2023-10-29 17:14:07
The Israel-Hamas war, since the terrorist group’s attack on Israeli civilians on October 7, has resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians. A toll that can only increase with the intensification of hostilities. Both belligerents face war crimes charges.
The international NGO Human Rights Watch cites as war crimes the deliberate killing, hostage-taking and torture of Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups, as well as Israeli air-land-sea counterattacks in Gaza that killed Israelis. thousands of Palestinian non-combatants.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pleaded for Palestinian civilians to be protected, expressing concern over “blatant violations of international humanitarian law” in Gaza saying the Hamas attack did not come “in the empty”.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN criticized Guterres for justifying the attack which left some 1,400 Israelis dead, most of them civilians. He demanded that he resign. Israel’s foreign minister accused Guterres of justifying terrorism.
Israel under ICC investigation since 2021
Since 2021, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has been investigating war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories. She has not yet issued any arrest warrants.
Former ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said the investigation covered events in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip since June 2014, when a war broke out between Israel and Palestinian activists. This conflict resulted in the deaths of 2,251 Palestinians, including 1,462 civilians, while on the Israeli side, 67 soldiers and six civilians were killed.
After a five-year investigation, Bensouda said there was a “reasonable basis” to believe crimes had been committed by both sides, by the Israeli military and Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, as well as by other Palestinian armed groups.
Both sides are currently engaged in a fifth war and have been involved in numerous smaller skirmishes.
Israel is not cooperating with the investigation, saying the ICC has no authority to investigate the Jewish state or its officials. The country has never ratified the treaty creating the Court. Like the United States. The Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank has been part of the ICC since 2015.
Israel even accused the ICC of “anti-Semitism” for opening the investigation and led a media campaign to try to block it. When the ICC declared itself competent, its decision was immediately rejected by Jerusalem and Washington. Vice President Kamala Harris affirmed the United States’ opposition to any investigation by the Court into possible war crimes committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories since 2014.
War crime: Ukraine-Gaza parallel?
The British Karim Khan, who succeeded Fatou Bensouda as chief prosecutor of the ICC, has the firm intention of continuing his investigation.
On May 19, 2023, Russia issued a search and arrest notice against Karim Khan in retaliation for the international arrest warrant issued against Vladimir Putin by the ICC. The Hague Court accuses the Russian president of having committed war crimes in Ukraine by deporting Ukrainian children to Russia. Who will Khan target for war crimes against children in Gaza and Israel?
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