60 bodies found as battles rock Gaza City

Gaza’s civil defence agency said it found around 60 bodies after Israeli troops withdrew from parts of Gaza City yesterday, as heavy fighting gripped the Palestinian territory.The grisly discovery came as international mediators pushed on with efforts to halt the war now raging into its 10th month.US President Joe Biden said at a Nato summit in Washington on Thursday that despite problems, US diplomats and other mediators were making "progress” towards a ceasefire and stressed that "it’s time to end this war”.The bodies were found in the Tal al-Hawa and Al-Sinaa districts, the civil defence agency said. Israeli forces had moved into the neighbourhoods this week after ordering civilians to evacuate on Monday."There are still missing people under the rubble of destroyed homes, which is difficult for our crews to reach,” agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.Residents and the agency said Israeli troops had pulled out after days of fighting with Hamas fighters.Gaza’s health ministry had earlier reported 32 deaths in the territory, saying that the "martyrs, a majority of them children and women, were taken to hospitals overnight, because of continued massacres”.Media linked to Hamas rulers said that Israeli forces had launched more than 70 new air strikes.Israel’s military said it was also fighting in the Rafah area of the south. But the main battleground in recent days has been Gaza City, where two weeks of fighting devastated the eastern district of Shujaiya.One of those newly displaced, Umm Ihab Arafat, sat with her children on a sand pile amid the rubble as the incessant hum of Israeli drones filled the sky."I have been displaced four times,” she said, pleading for a break for her and her children. "They are entitled to rest, their eyes are full of horror and fear.” The International Committee of the Red Cross said "entire families are trapped and desperately seek security. The huge needs are beyond our capacity to respond”. Page 3ICJ to deliver its opinion on Israeli occupation on July 19The International Court of Justice will deliver its opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories on July 19, the ICJ said yesterday.A record 52 countries presented arguments at what is also known as the World Court about the legal ramifications of Israel’s actions in the territories in February after the UN General Assembly asked the ICJ in 2022 for an advisory, non-binding, opinion.While Israel has ignored such opinions in the past, the ICJ ruling next week could add political pressure over its devastating nine-month-old war on Gaza Strip.The UN-affiliated ICJ is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between nations and it gives advisory opinions on international legal issues. Any opinion delivered by the ICJ would be non-binding, but it will come amid mounting international legal pressure on Israel over the war in Gaza."A public sitting will take place at the Peace Palace in The Hague (on July 19)...during which Judge Nawaf Salam...will read out the Advisory Opinion,” the ICJ said.The ICJ held a week-long session in February to hear submissions from countries following a request from the UN late last year.Most speakers during the hearings have demanded that Israel end its occupation, which came after a six-day Arab-Israeli war in 1967.But the US said Israel should not be legally obliged to withdraw without taking its "very real security needs” into account.Speakers also warned a prolonged occupation posed an "extreme danger” to stability in the Middle East and beyond.Israel did not take part in the oral hearings.The case before the court is separate from one brought by South Africa against Israel for alleged genocide during its current offensive in Gaza.South Africa has gone to the ICJ several times arguing that the dire humanitarian situation means the court should issue further fresh emergency measures.In an initial ruling on January 26, the ICJ ordered Israel to do everything it could to prevent acts of genocide during its military operation in Gaza.It also called for the unconditional release of hostages taken by Hamas on October 7.