Dr.. Ahmed Sayed Ahmed*
For the first time since its establishment in 1948, Israel appears before international justice, after the lawsuit filed against it by the State of South Africa before the International Court of Justice, on charges of committing genocide crimes against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, which is an important development in the way of holding Israel accountable for its crimes against the people. The Palestinians, not only during the war on Gaza, but also during the previous decades.
Israel has not been subjected to international legal punishment or accountability throughout its history, despite its many crimes against the Palestinian people, due to American protection for it in the UN Security Council and the use of its veto against any resolution condemning Israel, also because of political considerations and the difficulty of trying it before the International Criminal Court because it is not a member of the court, and therefore This is the first time that Israel has appeared before the International Court of Justice, the highest global judicial body affiliated with the United Nations, due to its accusation of committing genocide against the Palestinian people. The Court of Justice had previously decided on a case related to Israel, which was the non-binding advisory opinion issued by the court in 2004. Regarding the illegality of the separation wall that Israel built in the occupied Palestinian territories, but this trial, which began on Thursday, January 11, represents an important shift towards holding Israel accountable.
The crime of genocide
The 84-page lawsuit document filed by South Africa before the International Court of Justice included many crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, and fall under the concept of genocide contained in the United Nations Convention for the Prevention of the Crimes of Genocide in 2013. 1948, and includes the intentional act of completely or partially eliminating a group of people for racial, linguistic, or religious considerations. The indiscriminate Israeli bombing resulted in more than 25,000 casualties, 75% of whom were women and children, in addition to 7,000 people missing under the rubble, more than 60,000 injured, the complete destruction of 50% of the buildings in the Gaza Strip, and the displacement of more than 1.9 million Palestinians. Which represents more than 90% of the population of the Gaza Strip outside their homes and areas, and committing the crime of intentional forced displacement of Palestinians by turning Gaza into hell and a place in which it is impossible to live or live, through comprehensive indiscriminate bombing, complete destruction, complete siege, preventing food, electricity, water, medicine and fuel, and using weapons. Hunger against the Palestinians to break their steadfastness and will and forcibly displace them with the aim of emptying the Gaza Strip of its population and liquidating the Palestinian cause, as well as targeting schools and hospitals and leaving more than 26 hospitals completely out of service out of 36 hospitals, as well as targeting mosques, churches and heritage sites, targeting more than 107 journalists, and other crimes. Which violates the Convention on the Prevention of the Crimes of Genocide, and represents a violation of international humanitarian law, and proves that Israel had prior intentions on the part of its soldiers to commit genocide crimes, and that it went beyond the principle of self-defense that it declared, to a policy of collective punishment, which requires the prosecution of political leaders. and military personnel to commit these crimes.
Court and stop the aggression
Over the course of two days, January 11 and 12, the Court of Justice heard the pleadings of the South African representatives and the defense of Israel. The court began its deliberations, and is expected to issue a decision within two weeks, which includes either rejecting the case, or accepting it and taking a decision, or so-called precautionary measures, that binds Israel. To stop its aggression against the Gaza Strip, until the final ruling in the case, which may take years. The decisions of the International Court of Justice are binding on its members and may not be appealed. If Israel does not implement the court’s decision if it is issued to stop the aggression, the matter will be referred to the UN Security Council for implementation. Here America may use the right of veto, especially since the American administration considered that filing a lawsuit against Israel in the Court of Justice International is of no use.
However, if a ruling is issued years later accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinian people, in this case punitive measures will be taken against Israel’s political and military leaders by forming a special international criminal court similar to what happened in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Because the Court of Justice only adjudicates disputes between states, and does not prosecute individuals, while the International Criminal Court is the one that holds accountable and prosecutes individuals involved in committing war crimes and genocide.
Political and legal trial
Regardless of the ruling of the International Court of Justice, this trial represents great importance because it is a political and legal trial of Israel for the crimes it committed against the Palestinian people after the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation and before it, which exposes it to the international community, especially after the collapse of its narrative about the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation and that it defends itself against existential threats, which leads to more global sympathy for the Palestinian people, especially since the lawsuit before the court came from the state of South Africa, which represents a symbolic and political significance because it suffered the scourges of discrimination and apartheid during the rule of the white minority, and therefore the Palestinian people live The same suffering and the right to self-determination in ending the Israeli occupation and establishing its independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the 1967 borders.
Also, the decision of the Court of Justice is not only a condemnation or trial of Israel, but it is also a trial and political condemnation of the United States, the largest supporter of Israel politically, legally, and militarily, as it supplied it with internationally prohibited weapons, such as white phosphorus, which it used in Gaza, and its protection of Israel in the Security Council is what encouraged Israel to Committing crimes in the Gaza Strip and defying the will of the international community.
There is no doubt that Israel’s appearance before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide crimes against the Palestinian people, and its presence in the cage of international justice for the first time, represents an important step towards ending the Israeli occupation, stopping the aggression, and restoring the Palestinian people their legitimate rights.
* International relations expert at Al-Ahram
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2024-01-18 18:42:27