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UN whistleblower Craig Mokhiber said this morning: “The World Court has just rejected all Israeli, U.S. and western objections, ruled that the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (and all settlements), is entirely unlawful and declares Israel is committing racial segregation/apartheid in the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territories.]

“Importantly, they also ruled that the Oslo agreements do not and cannot trump the obligations of international law, which protect the rights of the Palestinian people.

“And it rules that Israel must evacuate all settlers, dismantle settlements and the wall, provide full reparations to Palestinian victims, and allow all Palestinians who were forced out to return.

“All states and international organizations must end any aid or assistance to the occupation and must take action to ensure that Israel complies and ends the occupation.” See his full thread. See full video of ruling, clips and written opinion is expected shortly here.

For background, see IPA release: “As World Court Rules on the Israeli Occupation, the U.S. Refuses to Recognize the Geneva Conventions.”

These legal scholars who have followed the case are available for interviews:

MICHAEL LYNK, mslynk@uwo.ca, @MichaelLynk5
Lynk served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory from 2016 to 2022. He is a non-resident fellow at DAWN. He will be participating in an X Space discussion at noon ET.

JOHN QUIGLEY, quigley.2@osu.edu
Professor emeritus of international law at Ohio State University, Quigley’s books include The Statehood of Palestine: International Law in the Middle East Conflict (Cambridge University Press). He said today: “The court was not asked whether Israel’s occupation was lawful from the beginning in 1967. It was not asked that question, which is the one it should have been asked. The occupation was illegal from the moment it began.”

FRANCIS BOYLE, fboyle@illinois.edu
Boyle is professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He represented Bosnia at the International Court of Justice (also called the World Court) in its Genocide Convention case against Yugoslavia. He has been featured on IPA news releases including “New World Court Order Against Israel: Could Uniting for Peace Stop Israel’s Assault?“

 

On Friday, the International Court of Justice (also called the World Court) is set to issue its “Advisory Opinion in respect of the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.” The case was heard in February, see video and report.

This case is years in the works, with the UN General Assembly having passed a resolution asking for the ruling in 2022. See Al-Haq position paper on the case, below.

This case is related to the 2004 ICJ case which found that Israel’s “construction of the wall and its associated regime are contrary to the relevant provisions of the Hague Regulations of 1907 and of the Fourth Geneva Convention.” The current case questions the legality of the 57-year Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza as a whole.

However, the U.S. and Israel have refused to recognize the applicability of the Geneva Convention to the Palestinians. See Sam Husseini questioning State Department officials, “State Dept. Deceits on Geneva Convention.”

The Times of Israel recently reported that Finance Minister Bezalel “Smotrich calls on Netanyahu to annex West Bank if World Court declares settlements illegal.”

In December, Akbar Shahid Ahmed reported in the Huffington Post in “Amid U.N. Security Council Intrigue, U.S. Privately Moves To Block Another Option For International Accountability For Gaza” that: “The Biden administration is finalizing plans to urge Switzerland to reject a request from Palestine and its supporters to hold a conference on violations of the Geneva Conventions.”

Jewish News Syndicate reports: “The International Criminal Court in The Hague is expected to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant within the next two weeks, according to Israel’s Channel 14.”

Netanyahu is scheduled to give a speech at the U.S. Capitol on July 24. Major protests are expected.

These legal scholars who have followed the case are available for interviews:

MICHAEL LYNK, mslynk@uwo.ca, @MichaelLynk5
Lynk served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory from 2016 to 2022. He is a non-resident fellow at DAWN.

JOHN QUIGLEY, quigley.2@osu.edu
Professor emeritus of international law at Ohio State University, Quigley’s books include The Statehood of Palestine: International Law in the Middle East Conflict (Cambridge University Press). He recently wrote the piece “Forget the Security Council: The General Assembly Can Admit Palestine.”

FRANCIS BOYLE, fboyle@illinois.edu
Boyle is professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He represented Bosnia at the International Court of Justice in its Genocide Convention case against Yugoslavia. He has been interviewed by MSNBC, CBS News and other outlets on the South Africa genocide case against Israel. See a recent interview by Rachel Blevins.

The Genocide Convention case is ongoing and has resulted in Orders by the ICJ for Israel to stop its offensive in Rafah, which Israel and the U.S. have continued to ignore.

The Al-Haq report states that “the prohibition in Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that ‘the Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies,’ was intended to prevent ‘a practise adopted during the Second World War by some Powers which transferred parts of their own populations into occupied territories for political and racial reasons or, as they claimed, in order to colonise those territories.’ Under international law, there is neither ‘permanent occupation’ nor ‘settler-occupation.’ Therefore, Israel’s policies and practices are more akin to those of colonial powers than those of an occupying power.”

 

UN whistleblower Craig Mokhiber just posted on X: “BREAKING: The #ICJ has just ruled in favor of additional provisional measures in the Genocide case against Israel, ordering Israel to immediately halt its military offensive and other activities in Rafah and to allow aid and genocide investigators in.”

He added that the 13-2 decision “was supported by almost all judges. Only [Julia] Sebutinde (the Ugandan judge who always votes in favor of Israel) and [Aharon] Barak (the Israeli ad hoc judge) voted against. Barak was absent from the courtroom.” See video clip, full video, and written Orders on X and PDF.

The Court stated: “Israel must 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.”

See recent oral arguments by South Africa which led to today’s additional Orders.

FRANCIS BOYLE, fboyle@illinois.edu
Boyle is professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He represented Bosnia at the International Court of Justice in its Genocide Convention case against Yugoslavia. He has been interviewed by MSNBC, CBS News and other outlets on the South Africa case. See prior IPA news releases.

He said today: “Congratulations to the Republic of South Africa and to the International Court of Justice! Exactly what we need to stop the ongoing genocidal humanitarian catastrophe in Rafah at the United Nations Security Council and in the United Nations General Assembly under the Uniting For Peace Resolution.” See IPA news release: “New World Court Order Against Israel: Could Uniting for Peace Stop Israel’s Assault?” about how the General Assembly can address repeated U.S. government vetoes of resolutions addressing Israel’s actions in the UN Security Council.

MICHAEL LYNK, mslynk@uwo.ca, @MichaelLynk5
Lynk served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory from 2016 to 2022. He is a non-resident fellow at Democracy for the Arab World Now and wrote the piece “Measured Yet Damning: The ICJ’s Genocide Ruling on Israel” earlier this year.

JOHN QUIGLEY, quigley.2@osu.edu
Professor emeritus of international law at Ohio State University, Quigley’s books include The Statehood of Palestine: International Law in the Middle East Conflict (Cambridge University Press). He recently wrote the piece “Forget the Security Council: The General Assembly Can Admit Palestine.”

 

The International Court of Justice has scheduled a hearing for Thursday regarding South Africa’s request for additional emergency measures in its Genocide Convention case against Israel. South Africa’s arguments will be livestreamed here at 3 p.m. local time, 9 a.m. U.S. ET.

The South African application states: “The situation brought about by the Israeli assault on Rafah, and the extreme risk it poses to humanitarian supplies and basic services into Gaza, to the survival of the Palestinian medical system, and to the very survival of Palestinians in Gaza as a group, is not only an escalation of the prevailing situation, but gives rise to new facts that are causing irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people in Gaza. This amounts to a change in the situation in Gaza since the Court’s Order of 28 March 2024, within the meaning of Articles 75(3) and 76(2) of the Rules of the Court.

“The changed circumstances in Gaza are manifest in at least three key respects overall. First, Rafah is now effectively the last refuge in Gaza for 1.5 million Palestinians from Rafah and those displaced by Israeli action, and the last viable centre in Gaza for habitation, public administration, and the provision of basic public services, including medical care. Second, in seizing control of the Rafah and Kerem Shalom (Karem Abu Salem) crossings, Israel is now in direct, total control of all entry and exit to Gaza, has cut it off from all humanitarian and medical supplies, goods and fuel on which the survival of the population of Gaza depends, and is preventing medical evacuations. Third, the remaining population and medical facilities are at extreme risk, given the recent evidence of evacuation zones being treated as extermination zones, the mass destruction and mass graves at Gaza’s other hospitals, and the use by Israel of Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) to identify ‘kill lists.’ All three present the gravest and most urgent risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights in issue in the case, and require urgent intervention and investigation.”

Available for interviews:

FRANCIS BOYLE, fboyle@illinois.edu
Boyle is professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He represented Bosnia at the International Court of Justice in its Genocide Convention case against Yugoslavia. He has been interviewed by MSNBC, CBS News and other outlets on the South Africa case. See prior IPA news news releases.

JOHN QUIGLEY, quigley.2@osu.edu
Professor emeritus of international law at Ohio State University, Quigley’s books include The Statehood of Palestine: International Law in the Middle East Conflict (Cambridge University Press). He recently wrote the piece “Forget the Security Council: The General Assembly Can Admit Palestine” for Opinio Juris.

DANIEL KOVALIK, dkovalik@outlook.com, @danielmkovalik
Kovalik is author of the just-published book The Case for Palestine: Why It Matters and Why You Should Care.

See from Sam Husseini: “Creation of ‘Kill Zones’ and What ‘Occupied Territory’ Means” about the State Department’s refusal when repeatedly questioned to say that the Geneva Conventions apply to Gaza.

 

Monday Morning, Nicaragua presented its case to the International Court of Justice against Germany under the Genocide Convention for “facilitating genocide” by Israel against the Palestinians in Gaza. See AP feed of the hearing.

See clips of the hearing, from Nicaraguan representatives, noting that UN officials were warning of crimes against humanity as early as Oct. 10. Another lawyer for Nicaragua argues: “Nobody owns the trademark of genocide. No state, not Israel, not Germany, can be free of the fundamental rules of international law.” Al Jazeera English reports: “Nicaragua to ICJ: End Germany’s support of Israeli ‘genocide’ in Gaza.”

See IPA news release from Friday which features experts and activists in the U.S. and Germany, still available for interviews: “Monday: Nicaragua v Germany at the World Court on Israel and Genocide Convention.”

The New York Times on Monday claimed: “The court has not yet accepted the case, but it is obliged to react quickly to requests for emergency measures, as in this case.” Prof. Francis Boyle (featured on the IPA news release from Friday) commented: “This is preposterous. Of course the court accepted the case. That is why the court previously issued an order for the hearings today and tomorrow. Nicaragua has basically won just by getting the hearing of its claims today in front of the court and in front of the entire world. A very powerful case against Germany for aiding and abetting Israeli genocide against the Palestinians as well as implicating the U.S. for collaborating with Germany.” Boyle noted that exactly 40 years ago, Nicaragua filed suit against the U.S. at the ICJ for its illegal war against Nicaragua. Boyle added that Nicaragua won that lawsuit and that the ICJ ruling against the U.S. was useful in getting charges dismissed against people engaging in civil resistance against the U.S. policy. See his book, Defending Civil Resistance Under International Law.

Today Biden is in Madison, Wisconsin. The group Madison for a World BEYOND War and others are organizing protests.
Stefania Sani, co-coordinator of Madison for a World BEYOND War, explained, “The world’s leading weapons dealer, the U.S. government, should send no more weapons to Ukraine, Israel or anywhere in the world. We know that these billions of dollars of our tax money are urgently needed for humans and the planet, not for weapons to kill and maim people.”

The group notes: “A new Gallup poll March 27 shows 74 percent of Democrats disapprove of Israel’s handling of the war on Palestine, and 55 percent of all Americans disapprove. The Biden administration is shifting its public rhetoric against the Gaza genocide, but the Guardian reported on March 29 that the U.S. government is quietly transferring billions more in weapons to Israel.

“More than one-third of Americans (poll here) believe Israel is committing genocide. Almost half of those surveyed aged 18-29, 49 percent, say Israel is committing genocide.  An Israel Palestine ceasefire resolution now stands before the Wisconsin legislature, Resolution 92.  Madison City Council unanimously passed a ceasefire resolution in December.

“Congress has been advancing supplemental funding legislation which includes $14.3 billion for weapons and military ‘assistance’ for Israel while Israel commits genocide in Gaza; and $61 billion to continue the war in Ukraine when there is no military solution — only a diplomatic one.

“Wisconsinites will demonstrate on Monday to call for ceasefires in Gaza, Ukraine and everywhere. The Biden administration and Congress need to stop sending weapons. Humans should negotiate to settle conflicts, not kill each other.”

Available for interviews: Janet Parker, Stefania Sani, warabolition@gmail.com

 

On Monday, April 8, the International Court of Justice, also called the World Court, will begin two days of hearings on Nicaragua’s lawsuit against Germany under the Genocide Convention for “enabling Israel to perpetrate genocidal acts.”

The hearings will be viewable here beginning 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET). In January, in a similar suit brought by South Africa against Israel, the ICJ declared that Israel must stop all genocidal acts against the Palestinians in Gaza and in March, it gave additional orders.

The Nicaraguan application states: “In 2004, well before the most recent assault of Israel against the Gaza Strip, the Court had reaffirmed that Palestine was an occupied territory and that the Palestinian people had a right to self determination. The Court also recalled that all States had the obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining that situation. [PDF of 2004 ICJ ruling] Germany ignored this obligation then and has compounded this breach by continuing to aid and assist Israel after the most recent and even grosser violations of peremptory norms of general international law and conventional obligations. …

“Germany has provided political, financial and military support to Israel fully aware at the time of authorization that the military equipments would be used in the commission of great breaches of international law by this State and in disregard of its own obligations. In particular, the military equipment provided by Germany enabling Israel to perpetrate genocidal acts and other atrocities, included supplies to the front line and warehouses, and assurances of future supplies such as ammunition, technology and diverse components necessary for the Israeli military.” [See PDF of Nicaraguan application.]

The following analysts and activists are available for interviews:

JOHN QUIGLEY, quigley.2@osu.edu
Professor emeritus of international law at Ohio State University, Quigley’s books include The Statehood of Palestine: International Law in the Middle East Conflict (Cambridge University Press). Currently (Friday), the UN Security Council is discussing the Israeli attack on Gaza. Quigley was featured on the IPA news release “Beyond U.S. Isolation at UN, What’s Not Being Done” about the Uniting for Peace process which allows the General Assembly to assert itself when the Security Council fails in its responsibility to maintain peace and security.

FRANCIS BOYLE, fboyle@illinois.edu
Boyle is professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He represented Bosnia at the ICJ in its Genocide Case against Yugoslavia. He was recently on the IPA news release dealing with the Nicaragua case. Boyle has been in contact with the Nicaraguan legal team and shared material with them. See his recent appearances on “Flashpoints,” “Democracy Now” and MSNBC.

DIETER KATTERMANN, Dieter.Kattermann@gmx.de
Kattermann works with a coalition of German peace groups which just released a statement: “No More German Contribution to the Genocide In Gaza!” which states: “A long trail of genocide runs through [German] history in the 20th century, beginning with the Nama and Herero in its former colony in what is now Namibia and continuing with the Holocaust of Jews, Sinti and Roma, as well as many other population groups, especially in Eastern Europe, in the course of the Second World War. Has it really operated a turnaround? Today, it denies the colonialist character of Zionism and supports Israel’s current genocidal policy, politically, ideologically and above all militarily, through a misconceived solidarity with the Jewish victims of that time. In 2023, it even increased its arms export licenses for Israel tenfold, most of them after 7 October. Germany is Israel’s second most important arms supplier after the USA, but the USA has legally ruled out charges of genocide at the ICJ. Germany was also one of the first to end vital support to, and through, UNRWA. … On these two days [April 8 and 9], rallies and vigils will be organized in front of the International Court of Justice in The Hague and in front of many embassies and consulates of the Federal Republic of Germany abroad.”

HEINRICH BUECKER, email@hbuecker.net, @berlinSTOPwar
Buecker is with Coop Anti-War Café in Berlin and will be holding protests on Saturday there.

CodePink is organizing rallies outside the German mission to the UN and at the consulates Los Angeles and San Francisco on Monday, April 8. The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom is holding a rally at the German embassy in Washington, D.C. on Monday at 2 p.m.

[Meanwhile, on Friday, the group Law for Palestine put out a statement on “Urgent Legal Action Against German Arms Exports to Israel,” attempting to stop delivery of weapons including “500,000 rounds of ammunition for machine guns.” See link for report and livestream.]  

Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now stated that the U.S.’s acceptance of Israel’s assurances that U.S. weapons are not being used in rights violations “is absurd. It invites global mockery and disdain to hear such a statement issued in front of the world by the Biden administration.”

Commondreams reports on the latest from the World Court: “ICJ Issues New Order in Genocide Case as Another Gaza Child Starves to Death.”

FRANCIS BOYLE, fboyle@illinois.edu
Boyle is professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He represented Bosnia and Herzegovina at the ICJ noted a number of shortcomings in the latest International Court of Justice Orders. South Africa’s suit against Israel quotes from Boyle’s suit against Yugoslavia. Boyle said: “If Israel invades Rafah as it is currently planning to do and inflicts tremendous civilian casualties on the Palestinians there that will undoubtedly happen, the ICJ will have more genocidal egg on its face just like when it refused to give me what I asked for in my Second Request for Provisional Measures of Protection followed by the Genocidal Massacre at Srebrenica. RSA [Republic of South Africa] warned them of this outcome if they did not give RSA what it was asking. The Court did not give RSA what it was asking for. I shudder to think of the consequences.” Boyle also refuted the Biden administration’s claim that the UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire was “non-binding.”

What’s needed, Boyle — as well as others, like former UN official Craig Mokhiber — argued is “for the UN General Assembly to address the issue through a Uniting for Peace resolution to:

“Suspend Israel from participation in its activities as the General Assembly did to the former criminal apartheid regime in South Africa and to the genocidal Yugoslavia;

“Set up an International Criminal Tribunal for Israel in order to prosecute its highest level civilian and military officials for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide;

“Recommend economic sanctions against Israel;

“Recommend UN members sever diplomatic relations with Israel;

“Admit Palestine as a full fledged UN member state.”

Boyle, a dual U.S.-Irish national, also welcomed news that Ireland would join the South Africa ICJ Genocide Case against Israel and urged activists to continue to petition other countries to join the suit. Only Nicaragua has done so.

The ICJ has given the dates of April 8 and 9 to hear Nicaragua’s own suit against Germany under the Genocide Convention. See Boyle’s comments on that case. Ramadan ends around April 9 and many speculate that that could be when Israel invades Rafah.

Nicaragua charges: “Germany has provided political, financial and military support to Israel fully aware at the time of authorization that the military equipment would be used in the commission of great breaches of international law by this State and in disregard of its own obligations.”

On Wednesday, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller rebuffed the possibility of Uniting for Peace proceeding at the UN.

Also on Wednesday, Miller, in response to a question from Sam Husseini about whether the State Department recognized that the Geneva Conventions applied to the occupied Palestinian territories, proclaimed: “We of course accept the Geneva Conventions”; but after the Thursday briefing when asked why he didn’t specify occupied Palestinian territory, he said: “I said exactly what I meant” and refused to address if the State Department recognized the Geneva Conventions for the Palestinians. Boyle had warned in November that such a posture would turn “Gaza into a free-fire zone.”

In December, Akbar Shahid Ahmed reported in Huffington Post in “Amid U.N. Security Council Intrigue, U.S. Privately Moves To Block Another Option For International Accountability For Gaza” that: “The Biden administration is finalizing plans to urge Switzerland to reject a request from Palestine and its supporters to hold a conference on violations of the Geneva Conventions.”

Middle East Monitor reports: “U.S. threatens to cut funding to Palestinian Authority if it obtains UN recognition, supports ICC case against Israel.”

 

FRANCIS BOYLE, fboyle@illinois.edu
Boyle is professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. Boyle’s books include The Bosnian People Charge Genocide (1996) Palestine, Palestinians and International Law (2009) and World Politics, Human Rights and International Law (2021). He was just on the Rachel Blevins Show and has recently been on Flashpoints, Democracy Now and MSNBC.

He said today: “As many have noted, Biden administration rhetoric is meaningless as it arms and backs Israel. In fact, by saying that Israel needs to have a plan in place for civilians before going into Rafah, as it has been doing, the Biden administration is effectively giving Israel a greenlight to do just that. That plan seems to include camps that have been built by Egypt. What Blinken’s trips to the Mideast have been about isn’t about making peace, they have almost certainly been about hatching a scheme whereby the Israelis force Palestinians into Egypt and the Egyptian government — which hates the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas — runs the camps and other corrupt Arab governments fund the illegal scheme.

“Clearly, with the Israelis rejecting a permanent ceasefire, an increasing threat to peace is quite possible.

“Seeing such threats, South Africa has just returned to the International Court of Justice, stating ‘in light of the new facts and changes in the situation in Gaza — particularly the situation of widespread starvation — brought about by the continuing egregious breaches of the’ Genocide Convention by Israel ‘and its ongoing manifest violations of the provisional measures indicated by’ the ICJ on Jan. 26.” [See PDF of South Africa’s application, filed on Wednesday.]

Boyle represented Bosnia and Herzegovina at the ICJ and the South African application quotes his second request for provisional measures of protection: “The extreme gravity of the situation facing Palestinian men, women, children and babies, and the existential risk the Palestinian people in Gaza as a part of the Palestinian national or ethnical group face as a result of Israel’s genocidal military campaign demands further action by the Court. To this end, the Court is reminded of the application for additional provisional measures made by Bosnia in 1993 in the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide … case. The written application entreated: ‘Make no mistake about it: This will be the last opportunity that this Court shall have to save both the people and State of Bosnia and Herzegovina from extermination and annihilation by means of genocide by the Respondent. God will record your response to our Request for the rest of eternity.'”

Boyle also notes that Nicaragua has recently brought suit at the ICJ against Germany. The Nicaraguan application states: “In 2004, well before the most recent assault of Israel against the Gaza Strip, the Court had reaffirmed that Palestine was an occupied territory and that the Palestinian people had a right to self determination. The Court also recalled that all States had the obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining that situation. [PDF of 2004 ICJ ruling] Germany ignored this obligation then and has compounded this breach by continuing to aid and assist Israel after the most recent and even grosser violations of peremptory norms of general international law and conventional obligations. …

“Germany has provided political, financial and military support to Israel fully aware at the time of authorization that the military equipments would be used in the commission of great breaches of international law by this State and in disregard of its own obligations. In particular, the military equipment provided by Germany enabling Israel to perpetrate genocidal acts and other atrocities, included supplies to the front line and warehouses, and assurances of future supplies such as ammunition, technology and diverse components necessary for the Israeli military.” [See PDF of Nicaraguan application.]

Boyle added that he “expects that the ICJ will shortly call for an expedited hearing on the Nicaragua case. I expect Nicaragua will get some sort of provisional measures. It’s noteworthy that this is being done by Nicaragua — my teacher, colleague and friend, Abram Chayes successfully represented Nicaragua in its suit against the U.S. government in the 1980s which was used by the solidarity movement to stop the U.S. attack on Nicaragua then.

“Such legal action is difficult for Nicaragua or any other state to take against the U.S. government now since it has a reservation on Article 9 of the Genocide Convention granting the ICJ powers to adjudicate disputes. Other states backing Israel, like Canada, Britain and other European states, as with Germany, are vulnerable to such suits.”

 

FRANCIS BOYLE, fboyle@illinois.edu
Boyle is professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. His books include The Bosnian People Charge Genocide. The U.S. government again was the sole veto, killing a third ceasefire resolution at the UN Security Council on Tuesday. The International Court of Justice is continuing hearings on the Israeli occupation of Palestine, see videos. This is a separate case from South Africa invoking the Genocide Convention before the Court, which resulted in an Order from the Court which it reiterated on Friday with a reporting mechanism on that case due before the end of the month.

The Arab Group at the UN on Tuesday indicated that they may bring the U.S. government before the General Assembly to defend its veto. Boyle highlights that the General Assembly could do the following under Uniting for Peace: “Suspend Israel from participation in its activities as the General Assembly did to the former criminal apartheid regime in South Africa and to the genocidal Yugoslavia;

“Set up an International Criminal Tribunal for Israel in order to prosecute its highest level civilian and military officials for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide;

“Recommend economic sanctions against Israel to UN Member States;

“Recommend UN Member States sever diplomatic relations with Israel;

“Admit Palestine as a full fledged UN Member State.”

KATHY KELLY, kathy.vcnv@gmail.com, @voiceinwild
Kelly is the board president of World BEYOND War and a co-coordinator of the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal. The Progressive just published her piece “Israel Is Assaulting Hospitals in Gaza With Full U.S. Support.”

Kelly writes: “Tragically, hospitals in Gaza and the West Bank have been attacked, invaded, bombed and destroyed. News of additional Israeli attacks is being reported on a daily basis. Last week, ‘Democracy Now!‘ interviewed Dr. Yasser Khan, a Canadian ophthalmologist and eye surgeon who recently returned from a humanitarian surgical mission at the European Hospital in Khan Yunis in Gaza. Dr. Khan spoke of bombings taking place every few hours resulting in a constant influx of mass casualties. The majority of patients he treated were children from age 2 to 17. He saw horrific eye injuries, shattered faces, shrapnel wounds, abdominal injuries, limbs severed above the bone, and traumas caused by drone launched laser guided missiles. Amid the overcrowding and chaos, health care workers tended to patients while lacking basic equipment, including anesthesia. Patients lay on the ground in unsterile conditions, vulnerable to infection and disease. Most of them also suffered from severe hunger. …

“In 2009, on a smaller, yet still horrific scale, I witnessed an Israeli onslaught in Gaza called ‘Operation Cast Lead.’ In the emergency room of the Al Shifa hospital, Dr. Saeed Abuhassan, an orthopedic surgeon, described experiences similar to Khan’s. This surgeon grew up in Chicago, very close to the neighborhood where I lived. I asked him what he would want me to tell our neighbors back home. He listed a litany of horrors and then he stopped. ‘No,’ he said. ‘First, you must tell them that U.S. taxpayer money paid for all of these weapons.’

“Taxpayer money feeds the bloated, swollen Pentagon budget. U.S. Senators, last week, cowed by AIPAC, decided to send Israel an additional $14.1 billion to boost military spending. Only three Senators voted against the bill.”

On Tuesday the group If Not Now commented: “This morning Biden vetoed a ceasefire in Gaza. Tonight he goes to a fundraiser hosted by AIPAC billionaire Haim Saban, with donors giving up to $250,000 each.”

 

The South African Government has just “made an urgent request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to consider whether the decision announced by Israel to extend its military operations in Rafah, which is the last refuge for surviving people in Gaza, requires that the court uses its power to prevent further imminent breach of the rights of Palestinians in Gaza. “Under Article 75(1) of the Rules of Court, ‘The Court may at any time decide to examine proprio motu whether the circumstances of the case require the indication of provisional measures which ought to be taken or complied with by any or all of the parties.’ …

“The South African government said it was gravely concerned that the unprecedented military offensive against Rafah, as announced by the State of Israel, has already led to and will result in further large scale killing, harm and destruction. This would be in serious and irreparable breach both of the Genocide Convention and of the Court’s Order of 26 January 2024.” See from Jan. 26: “World Court Orders Israel to Abide by Genocide Convention and Stop Killing.”

The UN Security Council is expected to vote on a resolution based on the ICJ Order of provisional measures calling for a ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Middle East Eye reports: “Nicaragua has warned Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Canada that it will take the countries to the International Court of Justice over allegations that weapons they are providing Israel are being used in a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”

Al-Haq and other Palestinian human rights and legal groups have just released the statement: “Deadly Assault on Rafah and Imminent Forced Expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza in Continuing Nakba, Requires Urgent International Intervention.”

FRANCIS BOYLE, fboyle@illinois.edu
Boyle is professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. Boyle’s books include The Bosnian People Charge Genocide (1996) Palestine, Palestinians and International Law (2009) and World Politics, Human Rights and International Law (2021). He was featured on the news release “On Israel: Lawyer Who Applied Genocide Convention for Bosnia Recommends it Now for Palestinians.”

He said today: “This is a good move by South Africa. The Court should issue new provisional measures of protection for the Palestinians especially given that Israel has continued its genocidal acts in wanton violation of the Court’s Order of January 26 and is threatening catastrophic genocide against the Palestinians by invading Rafah.” See from the Bisan Center for Research and Development: “128 Days on Israel’s Aggression and Two Weeks after the ICJ Ruling, Israel is Continuing its Genocide.”

“The warning from Nicaragua is significant. It could lead to World Court lawsuits against these four States for aiding and abetting Israeli genocide against the Palestinians, an Emergency Hearing by the World Court, another round of oral arguments, and new provisional measures of protection for the benefit of the Palestinians that would go to the Security Council for enforcement and, if that does not succeed, to the United Nations General Assembly for enforcement under the Uniting for Peace Resolution (1950). It is telling that Nicaragua is doing this because they won a resounding World Court Lawsuit against the United States from 1984 to 1986 for illegally mining their harbors. Although the United States richly deserves it too, it would be difficult for Nicaragua to successfully sue the United States for aiding and abetting Israeli genocide against the Palestinians because of its disingenuous Reservation to Article 9 of the Genocide Convention denying such jurisdiction to the World Court.”

Nicaragua has also filed a Declaration of Intervention in the South Africa case, which other countries can do and several, including Jordan and Bangladesh, have stated they will.

See New York Times article from Monday: “Dutch Court Moves to Block Export of Fighter Jet Parts to Israel.”