Israel…double condemnation
The highest international judicial body, the International Court of Justice, condemned the Israeli military operation in Rafah, and issued a resolution demanding that Tel Aviv “immediately stop its military attack on Rafah.” South Africa had asked the International Court of Justice, on Thursday, May 16, to order a halt to the Israeli attack on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where about half of the Strip’s population is taking shelter after being displaced due to Israeli military operations in the north. It also asked the court to order Israel to withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip. The request for this emergency measure is part of a larger lawsuit filed by South Africa before the court in The Hague, accusing Israel of committing genocide.
After the first round of hearing last January, the court rejected the main request submitted by South Africa to stop the war in the Gaza Strip. It issued a number of temporary orders against Israel and deemed it reasonable that Israel had violated some of the rights guaranteed to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip under the Genocide Convention. It ordered it to desist from any actions that might fall under the Genocide Convention. It also ordered it to take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. .
Then in March the court announced further emergency measures, ordering Israel to take all necessary and effective measures to ensure that basic food supplies reach Palestinians in the Strip. Israeli forces entered Rafah Governorate on May 7, ignoring repeated calls to refrain from expanding their ground offensive to Rafah. Only hours after the International Court of Justice ordered an “immediate cessation” of the military attack on Rafah, Israel escalated its bombing of the city, which was considered a disregard for the International Court’s orders and a determination to continue the war.
On the other hand, a committee of International Criminal Court judges is currently studying the request of its Prosecutor General, Karim Khan, to issue arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, his Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and three leaders from Hamas: Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Political Bureau, and Yahya Sinwar. The head of Hamas in Gaza, and Muhammad Deif, the commander of its military wing. Arrest warrants will be sent to the 124 states party to the Rome Statute establishing the Criminal Court, which will be obligated to cooperate with the court to implement the arrest warrants. In 2021, the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into possible war crimes in Gaza targeting Israel, Hamas, and other Palestinian factions. The court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, said that the investigation expanded to include what happened in Gaza after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The issuance of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court raises challenges for Israel’s allies who are members of the court if the arrest warrants are issued and Netanyahu and Gallant travel through the territory of any of the 124 countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute. Today, the international justice system, both parts of it, are exposed to a real test, and countries are also exposed to a moral test. No one is above the law, regardless of his position or goal, and all countries must respect the legitimacy of international courts, whether the International Court of Justice, which looks into the commitment of governments as states to the Convention on the Prevention of the Crimes of Genocide, or the Criminal Court. The international court is considered a court for individuals. It is an opportunity to end the cycle of impunity that has continued for decades, and most importantly, to restore the credibility of the international justice system as a whole.
* Emirati writer
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