‘Mandela Will Be Smiling,’ South Africa Minister Says on ICJ Ruling against Israel

Minister of Justice and Correctional Services of the Republic of South Africa Ronald Lamola, (C), and member of the African National Committee react as they watch the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ruling on the emergency measures requested by South Africa against Israel over its war on the Gaza Strip, in Johannesburg, 26 January 2024. (EPA)
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services of the Republic of South Africa Ronald Lamola, (C), and member of the African National Committee react as they watch the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ruling on the emergency measures requested by South Africa against Israel over its war on the Gaza Strip, in Johannesburg, 26 January 2024. (EPA)
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‘Mandela Will Be Smiling,’ South Africa Minister Says on ICJ Ruling against Israel

Minister of Justice and Correctional Services of the Republic of South Africa Ronald Lamola, (C), and member of the African National Committee react as they watch the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ruling on the emergency measures requested by South Africa against Israel over its war on the Gaza Strip, in Johannesburg, 26 January 2024. (EPA)
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services of the Republic of South Africa Ronald Lamola, (C), and member of the African National Committee react as they watch the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ruling on the emergency measures requested by South Africa against Israel over its war on the Gaza Strip, in Johannesburg, 26 January 2024. (EPA)

South Africa's liberation hero Nelson Mandela "will be smiling in his grave" at the World Court order imposing emergency measures against Israel over its war in Gaza, Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said.

In a case brought by South Africa, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide against the Palestinians and do more to help civilians, although it stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire.

It has not yet ruled on the core of South Africa's case, whether genocide has occurred in Gaza. That ruling could take years.

"We believe that former President Mandela will be smiling in his grave as one of the advocates for the Genocide Convention," Lamola told Reuters on the sidelines of a gathering of the governing African National Congress party outside Johannesburg.

The ANC has long defended the Palestinian cause, a relationship forged when its struggle against oppressive white-minority rule was supported by Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization.

It has likened Israel's actions to its struggle against apartheid, a comparison rejected by Israel, which has said South Africa's allegations of genocide are "grossly distorted" and that it makes the utmost efforts to avoid civilian casualties.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "The mere claim that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians is not only false, it's outrageous, and the willingness of the court to even discuss this is a disgrace that will not be erased for generations."

Lamola said South Africa taking the case to The Hague was an act of courage motivated by a desire to stand up for a rules-based world order.

He added: "It is a victory for the international law that there could be no exceptionalism in any part of the world and Israel cannot be exempt from complying with its international obligations."



4 Years into Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine, a Look at the War by the Numbers 

A resident walks at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, Ukraine February 23, 2026. (Reuters)
A resident walks at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, Ukraine February 23, 2026. (Reuters)
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4 Years into Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine, a Look at the War by the Numbers 

A resident walks at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, Ukraine February 23, 2026. (Reuters)
A resident walks at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, Ukraine February 23, 2026. (Reuters)

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine four years ago launched Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, causing immense suffering for civilians and harrowing ordeals for soldiers while rewriting the post-Cold War security order.

The fighting enters its fifth year on Tuesday, and it shows no signs of stopping any time soon.

The US has brokered talks with delegations from Moscow and Kyiv as part of the Trump administration's yearlong push for peace. But reconciling key differences, such as the future of Russian-occupied Ukrainian land and postwar security for Ukraine, has thwarted progress.

Meanwhile, thousands of each countries’ troops have died on the battlefield, and Ukrainian civilians have been battered by Russian aerial strikes that have brought years of power outages and water cuts.

Here’s a look at the conflict, by the numbers, since the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

1.8 million The upper end of the estimated number of soldiers killed, wounded or missing on both sides, according to a report last month by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank.

It estimated that Russia suffered 1.2 million casualties, including up to 325,000 troop deaths, between February 2022 and December 2025 — what it said was the largest number of troop deaths for any major power in any conflict since World War II.

Russia has not released figures on battlefield deaths since January 2023, when it said more than 80 soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian strike, bringing the total military deaths Moscow has confirmed to just over 6,000.

CSIS estimated that Ukraine has seen 500,000 to 600,000 military casualties, including up to 140,000 deaths.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that 55,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the war. Many are missing, he said.

Neither Moscow nor Kyiv gives timely data on military losses. Independent verification is not possible.

14,999 The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission’s count for civilian deaths in Ukraine since Russia’s all-out invasion, though it says that is likely an underestimate. More than 40,600 civilians were injured over the same period, it said in a December report.

The war has killed at least 763 children, according to the UN.

Last year was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since 2022. The conflict killed 2,514 civilians and injured 12,142 in the country in 2025 — a 31% increase in civilian casualties over 2024, it said.

19.4% The percentage of Ukrainian land occupied by Russia, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Over the past year, Russia has gained just 0.79% of Ukraine’s territory in the grinding war of attrition, the Washington-based think tank said in calculations provided earlier this month to The Associated Press, underscoring the little progress Moscow's forces have made despite huge costs in troops and armor.

Before Russia’s all-out invasion, it controlled nearly 7% of Ukraine, including Crimea and parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east, as Moscow-backed separatists fought the Ukrainian army, according to Ukrainian officials and Western analysts.

13% The percentage drop in foreign military aid to Kyiv last year compared with the annual average between 2022 and 2024, according to Germany’s Kiel Institute, which tracks assistance to Kyiv.

US President Donald Trump stopped sending American weapons paid for by the US to Ukraine after he took office just over a year ago. European countries, striving to make up the difference, increased their military aid last year by 67% compared with the 2022-2024 period, the institute said in a report this month.

Foreign humanitarian and financial aid to Ukraine fell by 5% last year in comparison with the average in the previous three years, it said.

5.9 million The number of Ukrainian civilians who have left their country.

Some 5.3 million of those people have found refuge in Europe, according to a report this month from the UN office in Ukraine.

Additionally, around 3.7 million Ukrainians forced out of their homes have moved elsewhere within the country, the UN said in December.

Ukraine's prewar population was more than 40 million.

2,851 The number of Russian attacks that affected the provision of medical care in Ukraine, according to the World Health Organization. The figure covers the period from the full-scale invasion through Feb. 11.

The attacks include 2,347 strikes on health care facilities, as well as ones that damaged vehicles and the storage of medical supplies.


Iran: Any US Attack Including Limited Strikes Would be 'Act of Aggression'

Vehicles move along a highway near Tehran's landmark Azadi (Freedom) Tower in Tehran on February 23, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Vehicles move along a highway near Tehran's landmark Azadi (Freedom) Tower in Tehran on February 23, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
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Iran: Any US Attack Including Limited Strikes Would be 'Act of Aggression'

Vehicles move along a highway near Tehran's landmark Azadi (Freedom) Tower in Tehran on February 23, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Vehicles move along a highway near Tehran's landmark Azadi (Freedom) Tower in Tehran on February 23, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran said Monday that any US attack, including limited strikes, would be an "act of aggression" that would precipitate a response, after President Donald Trump said he was considering a limited strike on Iran.

"With respect to your first question concerning the limited strike, I think there is no limited strike," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a briefing in Tehran attended by an AFP journalist.

"An act of aggression would be regarded as an act of aggression. Period. And any state would react to an act of aggression as part of its inherent right of self-defense ferociously so that's what we would do."

Trump said Friday he was considering a limited strike if Tehran did not reach a deal with the United States.

"I guess I can say I am considering that," he replied following a question from reporters.

The two countries concluded a second round of indirect talks in Switzerland on Tuesday under Omani mediation, against the backdrop of a major US military build-up in the region.

Further talks, confirmed by Iran and Oman but not by the United States, are scheduled for Thursday.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is leading the negotiations for Iran, while the United States is represented by envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Trump is wondering why Iran has not "capitulated" in the face of Washington's military deployment, Witkoff said in an interview with Fox News broadcast on Sunday.

Baqaei responded Monday by saying that Iranians had never capitulated at any point in their history.


India Tells Citizens to Leave Iran

An elderly Iranian man rides a bicycle next to an anti-US mural in Tehran, Iran, 23 February 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
An elderly Iranian man rides a bicycle next to an anti-US mural in Tehran, Iran, 23 February 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
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India Tells Citizens to Leave Iran

An elderly Iranian man rides a bicycle next to an anti-US mural in Tehran, Iran, 23 February 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
An elderly Iranian man rides a bicycle next to an anti-US mural in Tehran, Iran, 23 February 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

India's foreign ministry urged its citizens Monday to leave Iran, against a backdrop of fears of a possible US strike on Tehran.

"In view of the evolving situation in Iran, Indian nationals who are currently in Iran... are advised to leave Iran by available means of transport, including commercial flights," the Indian Embassy in Tehran said in a post on social media.

India's foreign ministry estimates there are usually around 10,000 citizens in Iran.

Iran said Monday that any US attack, including limited strikes, would be an "act of aggression" that would precipitate a response, after President Donald Trump said he was considering a limited strike on Iran.

The two countries concluded a second round of indirect talks on Iran’s nuclear program in Switzerland on Tuesday under Omani mediation, against the backdrop of a major US military build-up in the region.

Further talks, confirmed by Iran and Oman but not by the United States, are scheduled for Thursday.

Iran has indicated ‌it is prepared to make concessions on its nuclear program if the US met certain demands.