Bihar (5.9%), were the only two to clock a higher price rise than the national average of 5.69% in December. The uptick in inflation in December was entirely led by the food and beverages segment, with vegetables being the main culprit, said ICRA chief economist Aditi Nayar. “The outlook for the inflation for certain items like rice, wheat and pulses remains somewhat vulnerable, given the estimated fall in annual kharif production, as well as the lag lag in the ongoing rabi sowing season amid El Niño conditions,” she cautioned. Debris of IAF’s An-32 aircraft that went missing in 2016 located off Chennai Almost seven years after an Indian Air Force (IAF) An-32 transport aircraft with 29 personnel onboard went missing over the Bay of Bengal while going from Chennai to Port Blair, debris possibly of the aircraft have been located by an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) on the sea bed approximately, 140 nautical miles from Chennai coast, the IAF said on Friday. The An-32 medium transport aircraft (registration K-2743) took off on a routine weekly courier flight from Chennai to Port Blair on July 22, 2016 at 0830 hrs with six crew and 23 personnel but never reached the destination. A massive search and rescue rescue efforts by ships and aircraft over several days could not locate any missing personnel or the aircraft debris. The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), which functions under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, had recently deployed an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) with deep sea exploration capability at the last known location of the missing An-32, the IAF said in a statement. “This search was conducted at a depth of 3400 m using multiple payloads, including a multi-beam SONAR (Sound Navigation and Ranging), synthetic aperture SONAR and high resolution photography. Analysis of search images had indicated the presence of debris of a crashed aircraft on the sea bed approximately, 140 nautical miles, approximately 310 Km, from the Chennai coast.” The search images were scrutinised and found to be conforming with an An-32 aircraft, the IAF said adding that this discovery at the probable crash site, with no other recorded history of any other missing aircraft report in the same area, points to the debris as possibly belonging to the crashed An-32. As part of starch efforts then, the IAF alone had flown over 300 sorties and more than 1000 hours over the area of interest in addition to efforts by the Navy and other agencies. An underwater search too was carried out by two research vessels, Oceanographic vessel Samundra Ratnakar of the Geological Survey of India and Sagar Nidhi of the NIOT along with a Remotely Operated Vehicle which scanned up to depths of 3.5Kms but with success. Appointment of CEC, EC | Supreme Court refuses to stay new law The Supreme Court on January 12 declined to stay a new law which brushed aside an apex court judgment to include the Chief Justice of India as a member of the high-powered selection committee to appoint Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs). “How can we stay a statute?” Justice Sanjiv Khanna, leading a Bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, asked petitioner Jaya Thakur’s lawyers. The Bench however issued notice to the Union of India and listed the case for hearing in April. “The law is against the very concept of separation of powers,” senior advocate Vikas Singh, for the petitioner, submitted. “The CEC and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 has diluted the Supreme Court judgment by replacing the Chief Justice of India with a Union Cabinet Minister,” Ms. Thakur, a Congress party leader, argued. Her petition argued that the exclusion of the CJI “nullified” the committee. “The Prime Minister and his nominee [Cabinet Minister] would always be the deciding factor,” Ms. Thakur’s petition, filed through advocate Varun Thakur, said. “Institutions supporting constitutional democracy must have an independent mechanism for appointments of its heads and members… They are compromising free and fair elections with the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India from the committee… Justice should not only be done but seen to be done,” the petition said. In briefWe don’t need middlemen to visit our Lord, says Congress In a strong pushback against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s criticism of its leadership for declining the invitation to attend consecration of Lord Ram’s idol at Ayodhya on January 22, the Congress has asserted that it was not a religious but a political programme. Karnataka launches Yuva Nidhi for unemployed youth The scheme offers financial aid to graduates and diploma holders who are yet to get a job, but only for a maximum of two years. Training will be provided to the graduates and diploma holders who register themselves on the skill connect portal of the State government. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 12 January 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Israel defends itself at the U.N.’s top court against allegations of genocide against Palestinians Accused of committing genocide against Palestinians, [Israel defended its war in Gaza at the United Nations’ highest court]( on Friday, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the allegations as hypocrisy that “screams to the heavens”. Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has vehemently denied the accusations brought by South Africa in one of the biggest cases ever to come before an international court, one that has drawn international attention and protesters from both sides to the courthouse. South African lawyers asked the court on Thursday to order an immediate halt to Israeli military operations in the besieged coastal territory that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians. A decision on that request will probably take weeks, though the full case is likely to last years. “We live at a time when words are cheap in an age of social media and identity politics. The temptation to reach for the most outrageous term to vilify and demonize has become, for many, irresistible,” Israeli legal advisor Tal Becker told a packed auditorium at the ornate Palace of Peace in The Hague. He added that South Africa “has regrettably put before the court a profoundly distorted, factual and legal picture. The entirety of its case hinges on a deliberately curated, decontextualized and manipulative description of the reality of current hostilities.” Israel often boycotts international tribunals and U.N. investigations, saying they are unfair and biased. But, in a sign of how seriously they regard the case, Israeli leaders have taken the rare step of sending a high-level legal team. At the heart of the case are Israel’s actions in Gaza, where it launched a massive air and ground assault after Hamas militants crossed into Israel on Oct. 7, storming through communities and killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians. The assailants also abducted around 250 people, over half of whom are still held captive. More than 23,000 people in Gaza have been killed during the military campaign, according to the the Health Ministry in the territory, which is run by Hamas. Nearly 85% of Gaza’s people have been driven their homes, a quarter of the territory’s residents face starvation, and much of northern Gaza has been reduced to rubble. South Africa says this amounts to genocide and is part of decades of Israeli oppression of Palestinians. Retail inflation accelerates to four-month high of 5.7% India’s [retail inflation accelerated to a four-month high]( of 5.7% in December 2023, from 5.55% a month earlier, led by an uptick in food prices that rose 9.5% nationally and breached the 10%-mark for urban consumers. Although rural consumers faced a slightly lower uptick in food prices at just under 9%, they faced higher overall inflation at nearly 6% compared to 5.5% faced by their urban peers in December. Despite a sharper year-on-year uptick in prices, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined 0.32% from November 2023 levels, with the Consumer Food Price Index easing by 0.9%. While price rise hardened in December, the average consumer price inflation for the October to December quarter has been 5.4%, moderately lower than the Reserve Bank of India’s projection of 5.6%. Within the food basket, inflation picked up in pulses (20.73%), vegetables (27.6%), fruits (11.14%), and Sugar (7.14%), while it was just fractionally lower for cereals and spices, which continued to record steep inflation of 9.9% and 19.7%, respectively, in December. Inflation continued to ease in the case of milk (5.1%), meat and fish (1.15%) and egg (4.4%). Meanwhile, the deflation in edible oil prices which had surged in 2022 after the Ukraine conflict, remained virtually unchanged from November levels at 15%. Interestingly, while consumer food prices rose faster in urban areas at 10.4%, rural consumers witnessed greater inflation in some products such as cereals (10.3%), milk, spices and sugar. Beyond food, most items saw lower inflation than November. Fuel and light prices fell 1% year-on-year, compared to a 0.8% dip in November. Transport and Communication prices rose 2%, slightly below November levels, while inflation in personal care and effects eased from 7.8% to 7.3% in December. As many as seven States recorded inflation of over 6% or beyond the RBI’s tolerance threshold for inflation, led by Odisha (8.7%), Gujarat (7.1%), Rajasthan (6.95%) and Haryana (6.7%). Karnataka and Telangana recorded an uptick of 6.65% each, followed by Maharashtra at 6.1%, as per calculations by the National Statistical Office (NSO) which computes inflation rates for 22 major States. Besides these States, Punjab, with an inflation rate of 5.95%, and Bihar (5.9%), were the only two to clock a higher price rise than the national average of 5.69% in December. The uptick in inflation in December was entirely led by the food and beverages segment, with vegetables being the main culprit, said ICRA chief economist Aditi Nayar. “The outlook for the inflation for certain items like rice, wheat and pulses remains somewhat vulnerable, given the estimated fall in annual kharif production, as well as the lag lag in the ongoing rabi sowing season amid El Niño conditions,” she cautioned. Debris of IAF’s An-32 aircraft that went missing in 2016 located off Chennai Almost seven years after an Indian Air Force (IAF) An-32 transport aircraft with 29 personnel onboard went missing over the Bay of Bengal while going from Chennai to Port Blair, [debris possibly of the aircraft have been located]( by an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) on the sea bed approximately, 140 nautical miles from Chennai coast, the IAF said on Friday. The An-32 medium transport aircraft (registration K-2743) took off on a routine weekly courier flight from Chennai to Port Blair on July 22, 2016 at 0830 hrs with six crew and 23 personnel but never reached the destination. A massive search and rescue rescue efforts by ships and aircraft over several days could not locate any missing personnel or the aircraft debris. The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), which functions under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, had recently deployed an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) with deep sea exploration capability at the last known location of the missing An-32, the IAF said in a statement. “This search was conducted at a depth of 3400 m using multiple payloads, including a multi-beam SONAR (Sound Navigation and Ranging), synthetic aperture SONAR and high resolution photography. Analysis of search images had indicated the presence of debris of a crashed aircraft on the sea bed approximately, 140 nautical miles, approximately 310 Km, from the Chennai coast.” The search images were scrutinised and found to be conforming with an An-32 aircraft, the IAF said adding that this discovery at the probable crash site, with no other recorded history of any other missing aircraft report in the same area, points to the debris as possibly belonging to the crashed An-32. As part of starch efforts then, the IAF alone had flown over 300 sorties and more than 1000 hours over the area of interest in addition to efforts by the Navy and other agencies. An underwater search too was carried out by two research vessels, Oceanographic vessel Samundra Ratnakar of the Geological Survey of India and Sagar Nidhi of the NIOT along with a Remotely Operated Vehicle which scanned up to depths of 3.5Kms but with success. Appointment of CEC, EC | Supreme Court refuses to stay new law The Supreme Court on January 12 [declined to stay a new law]( which brushed aside an apex court judgment to include the Chief Justice of India as a member of the high-powered selection committee to appoint Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs). “How can we stay a statute?” Justice Sanjiv Khanna, leading a Bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, asked petitioner Jaya Thakur’s lawyers. The Bench however issued notice to the Union of India and listed the case for hearing in April. “The law is against the very concept of separation of powers,” senior advocate Vikas Singh, for the petitioner, submitted. “The CEC and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 has diluted the Supreme Court judgment by replacing the Chief Justice of India with a Union Cabinet Minister,” Ms. Thakur, a Congress party leader, argued. Her petition argued that the exclusion of the CJI “nullified” the committee. “The Prime Minister and his nominee [Cabinet Minister] would always be the deciding factor,” Ms. Thakur’s petition, filed through advocate Varun Thakur, said. “Institutions supporting constitutional democracy must have an independent mechanism for appointments of its heads and members… They are compromising free and fair elections with the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India from the committee… Justice should not only be done but seen to be done,” the petition said. In brief We don’t need middlemen to visit our Lord, says Congress In a strong pushback against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s criticism of its leadership for declining the invitation to attend consecration of Lord Ram’s idol at Ayodhya on January 22, the [Congress has asserted that it was not a religious but a political programme](. Karnataka launches Yuva Nidhi for unemployed youth The [scheme offers financial aid to graduates and diploma holders]( who are yet to get a job, but only for a maximum of two years. Training will be provided to the graduates and diploma holders who register themselves on the skill connect portal of the State government. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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