A former Israeli defense minister has said Israel is conducting an ethnic cleansing campaign in northern Gaza, where Israeli troops are forcibly expelling civilians under the threat of death. Moshe Yaalon, a former member of the ruling Likud party, was defense minister under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from 2013 to 2016 during the 2014 Gaza War. “There’s no Beit Lahia. There’s no Beit Hanoun. They’re now operating in Jabalia. They’re basically cleaning the territory of Arabs,” he said.
AntiWar.com reports “Gaza’s Civil Defense Says Nearly 100 Killed by Israeli Attacks Over 24 Hours.”
MARJORIE COHN, marjorielegal@gmail.com, @mcohn.bsky.social
Cohn is professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, dean of the People’s Academy of International Law. She recently wrote the piece “U.S. Response to ICC Netanyahu Warrant Could Deal Death Blow to International Law.”
She writes: “In 2003, Congress passed and Bush signed the American Service-Members’ Protection Act, which is known as ‘The Hague Invasion Act.’ It says that if a U.S. or allied national is detained by the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands, the U.S. military can use armed force to extricate them. This would apply to close U.S. ally Israel. …
“Now, all 124 states parties to the Rome Statute have a legal obligation to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant and send them to the ICC if they are caught in the state’s territory. Several states parties — including Canada, Italy, the U.K., Belgium and the Netherlands — have expressed their intention to comply with this legal duty.
“‘The states that signed the Rome convention are obliged to implement the decision of the court. It’s not optional,’ High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said while in Cyprus for a meeting of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.
“But if any country sends Netanyahu and Gallant to The Hague, the U.S. may well send troops in to extract them.”