Judicial quagmire over genocide in Gaza

Judges at the top United Nations Court- the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel on May 24 to immediately halt its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in a landmark emergency ruling in South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide.
While the International Court of Justice, or World Court, has no means to enforce its orders, the case was a stark sign of Israel's global isolation over its devastating campaign in Gaza, particularly since it began its offensive against Rafah this month.
Reading out the ruling, World Court President Nawaf Salam said the situation in the Palestinian enclave had deteriorated since the court last ordered Israel to take steps to improve it. It was also noted that "The state of Israel should immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part." It was also observed that "Israel had not provided sufficient information about the safety of the population during the evacuation process, or the availability of food, water, sanitation and medicine for the 800,000 Palestinians that had already fled Rafah so far. Consequently, the Court is of the view that Israel has not sufficiently addressed and dispelled the concerns raised by its military offensive in Rafah."
The ICJ has also ordered Israel to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza to allow in humanitarian aid. Israel must provide access to the besieged enclave for investigators, it added, and report back on its progress within one month.
The World Court order was adopted by the panel of 15 judges from around the world in a 13-2 vote, opposed only by judges from Uganda and from Israel itself.
It was handed down a week after it was requested by South Africa as part of its case accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention enacted in the wake of the Holocaust.
The ICJ has also recently issued a long-awaited ruling, ordering Israel to "immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah". This was in support of a South African application which sought a number of measures against Israel, accusing it of stepping up a genocide.
Presiding Judge Nawaf Salam said the situation in Gaza had deteriorated since the Court last ordered Israel to take steps to improve it. Israel has, however, vehemently denied the allegation and signaled it would ignore any order to halt its operation.
Reading the Court's ruling on May 24, Nawaf Salam said "Israel must immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate" which could bring about "the physical destruction" of the Palestinians -- alluding to what constitutes genocide under international law. Israel, he added, must also allow unimpeded access to Gaza to any UN body investigating allegations of genocide. The ruling also reiterated a requirement for Israel to enable "unhindered provision at scale" of basic services and humanitarian aid for Gaza. The ruling also added that "the humanitarian situation in Gaza is now to be characterised as disastrous," the ruling said. Judge Salam also observed that the Court found it "deeply troubling" that Israeli hostages were still being held by Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, and called for "their immediate and unconditional release".
Israel has rejected the Court's ruling and said its military offensive in Gaza was in line with international law. "Israel has not and will not carry out military operations in the Rafah area that create living conditions that could cause the destruction of the Palestinian civilian population, in whole or in part," has observed National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi. However, War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz has said Israel would continue its offensive "wherever and whenever necessary -- including in Rafah".
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour has hailed the ruling and has called on Israel to abide by it as "we expect that resolutions of the ICJ are implemented without hesitation as that is mandatory- and Israel is Party to the Convention."
The biggest factors in the ongoing slaughter of civilians in Gaza by Israel are that country's extremely cruel militarism and the huge support of that militarism by the U.S. government. Rarely has any war been so widely and fervently condemned by so many people and nations around the world.
Solomon, National Director, RootsAction.org and author of "War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine has also mentioned that "The Gaza war is truly a crime against humanity on a massive and ongoing scale. Accountability should be demanded not only of the Israeli leaders inflicting this slaughter but also the government that continues to make it possible".
War crimes and crimes against humanity, as addressed in the new announcement from the ICC, were committed by the leaders of both Israel and Hamas ever since early October 2023. While both sides might deny any such charges, the human consequences of the crimes they have overseen are dreadful.
However, whether one likes it or not, President Biden felt compelled to immediately denounce the ICC applications for arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister and their Defence Minister.
Solomon has also observed that there should be unequivocal condemnation of the repugnant crimes against humanity by Hamas, but the crimes against humanity by the Israeli government that have been heavily subsidised by the military aid and rhetorical support of the United States is unacceptable.
In this context it would be fitting to recall the statement made by the ICC prosecutor during the recent trial. It was put forward that on the basis of evidence collected and examined by his office, it identified Yahya Sinwar, Head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, Chief of the military wing of Hamas, and Ismail Haniyeh (Head of Hamas Political Bureau) as having criminal responsibility for certain war crimes and crimes against humanity" committed on the territory of Israel and the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least October 7, 2023--
(a) Extermination as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(b) of the Rome Statute; (b) Murder as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(a), and as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i); (c) Taking hostages as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(iii); (d) Rape and other acts of sexual violence as crimes against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(g), and also as war crimes pursuant to article 8(2)(e)(vi) in the context of captivity; (e) Torture as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(f), and also as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i), in the context of captivity.
Regarding Israel, the ICC prosecutor said "on the basis of evidence collected and examined by my office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav Gallant, the Minister of Defence of Israel, bear criminal responsibility for the following war crimes and crimes against humanity" committed on the territory of the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least October 8, 2023--
(a) Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Statute; (b) Willfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health contrary to article 8(2)(a)(iii), or cruel treatment as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i); (c) Willful killing contrary to article 8(2)(a)(i), or Murder as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i); and (d) Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime contrary to articles 8(2)(b)(i), or 8(2)(e)(i).
The ICC prosecutor also observed that "the war crimes alleged in these applications were committed in the context of an international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine, and a non-international armed conflict between Israel and Hamas (together with other Palestinian Armed Groups) running in parallel. We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population pursuant to State policy. These crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day".
It would be correct to also remember that Israel began its offensive in Gaza after gunmen from Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking 252 others back to Gaza as hostages. The latest scenario has also seen Hamas launching rocket attacks towards Tel Aviv for the first time in months on May 25.
There is also the other side of the coin with Israel continuing to increase its attacks in Gaza. Since October 7, at least 35,800 Palestinians have been killed in the war and more than 80,000 have been wounded, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. A large number of them are women and children from the civilian population.
After the latest judicial step, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry has observed that "Egypt calls on Israel to comply with its legal obligations within the framework of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and international humanitarian law, and to implement all interim measures issued by the ICJ, which are considered legally binding and enforceable, as they are issued by the highest international judicial body. Egypt stresses that Israel bears full legal responsibility for the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip as the occupying power, calling on Israel to stop its systematic policies against the Palestinian people of targeting, starvation and siege in violation of all provisions of international law and international humanitarian law."
Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry has also issued a statement that "Saudi Arabia welcomes the decision issued by the International Court of Justice ordering Israel to immediately stop the military offensive or any other actions in Rafah, in accordance with the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide."
The geo-political paradigm is slowly changing. One can only hope that the USA, the European Union and Israel will understand this.

Muhammad Zamir, a former Ambassador, is an analyst specialised in foreign affairs, right to information and good governance.
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