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It feels like Déjà vu.
Israel launched violent evictions, attacks on the Al Aqsa Mosque and persecution of Palestinians. Hamas launches rockets at Israel. Israel bombed large areas of Gaza’s population, saying Hamas uses civilians as “human shields”. Palestinians have said they have nowhere to hide from airstrikes. Towers bombed by Israeli forces into the rubble. Mothers mourn the loss of their children.
The shameless violence is horrible. At least 254 Palestinians (including 66 children) and 12 people in Israel (including two children) have been living in the last phase of this deep asymmetric conflict. Once again, UN officials have stated that the Israeli bombing of Gaza is disproportionate to war crimes.
The situation is in a “doom loop,” and there seems to be no escape. This time, though, it’s different. This time, it is facing the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The ICC has a direct investigation into the situation in Palestine. Some argue that the ICC cannot investigate Palestine because it is not a state, which is not the view shared by the courts or most of its members. He was questioned when ICC judges gave the green light this year to conduct an official investigation into the alleged atrocities in Palestine this year.
It is not yet clear what actions or actors may be the target of the ICC. But all indications are that Hamas leaders and Israeli government officials are being investigated. He is charged with sixteen war crimes, including rocket fire on Israeli civilian areas. The Israeli government has been accused of war crimes for repeatedly bombing Gaza and for establishing and expanding Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Israel has rejected any investigation by the ICC, saying the tribunal – an organization set up in 2002 to investigate and prosecute mass atrocities – is illegal and encourages “terrorist groups”. Israel loudly supported and coordinated the disinformation campaign against the ICC with the administration of US President Donald Trump, as well as supporting sanctions against key ICC employees. Right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that the court represented “pure anti-Semitism” for investigating Palestinian war crimes and criticized the right-wing government – including those with open anti-Semitic attitudes. the court.
This hysterical disgrace is believed by some experts to be the first time the ICC has begun examining allegations against Hamas, as Israel will gladly cooperate with this investigation and provide researchers with access to the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Israeli government, however, has made it clear that it will not cooperate with the ICC probe in its crimes and that Israeli courts will not prosecute Israel’s alleged war criminals as well.
In the face of many, the Israeli government makes radical rhetoric against the ICC that the state holds more accountable for the atrocity the court is investigating. Netanyahu also tells Israeli soldiers that they are not “afraid” of the “commission of inquiry, investigations, [and] inspections ”on war crimes. In the midst of a military conflict, Netanyahu effectively told soldiers that the Geneva Conventions were not their concern.
Yet, Israel and Hamas have no break. As the recent violence has shown, no one is interested in mitigating their behavior just because the ICC is watching. Not surprisingly. In reports of UN reports, independent investigations and commissions of inquiry, Hamas has committed war crimes and Israel – war crimes and crimes against humanity, while the ICC has recommended an investigation. Israel has rejected all of them, with state officials harshly attacking their perpetrators.
Some may conclude that for now ICC is an irrelevant player. Far away.
Seeing that the world was broadcasting live war crimes on social media, ICC Attorney General Fatou Bensouda said he saw the ongoing violence as “very serious” and that “[w]We are carrying out a very detailed follow-up and I remember that an investigation has been opened and the evolution of these events may also be something we look at ”.
Bensouda will be replaced at the ICC this summer by British lawyer Karim Khan. This week’s atrocities will effectively make it impossible to continue with the ICC investigation. It would be very humiliating for the institution to throw its blows at the utmost contempt for international humanitarian law.
Similarly, the expulsion of civilian Sheikh Jarrah from Jerusalem and the massive bombing of civilian homes and infrastructure by Israel in response to Hamas rockets will convince more people that the court must intervene and hold the perpetrators accountable.
The situation will lead to more people consuming and convincing themselves that respected human rights organizations like B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch are right in saying that the treatment of Palestinians against Israel is persecution and apartheid. Current events are removing the term for the term apartheid from being applied to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Leading journalists and political figures are using the term to describe the situation in Palestine.
This will make people more confident that the ICC should intervene. It is becoming clear that the status quo of Palestinians and Israelis is being driven by atrocities, persecution and impunity for the oppressive conditions that Palestinians face in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and Israel.
The ICC cannot bring peace to Israel-Palestine. It cannot end with apartheid. It is not the solution. But it should be part of that. Every hour that passes the ICC provides only evidence that it should continue its investigation and ultimately give orders to those responsible for international crimes in Palestine.
The court is watching. The authors do not consider this fact to be at risk.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the attitude of the Al Jazeera editorial.
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