Middle East
A ‘coup d’etat’: Israel’s Netanyahu pushes ahead with his judicial changes | Israel-Palestine conflict News
In just 10 days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has broken the Gaza ceasefire, tried to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency, orchestrated a no-confidence vote on the attorney general, and passed a law to change how Supreme Court appointments happen.
The legislation, passed last Thursday, will allow Netanyahu to change the court’s makeup in his favour, his critics say. The change will come into effect in the next parliamentary term.
The move has raised concerns about the independence of Israel’s judiciary and questions about what can be done to stop what seems like a concerted effort to hobble that independence.
Israel’s Supreme Court
This new law changes the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee, making it easier for politicians to stack future appointments to the Supreme Court in their favour.
With three missing from the panel of 15 judges on Israel’s highest judicial authority, the question of how their replacements will be appointed takes on sharper importance.
Supreme Court President Esther Hayut retired on October 16, 2023, and Justices Anat Baron and Uzi Vogelman retired shortly after.
The new law replaces the two Israel Bar Association nominees on the Judicial Selection Committee with two attorneys nominated by both the governing coalition and its opposition.
The rest of the committee remains as is – three Supreme Court judges, the justice minister, two members of parliament (traditionally, parliament chooses one from the government and one from the opposition) and one minister chosen by the cabinet.
Israel’s Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, described this as “[changing] the judicial selection method to one in which … political considerations receive precedence and decisive weight – and on the other hand, the place of professional considerations in the judicial election process is greatly weakened, even erased”.
Judge selection, Baharav-Miara added, would now be subject to political negotiations and compromises, allowing personal motivations to damage “the apolitical character of the act of meting justice at all levels”.
“This latest move is very simply a coup d’etat,” Eli Salzberger, law professor at the University of Haifa, told Al Jazeera.
“The government already controls the legislature. By gaining control of the judiciary, it essentially removes the last of the checks and balances upon it and assumes unchallenged power.”
Yesh Atid, opposition leader Yair Lapid’s party, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, a civil society organisation, said they have appealed the legislation to the Supreme Court.
Government vs the judiciary?
According to Netanyahu and his allies, the Supreme Court is blocking them from enacting the “will of the people”.
Thursday morning’s vote was part of a wider programme announced to almost immediate public protests in January 2023.
The initial proposals included granting the Knesset the power to overrule the Supreme Court through a simple majority, blocking the court from reviewing or challenging Israel’s Basic Laws and, as with the latest law, increasing the role of politicians in the appointment of Supreme Court justices.
So far, other than Thursday’s legislation on the appointment of the court’s justices, progress on the government’s suggested changes has been mixed.
In July 2023, the Knesset passed the “reasonableness” law, which curbed the Supreme Court’s power to overturn government decisions the judges consider unreasonable.
However, in January of the following year, the Supreme Court declared the “reasonableness” law unconstitutional, dealing a blow to Netanyahu’s plans.
He and his government argued that court interventions – including striking down a law allowing outright expropriation of Palestinian land in 2020 and overturning a proposed ban on Palestinian parties – undermine the will of the government.
Channelling the rhetoric of United States President Donald Trump, on whose patronage Netanyahu has come to depend, the prime minister suggested that the judiciary is part of a “leftist deep state” trying to thwart him.
Israeli democracy is not in danger. The Israeli Deep State is in Danger. pic.twitter.com/A3hzD5Ckio
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) March 26, 2025
Personal objections
Netanyahu’s critics – like Hayut as she was leaving office – pointed out that his “reforms” seem geared towards his personal and political ends.
“Everything with Netanyahu boils down to his survival,” Salzberger said, “Five to seven years ago when these reforms were suggested by the members of his party, Netanyahu dismissed the idea, claiming Israel was a country governed by law.
“Since … his corruption trial, he’s been looking for any opportunity to get out of difficulty, and if that involves destroying the entire legal system, so be it,” he said.
Currently, the prime minister is on trial, including on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, in three corruption cases.
Prosecutors allege that Netanyahu accepted illegal gifts from wealthy businessmen and sought favourable media coverage. Netanyahu denies the charges, claiming they are politically motivated.
In April 2021 in the face of growing public concern over potential conflicts of interest resulting from his trial, the Supreme Court imposed restrictions on Netanyahu’s powers to oversee law enforcement, judicial appointments and influence any issues directly affecting his legal difficulties.
In January 2024, it pushed back on a law passed as part of the government’s flurry of “judicial amendments” in 2023 that would make it harder to declare Netanyahu unfit for office, saying it was clearly for his personal benefit and delaying its implementation until the next parliamentary session.
“The personal affairs of the sitting prime minister were not just the motive for legislating the amendment but also the dominant justification for its legislation at the time it was enacted,” Hayut wrote at the time.
“The amendment’s promoters wanted the amendment to enter into force immediately and that it apply to the sitting prime minister.”
Israeli anger
Opposition to Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul has been overwhelming with mass protests during almost every stage of it.
He declared the overhaul suspended in March 2023 due to what he said was “a sense of national responsibility”.
At the time, groups as diverse as legal professionals, civil society organisations, academics, opposition parties and tech workers took to the streets to denounce the reforms, culminating in what organisers said were the largest protests in Israeli history.
Opposing them were the prime minister’s allies on the far right, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The mass protests, coupled with public criticism by then US President Joe Biden, were enough to pause, then apparently derail, the government’s plans. As the war Israel launched on Gaza at the end of 2023.
But last week, under the cover of the war, Netanyahu restarted his attempts to overhaul the judiciary.
And this time, Netanyahu and his coalition seem unwilling to stop their efforts to remove any elements of the judiciary that may slow them down. And the attitude of the current US president towards the judiciary is markedly different from that of his predecessor, so no pressure is to be expected from his side.
Public anger at Netanyahu’s moves has not abated.
While the Supreme Court itself could take action, its powers only allow it to delay legislation, meaning that, given his continued parliamentary support, Netanyahu will eventually be able to force his reforms through, as long as he remains in power.
That, analysts say, leaves one main way for Netanyahu to be stopped if the Supreme Court can delay him long enough: a loss for the prime minister and his allies at the next elections, which have to take place by the end of 2026.
The United States says a new Israeli-approved organisation – the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – is the key to resolving the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, but it already is receiving its fair share of criticism.
The GHF says it is going to start operations before the end of May. United Nations officials and humanitarian groups say it will not have the ability to deal with the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza as a result of Israel’s two-month-long blockade.
Instead, the aid groups that have been working in Gaza point out that they have the capacity to bring in food and other humanitarian supplies – if only Israel would let them.
So what is the GHF, and why is the situation in Gaza so desperate? Here’s everything you need to know:
What is the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation?
Officially independent, the GHF is an Israeli- and US-backed body that plans to distribute aid in the Gaza Strip.
One in five people in Gaza currently face starvation due to the Israeli blockade of food and aid while 93 percent are experiencing acute food shortages, according to a UN-backed assessment released last week.
Under increasing international pressure to allow in aid, Israel has sought to find a solution that it says prevents aid from falling into the hands of the Palestinian group Hamas. Humanitarian organisations say the vast majority of food and other supplies reaches Gaza’s civilian population and is not diverted to fighters.
The GHF will be overseen by Jake Wood, a US military veteran who ran Team Rubicon, an organisation that distributed humanitarian aid during natural disasters.
What’s the plan for delivering the aid?
Through the GHF, Palestinians in Gaza would receive a “basic amount of food”.
The initial plan was announced last Wednesday with a timeline of about two weeks before it was up and running.
It’s still unclear how the GHF will be funded, but the foundation says it will set up “secure distribution sites” to feed 1.2 million people in Gaza before expanding to feed every Palestinian in the territory.
It says it will coordinate with the Israeli military while security would be provided by private military contractors.
Why is the GHF being criticised?
The GHF initiative has been widely panned by aid groups and the UN.
The UN and humanitarian aid agencies say they already have the means to distribute desperately needed aid and alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. The GHF, on the other hand, is seen by critics as a way of politicising aid and not having the experience or capacity to bring aid to more than two million people.
The GHF “restricts aid to only one part of Gaza while leaving other dire needs unmet”, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said at the Security Council last week. “It makes aid conditional on political and military aims. It makes starvation a bargaining chip. It is cynical sideshow. A deliberate distraction. A fig leaf for further violence and displacement.”
The UN and aid groups say the GHF plan violates basic humanitarian principles.
“We are concerned by the proposed aid mechanism for Gaza and are deeply worried that it will not allow for humanitarian aid to be distributed in a manner consistent with core humanitarian principles of impartiality, humanity, and independence,” a statement from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said. “The ICRC cannot work under any mechanism that doesn’t allow us to uphold the principles and our modalities of work.”
Eleven humanitarian and human rights organisations signed a statement in which they “unequivocally reject the establishment” of the GHF, calling it:
“A project led by politically connected Western security and military figures, coordinated in tandem with the Israeli government, and launched while the people of Gaza remain under total siege. It lacks any Palestinian involvement in its design or implementation.”
That lack of Palestinian involvement, coupled with Israel’s approval for the project and the planned presence of the Israeli military “on the perimeter” of the distribution sites, according to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, raises Palestinian suspicions that the establishment of the GHF will give even more power to Israel over aid distribution in Gaza.
Why is aid not reaching Gaza?
Israel is blocking it.
Israel began preventing the entry of all food and other humanitarian supplies into Gaza on March 2 during a ceasefire, which it unilaterally broke on March 18.
Even before the blockade, Israel restricted the amount of aid that could come in, and some Israeli protesters also blocked and destroyed aid.
The situation has reached dire levels with the World Food Programme saying 70,000 children need urgent treatment for “acute malnutrition”.
How would the GHF displace Palestinians?
The UN said the GHF would weaponise aid by threatening the mass displacement of Palestinians.
Initial aid distribution sites would operate only out of southern and central Gaza, which the UN warned could lead to the displacement of Palestinians in northern Gaza as they are forced to move south for food and other aid.
“Humanitarian aid should not be politicized nor militarized,” the ICRC statement said. “This erodes the neutrality required to ensure assistance is delivered based solely on need, not political or military agendas.”
The initiative has also been labelled by many in the humanitarian sector as insufficient.
“Even if implemented, the plan’s proposed aid volumes fall short of the immense scale of needs in Gaza,” according to the ICRC. “The level of need right now is overwhelming, and aid needs to be allowed to enter immediately and without impediment.”
Gaza currently has 400 distribution points, and the ability and know-how to distribute aid effectively exists. With only a few distribution points under the GHF, people may be forced to walk long distances and carry heavy rations.
“The Problem is Not Logistics,” the statement from the 11 humanitarian groups read. “It Is Intentional Starvation.”
Enough. We demand rapid, safe, and unimpeded access to starving civilians in Gaza.
We have a plan. We have thousands of trucks of food at the border. Let us in. Let us work.https://t.co/J55f8shIEU pic.twitter.com/bTmcAMbG0e
— Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief) May 16, 2025
People with disabilities or who are injured would struggle to navigate the terrain and reach distribution points. The roads in Gaza have been badly damaged over the past 19 months of war, and the intensity of Israel’s latest military operation in Gaza is only making things more difficult for Palestinians there.
Furthermore, the GHF’s assertions that it is independent and transparent have been criticised by aid groups.
“Despite branding itself as ‘independent’ and ‘transparent,’ the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation would be wholly dependent on Israeli coordination and operates via Israeli-controlled entry points, primarily the Port of Ashdod and the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing,” the statement by the 11 aid groups read.
While Hanan Salah, Human Rights Watch’s associate director for the Middle East and North Africa, didn’t comment specifically on the GHF, she said allowing “a basic amount of food” into the Gaza Strip was “complicity in using starvation as a method of warfare”.
Middle East
Lithuania files case against Belarus at ICJ over alleged people smuggling | European Union News
The Baltic nation is seeking damages, including compensation for border reinforcement costs.
Lithuania has initiated legal proceedings against Belarus at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing its neighbour of orchestrating a refugee and migrant crisis by facilitating the smuggling of people across their border.
“The Belarusian regime must be held legally accountable for orchestrating the wave of illegal migration and the resulting human rights violations,” Lithuanian Justice Minister Rimantas Mockus said in a statement on Monday.
“We are taking this case to the International Court of Justice to send a clear message: no state can use vulnerable people as political pawns without facing consequences under international law.”
The case, submitted to the ICJ in The Hague, centres on alleged violations by Belarus of the United Nations Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air.
Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said attempts to resolve the issue through bilateral talks failed and it has evidence showing direct involvement by the Belarusian state in organising refugee and migrant flows, including a surge in flights from the Middle East operated by Belarusian state-owned airlines.
After landing in Belarus, many of the passengers were escorted to the Lithuanian border by Belarusian security forces and forced to cross illegally, Lithuanian officials said.
Lithuania also accused Belarus of refusing to cooperate with its border services in preventing irregular crossings and said it is seeking compensation through the ICJ for alleged damages caused, including costs related to border reinforcement.
Tensions between the two countries have simmered since 2021 when thousands of people – mostly from the Middle East and Africa – began arriving at the borders of Lithuania, Poland and Latvia from Belarus.
Belarus had previously deported Middle Eastern refugees and migrants with more than 400 Iraqis repatriated to Baghdad on a charter flight from Minsk in November 2021.
That same year, a Human Rights Watch report accused Belarus of manufacturing the crisis, finding that “accounts of violence, inhuman and degrading treatment and coercion by Belarusian border guards were commonplace”.
European Union officials have also accused Minsk of “weaponising” migration in an effort to destabilise the bloc. The claims are strongly denied by Belarus.
In December, the EU approved emergency measures allowing member states bordering Belarus and Russia to temporarily suspend asylum rights in cases in which migration is being manipulated for political ends.
Middle East
Palestinian journalist among two killed in Israeli attack on Gaza hospital | Israel-Palestine conflict News
Hassan Eslaih has been killed in Nasser Hospital during treatment for injuries sustained in the previous Israeli attack.
Israel’s army has admitted to carrying out “a targeted attack” on the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing two people, including Palestinian journalist Hassan Eslaih.
Gaza’s Government Media Office on Tuesday confirmed the killing of Eslaih, who was receiving treatment at the hospital’s burn unit for severe injuries sustained during an April 7 Israeli strike on a media tent located next to the hospital.
The AFP news agency footage from Nasser Hospital after Tuesday’s strike showed smoke rising from the facility as rescuers searched through the rubble by the light of torches.
A hospital worker who gave his name as Abu Ghali said the Israeli bombardment “does not differentiate between civilians and military targets”.
“This is a civilian hospital that receives injured people around the clock,” he told AFP.
Eslaih was the director of the Alam24 News Agency and a freelancer who contributed to international news organisations, including photos of the Hamas-led October 7 attack.
Israel has claimed Eslaih was a Hamas fighter who participated in the October 7 attack, an allegation he vehemently denied.
Dozens of journalists killed
At least 178 journalists and media workers have been killed in Palestine, Israel, and Lebanon since the war began, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Gaza’s Government Media Office put the death toll at 215.
Israel’s military said in a post on Telegram that the strike targeted a Hamas “command and control complex” at the hospital – the largest in southern Gaza – without providing further evidence.
“The compound was used by the terrorists to plan and execute terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and [military] troops,” the post said, in what appeared to be a reference to Eslaih and Hamas.
Gaza’s Health Ministry on Tuesday condemned “the repeated targeting of hospitals and the pursuit and killing of wounded patients inside treatment rooms”, saying it “confirms Israel’s deliberate intent to inflict greater damage to the healthcare system”.
Hospitals in Gaza have been a frequent target of Israeli attacks since the war began in October 2023, although attacking health facilities, medical personnel and patients is illegal under the 1949 Geneva Convention.
According to officials in Gaza, Israel has bombed and burned at least 36 hospitals across the enclave since the war erupted.
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