The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is holding its second day of hearings into the crimes of Israel and its obligation to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Representatives from several countries, including South Africa, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia, addressed the ICJ on Tuesday.

Zane Dangor, director-general of South Africa's Department of International Relations, launched the proceedings at the ICJ with a strong condemnation of Israel's actions.

In his opening statement, Dangor said that under the world’s watchful eye, Palestinians are being subjected to atrocity, crimes, persecution, apartheid, and genocide.

"While we watch, the gaze of Palestinians is directed squarely at the international community."

The South African representative argued that Israel was committing crimes in Gaza and across the occupied territories with complete impunity. 

"We wish to emphasize the impunity with which Israel is inflicting these harms. Israel continues to act with impunity as it does enjoy some form of exceptionalism from accountability to international law and norms." 

"Any country or entity which seeks to hold Israel accountable for its inhumane and unlawful actions is subject to countermeasures and sanctions from which the UN and this court has not been spared."

Elsewhere in his remarks, Dangor slammed the Israeli ban on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and connected recent attacks on UNRWA to broader political aims.

"In this context, the UN and UNRWA is one of the latest casualties of Israel."

South Africa has been one of the outspoken critics of Israel’s campaign of genocide in Gaza.

The African country, which has experienced long years of an apartheid regime, has been praised by activists as the vanguard of the global conscience and voice of the oppressed.

On Tuesday, the Saudi representative told the court that Israel has turned Gaza into a pile of rubble while attempting to bring about ethnic cleansing.

On the first day of the hearings, Palestine’s ambassador to the Netherlands said Israel has not allowed any food, water, medical supplies, or fuel into Gaza for two months, leading to a man-made humanitarian catastrophe, including deaths by starvation.

Dozens of pro-Palestine activists also demonstrated at The Hague’s Peace Palace during ICJ hearings.

In total, 40 states and four international organizations will speak during the ICJ hearings between April 28 and May 2.

Israel is not attending the proceedings, but it has provided a written submission to the ICJ.

The UN top court has already ordered the Israeli regime to take all measures within its power to prevent genocide in Gaza.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has also issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former minister of military affairs, Yoav Gallant, over war crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

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The Gaza media office says the Israeli regime deliberately kills civilians in Gaza as part of a systematic policy of genocide.

In a statement released on Monday, the office said Over 65% of Palestinians killed by Israeli regime are children, women, and the elderly.

The regime “has killed more than 18,000 children and more than 12,400 Palestinian women. It has wiped out more than 2,180 Palestinian families, where the father, mother, and all family members were killed,” it added.

The statement also highlighted the targeting of medical staff, with over 1,400 doctors and healthcare workers killed—a devastating loss that has crippled the healthcare infrastructure.

According to the statement, over 113 Civil Defense personnel have lost their lives while performing humanitarian work. Additionally, 212 journalists have been killed in what appear to be systematic efforts to suppress truth-telling and hide violations. The violence has also claimed the lives of more than 750 humanitarian aid workers involved in relief distribution and security.

The Israeli regime’s aggression has also resulted in the killings of over 13,000 students and more than 800 teachers and educational staff members, along with over 150 scholars, academics, university professors, and researchers, it said, adding that thousands of civil sector and essential service workers in Gaza have also been killed.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 52,243 Palestinians have been confirmed dead and another 117,600 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since it began 18 months ago.

Israel launched the genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, but it failed to achieve its declared objectives.

The regime eventually accepted Hamas’ longstanding ceasefire terms on January 19. However, on March 18, Israel violated the agreement, restarting its indiscriminate bombardment of the besieged territory.

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The Yemeni Armed Forces have carried out two separate retaliatory operations against the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and its escorts in the Red Sea, and a vital target deep inside the Israeli-occupied territories after fresh US acts of aggression against the Arab country.

Spokesman for the Yemeni military, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced in a statement on Monday that Yemeni naval and air force units conducted a joint operation against the Nimitz-class vessel of the United States Navy and other American warships, using a number of homegrown cruise and ballistic missiles as well as combat drones.

The strikes forced the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and its escorts to retreat northward.

Saree stated that the attacks came in reprisal for deadly US air raids against the Yemeni capital Sana’a and on a migrant detention center in the country’s northwestern city of Sa’ada.

Saree said the Yemeni Armed Forces will continue to pursue and target the US Navy vessel and all hostile warships in the Red and Arabian Seas unless the ongoing aggression against Yemen ceases.

Additionally, Yemeni drone units struck a strategic position in the city of Ashkelon in the southern side of the occupied lands with a domestically-developed Yaffa unmanned aerial vehicle.

The Yemeni military spokesman noted that the retaliatory operation came in solidarity with the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip amid the unrelenting Israeli genocidal war on the territory.

“We will continue to prevent the navigation of Israeli-affiliated vessels in the Red and Arabian Seas, and confront the US aggression. We will keep on support for our steadfast brethren in the Gaza Strip until the ongoing onslaught against them stops and the tight siege is completely lifted,” Saree underscored.

In reaction to the atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza and the aggression of the US and UK against Yemen, the Yemeni Armed Forces have initiated a series of strikes aimed at Israeli, American, and British interests in the Red Sea and adjacent regions.

As the genocidal war on Gaza escalated, the Yemenis enacted a strategic blockade on essential maritime routes, with the goal of obstructing the delivery of military supplies to Israel and urging the international community to take action regarding the ongoing humanitarian emergency in Gaza.

The Yemeni Armed Forces have declared they will continue their assaults until Israel ceases its ground and aerial offensives in Gaza.

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Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has strongly condemned deadly strikes by the United States on areas in Yemen, including a detention center designated for African migrants.

Nearly 70 inmates were killed and more than 50 others wounded, most of them critically, in an US airstrike that targeted one of the detention centers designated for African migrants in Sa’ada province on Monday.

In a statement on Monday, Baghaei said the continued US military attacks on civilian targets, key infrastructures and homes of people in various parts of Yemen, which have killed hundreds of innocent people, are amount to a “war crime”.

He lashed out at the United Nations and human rights bodies for remaining silent and indifferent to the US attacks in clear breach of law and repeated violation of Yemen’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Hazrat Fatima Masoumeh (S.A) the Blessed and the Gracious Divine Lady from the Holy Ahlul Bayt (A.S.) was born in the holy city of Medina on the First Day of the month of Dhu al-Qa’dah 173 A.H. Hazrat Fatima Masoumeh (S.A) was the most learned scholar and very pious lady and was greatly revered by the Holy Imams (A.S). She was buried in the holy city of Qum (Iran) and her holy shrine is every year visited by millions of the lovers of Holy Ahlul Bayt (A.S).

Happy auspicious birthday of Hazrat Masoumeh(PBUH) and Happy Girl’s Day to all Muslim girls especially Monji international students.

The versatile genius of Imam Ja'far As-Sadiq in all branches of knowledge was acclaimed throughout the Islamic world, which attracted students from far-off places towards him till the strength of his disciples had reached four thousand. The scholars and experts in Divine Law have quoted many traditions from Imam Ja'far As-Sadiq. His disciples compiled hundreds of books on various branches of science and arts. Other than Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), Hadith (tradition), Tafsir (exegesis of the Holy Qur'an), etc., the Holy Imam also imparted mathematics and chemistry to some of his disciples. Jabir ibn Hayyan, a famous scholar of Chemistry and Mathematics, was one of the Imam's disciples who benefited from the Imam's knowledge and guidance and was able to write four hundred books on different subjects.

It is an undeniable historical truth that all the great scholars of Islam were indebted for their learning to the very presence of the AhluI-Bayt who were the fountain of knowledge and learning for all. Ash-Shibli one of Sunni outstanding scholars writes in his book Siratu'n- Nu'man: "Abu Hanifah remained for a considerable period in the attendance of Imam Ja'far As-Sadiq, acquiring from him a great deal of precious research on Fiqh and Hadith. Both the sects -Shi'a and Sunni- believe that the source of Abu Hanifah's knowledge was mostly derived from his association with Imam Ja'far As-Sadiq." The Imam devoted his whole life to the cause of religious preaching and propagation of the teachings of the Holy Prophet and never strove for power. Because of his great knowledge and fine teaching, the people gathered around him, giving devotion and respect that was his due. This excited the envy of the 'Abbasid ruler al-Mansur Ad-Dawaniqi who fearing the popularity of the Imam, decided to do away with him.

The number of traditions preserved from the Fifth and Sixth Imams is more than all the hadith that have been recorded from the Prophet and the other ten Imams combined.

 But toward the end of his life the Imam As-Sadiq was subjected to severe restrictions placed upon him by the Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur, who ordered such torture and merciless killing of many of the descendants of the Prophet who were Shia that his actions even surpassed the cruelty and heedlessness of the Umayyad. At his order they were arrested in groups, some thrown into deep and dark prisons and tortured until they died, while others were beheaded or buried alive or placed at the base of or between walls of buildings, and walls were constructed over them. Hisham, the Umayyad caliph, had ordered the Sixth Imam to be arrested and brought to Damascus.

Later, the Imam was arrested by As-Saffah, the Abbasid caliph, and brought to Iraq. Finally, Al-Mansur had him arrested again and brought to Samarrah where he had the Imam kept under supervision, was in every way harsh and discourteous to him, and several times thought of killing him. Eventually the Imam was allowed to return to Medina where he spent the rest of his life in hiding, until he was poisoned and martyred through the intrigue of Al-Mansur. Upon hearing the news of the Imam's martyrdom, Al-Mansur wrote to the governor of Medina instructing him to go to the house of the Imam on the pretext of expressing his condolences to the family, to ask for the Imam's will and testament and read it. Whoever was chosen by the Imam as his inheritor and successor should be beheaded on the spot. Of course, the aim of Al-Mansur was to put an end to the whole question of the Imamate and to Shia aspirations. When the governor of Medina, following orders, read the last will and testament, he saw that the Imam had chosen five people rather than one to administer his last will and testament: the caliph him- self, the governor of Medina, 'Abdullah Aftah, Abdullah the Imam's older son, and Musa Al-Kadhim, his younger son and Hamidah Musa Al-Kadhims Mother. In this way the plot of al-Mansur failed.

 Imam Sadiq University

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Imam Sadiq(A.S)Who Is Imam Sadiq(A.S)

 | Post date: 2019/08/31 | 

The holy Imam Ja'far As-Sadiq was the sixth Imam in the succession of the twelve Apostolic Imams. His epithet was Abu 'Abdillah and his famous titles were As-Sadiq, Al-Fadil and At-Tahir. He was the son of Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir, the Fifth Imam, and his mother was the daughter of Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr.

Imam Ja'far As-Sadiq saw his grand-father, Imam Zaynu 'I-'Abidm in Medina for twelve years and then remained under the sacred patronage of his father Imam Muhammad al-Baqir for a period of nineteen years.

Imam’s Knowledge and his Sciences

Imam Jaffer Sadiq(a.s.) stood out among their group for his great merit (fadl); he was the most celebrated, the greatest in rank and the most illustrious of them in the eyes of both the non-Shia (al-amma) and the Shi’a (al-khassa). The people transmitted on his authority the religious sciences which travelers carried with them and thus his fame was spread throughout the lands. The learned scholars have transmitted on the authority of no other member of the House (ahl al-bayt) as much as they have transmitted on his authority. None of them met as many of the reporters of traditions as he did, nor did the latter transmit on their authority to the same extent as they transmitted on the authority of Abu Abd Allah Imam Jaffer Sadiq(a.s.). The specialists in tradition (ashab al- hadith) have gathered together the names of those who narrated on his authority, who were reliable despite differences in views and doctrines and they were four thousand men. The clear evidence for his Imamate was such that it overcame hearts and silenced the attempts of an opponent to denigrate it with doubts.

During the imamate of the sixth Imam greater possibilities and a more favorable climate existed for him to propagate religious teachings. This came about as a result of revolts in Islamic Lands, especially the uprising of the Muswaddah to overthrow the Umayyad caliphate, and the bloody wars which finally led to the fall and extinction of the Umayyads. The greater opportunities for Shi’ite teachings were also a result of the favorable ground the fifth Imam had prepared during the twenty years of his imamate through the propagation of the true teachings of Islam and the sciences of the Household of the Prophet.

 The Imam took advantage of the occasion to propagate the religious sciences until the very end of his imamate, which was contemporary with the end of the Umayyad and beginning of the Abbasid caliphates. He instructed many scholars in different fields of the intellectual and transmitted sciences, such as Zorarah, Muhammad ibn Muslim, Mu’min Taq, Hisham ibn Hakam, Aban ibn Taghlib, Hisham ibn Salim, Hurayz, Hisham Kalbi Nassabah, and Jabir ibn Hayyan, the alchemist. Even some important Sunni scholars such as Sufyan Thawri, Abu Hanifah, the founder of the Hanafi school of law, Qadhi Sukuni, Qadhi Abu’l- Bakhtari, and others, had the honor of being his students. It is said that his classes and sessions of instruction produced four thousand scholars of hadith and other sciences. The number of traditions preserved from the fifth and sixth Imams is more than all the hadith, that have been recorded from the Prophet and the other ten Imams combined.

There are innumerable reports about him concerning signs and revealing the unknown similar to those which we have mentioned, which would take too long to recount.

He used to say: “Our knowledge is of what will be (ghabir), of what is past (mazbur), of what is marked in hearts (nakt fi al-qulub), and of what is tapped into ears (naqr fi al-asma). We have the red case (jafr), the white case, and the scroll of Fatima(s.a.) and we have (the document called) al-jami’a in which is everything the people need.”

He was asked to explain these words and he said: “Ghabir is knowledge of what will be; mazbur is knowledge of what was; what is marked in the hearts (nakt fi al-qulub) is inspiration; and what is tapped into the ears (naqr fi al- asma) are words of angels; we hear their speech but we do not see their forms. The red case (jafr) is a vessel in which are the weapons of the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family. It will never leave us until the one (destined) among us members of the House, to arise (qa’im), arises. The white case (jafr) is a vessel in which are the Torah of Moses, the Gospels of Jesus, the Psalms of David and the (other) Books of God. The scroll of Fatima, peace be on her, has in it every event which will take place and the names of all the rulers until the (last) hour comes. (The document called) al-jami’a is a scroll seventy yards long which the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, dictated from his own mouth and Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be on him, wrote in his own handwriting. By God, in it is everything which people need until the end of time, including even the blood-wit for wounding, and whether a (full) flogging or half a flogging (is due).

He, peace be on him, used to say: “My traditions are my father’s traditions; my father’s traditions are my grandfather’s traditions; my grandfather’s traditions are the traditions of Ali b. Abi Talib, the Commander of the faithful; the traditions of Ali the Commander of the faithful are the traditions of the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family; and the traditions of the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, are the word of God, the Mighty and High.

Source: Imam Sadiq University 

Students at New York University (NYU) continue their demonstration on campus in solidarity with the students at Columbia University and to oppose Israel’s attacks on Gaza, in New York, United States, on April 22, 2024. (Photo by Anadolu)

In an open letter, more than 100 rabbis and cantors in Chicago have condemned US President Donald Trump for his crackdown on pro-Palestine campus protests.

The signatories, from across the Chicago area, publicly expressed their strong dissent against the Trump administration’s recent move to cut funding and make arrests on US college campuses, Middle East Monitor reported on Wednesday, citing Israeli media.

The punitive measures, implemented since early March, are designed to curb protest rallies by students across the US held against Israel’s genocidal war in the besieged Gaza Strip and in solidarity with Palestinians suffering in the war-ravaged territory since October 2023.

In the open letter published as a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday, the rabbis and cantors denounced the White House for exploiting concerns about antisemitism to justify broader attacks on civil liberties, including mass deportations and the erosion of civil rights.

The signatories, representing various Jewish denominations, stressed that such measures do not protect the Jewish community but rather endanger it by using their fears as a political tool.

“Many of these actions have been presented as in defense of the Jewish community. Yet in truth, Jewish fear is being used as a fig leaf for an anti-democratic agenda of mass deportations, civil rights rollbacks, and attacks on higher education,” the letter read.

The public letter comes amid a nationwide crackdown on university campuses, with institutions like Northwestern University experiencing funding freezes and numerous student protesters facing detention.

“As Jewish leaders, we reject the exploitation of our fears and experiences of antisemitism to justify the dismantling of those institutions. Such actions do not protect our community — they use us, and they put us in danger,” the signatories stressed.

The situation escalated when the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard University, demanding significant policy changes in response to what it labeled as antisemitism. Harvard, however, has refused to comply and has initiated legal action challenging the federal government’s decision.

This growing dissent among Jewish leaders highlights a significant divide within the community regarding the administration's approach to civil liberties.

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The leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement says retaliatory operations carried out in solidarity with Gaza by Yemeni resistance have effectively halted the movement of Israeli and US vessels near Yemen’s waters.

“The Bab al-Mandab and the Arabian Sea are closed to Israeli and American ships. That’s a fact," Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Thursday night.

Yemenis, he said, targeted US vessels and naval carriers in nine operations over past week, adding both public demonstrations and military operations launched in response to the “US-Israeli genocide in Palestine” will continue.

Houthi also slammed Washington for escalating aggression against Yemen, stating that the US had launched 260 attacks on civilian infrastructure in Yemen in the past week.

“The US and the Israeli regime have realized that they have failed in their anti-Yemen campaign,” he said.

Houthi condemned Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, citing Israeli attacks on “hospitals, medical centers, and paramedics,” in Gaza, which he described as “barbaric crimes.”

Houthi also condemned Israel’s use of starvation and deprivation as a weapon of war against civilians in Gaza.

“Israeli regime prevents food and medical supplies from entering besieged Gaza Strip and impedes relief efforts in this area,” he said.

The ongoing Israeli blockade has left more than 3,500 children at risk of death due to hunger and malnutrition in the strip.

Addressing the Israeli military’s act of genocide in Gaza, al-Houthi said, “Occupation forces fear and avoid confrontations with resistance fighters in Gaza and they target defenseless civilians in the besieged Strip.

He criticized the killing of innocent civilians, displaced persons, and the destruction of medical facilities in the strip, stating that they are “not achievements,” and reiterated that Israeli forces remain “incapable of achieving so-called objectives” in their onslaughts. 

The death toll from US-Israeli genocidal war on Gaza has risen to 51,266, with nearly 117,000 Palestinians reported injured as the Israeli assault on Gaza continues.

Houthi condemned the Israeli regime for aiming to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza and stated that in the occupied West Bank, settler “acts of terrorism” and aggression are intended to confiscate Palestinian homes and expand illegal settlements.

“Israeli regime seeks to destroy refugee camps in the occupied West Bank in line with its land grab policy,” al-Houthi stated, also slamming certain Arab governments and media outlets of enabling Tel Aviv’s genocidal campaign through their silence or alignment with Israeli interests.

Houthi also called for greater Palestinian unity in response to the crimes of the Israeli regime. “More Palestinians should come together and unite for the sake of Palestinian cause,” he urged.

Elsewhere in his speech, he criticized Israel’s repeated violations of a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which was reached last year.

“Israeli regime continues targeting villages in South Lebanon and continuously violating ceasefire and Lebanese sovereignty,” he said.

He called on the Lebanese government to apply “more pressure on Israeli regime to implement ceasefire agreement.”

Addressing Israeli acts of aggression in Syria, Houthi stated that Israeli violations of Syrian sovereignty are being carried out with US support as part of the “Zionist project” aimed at controlling Syrian territory and movement.

In closing, he condemned some Arab governments for criticizing Iran over its support for the Palestinian cause, suggesting such positions serve to deflect attention from Israeli aggression.

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Israeli warplanes have conducted fresh aerial assaults across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 28 people, mostly women and children.

The Gaza Health Ministry said the deadly Israeli strikes took place on Thursday and targeted the cities of Jabalia and Khan Yunis, as well as areas in the central part of the besieged territory.

The ministry said at least nine people were killed in an air raid on a police station in Jabalia.

The Israeli military acknowledged the attack, claiming that it had targeted a command and control center for resistance groups.

Other Israeli strikes hit Khan Yunis, killing at least seven people, including a mother and her two children, and another two children, it added.

At least six people, including two women and two children, lost their lives in Israeli air raids on central Gaza while four children and their parents were killed in attacks on Gaza City.

Meanwhile, the ministry said a total of 50 Palestinians were killed and 152 others wounded in the past 24 hours in the Gaza Strip.

Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza October 7, 2023, after the Hamas resistance group carried out its historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

After one year and a half of war, the Tel Aviv regime has failed to achieve its declared objectives in Gaza, despite killing at least 51,355 Palestinians and injuring 117,248 others.

The usurping entity accepted Hamas' longstanding negotiation terms under a Gaza ceasefire, which began on January 19.

However, Israel unilaterally abandoned the truce on March 2, cutting off humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The regime also resumed its brutal bombing campaign and redeployed troops to the territory.

On Wednesday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said more than 90 percent of homes in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged during the Israeli onslaught.

"With nowhere safe to go, families shelter in unsafe ruins," it noted. "IOM has shelter aid ready—entry points must open NOW."

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