Reasons why the UN Court considers it plausible that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. international

The Hague-based International Court of Justice this Friday considered it “plausible” that Israel is carrying out actions in Gaza that amount to genocide. It does not go into the essence of the matter – it was no longer its responsibility and it would take years to do so – nor does it order a ceasefire, but it declares itself competent to investigate the allegation presented by South Africa and Asks Israel to adopt all necessary measures to stop genocide against the population of the Strip. The Court’s President, John E. Donoghue, has assured that “at least some of the acts and omissions charged by South Africa” ​​can be classified within the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide approved by the General Assembly. of the United Nations in 1948.

Article II of the convention identifies five acts that may constitute genocide, as long as it can be proven that they were committed. ,With intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” The first is the killing of members of that group; the second is causing serious injury to their physical or mental integrity. The President of the Court Cited “large numbers of deaths and injuries” caused by the Israeli attack on Friday. After clarifying that the figures “cannot be independently verified”, he cited 25,700 dead and more than 63,000 injured. , which represents more than 1% of the population and in daily deaths exceeds that in the first month of the war in Ukraine. The worst in Iraq. These figures are practically the same as those provided this Friday by the health ministry of the Hamas government in Gaza. matches.

Donoghue also recalled that more than 360,000 housing units have been destroyed or partially damaged, citing figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. According to figures from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, before the war, 2.3 million people lived in Gaza, with an average of 5.6 people per household. This shows that 87% of the population’s houses have been damaged. It is estimated that if the conflict ended tomorrow half a million Gazans would have no place to return to.

The President provided further information from the United Nations: 1.7 million Gazans have been displaced from their homes. The vast majority is in the south, where Israeli forces are now focusing their offensive, particularly on the city of Khan Yunis. They live crowded together in shelters, private houses or tents during cold and rainy days, trying to eat at least once a day. The President has cited statements from UN agencies, such as that of his emergency aid coordinator, Martin Griffiths, who warned earlier this month that “Gaza had become absolutely uninhabitable” and “famine was just around the corner”; Or the World Health Organization, which has reported serious levels of hunger among 93% of the population.

These elements refer to the third section of Article II: “deliberately subjecting the group to conditions of existence tending to lead to its total or partial physical destruction.” The court will later determine whether this was intentional on Israel’s part. For now, he has justified his temporary measures by saying before issuing the sentence that “there is a serious risk of worsening the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza”.

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Another element of the exhibit is the charge of “incitement to genocide.” In Israel, press commentators opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in recent weeks that extremist statements by his far-right coalition partners and the most radical representatives of his party Likud have made it easier for Israel to be in the dock. From The Hague; Since South Africa partly supports its complaint in public statements by ministers, representatives, soldiers and even artists.

They pointed to Heritage Minister Amazai Eliyahu, who considered launching a nuclear bomb at the Strip; Or Nissim Waturri, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, for calling for Gaza to be “wiped off the face of the earth” where “no one is innocent” and “exterminating” his estimated 100,000 Palestinians left in northern Gaza. Another Likud deputy, Talley Gottlieb, said “don’t feel sorry for disgruntled Gazans” because “there aren’t any” and his party colleague Galit Distel Atbarian, a former public diplomacy minister, described “vindictive and brutal” behavior from the military. Urged to do. behaviour. ,

However, the President of the Court has not gone to marginal examples, but has instead chosen three statements from weighty leaders. First, on the part of Defense Minister Yoav Galant, when he announced a “complete siege” on Gaza – “no electricity, no food, no fuel” – and ended “all limits” to deal with Hamas’s “human animals”. Did it.

Second, shortly after the war began, from the Labor Party and from President Isaac Herzog, an internationally considered moderate, who tried to block Netanyahu’s judicial reform: “There is an entire nation that is responsible. “The rhetoric that citizens were not aware, they were not involved, is not true.” The president also quoted Israel Katz, then the energy and today’s head of foreign affairs: “We will fight the terrorist organization Hamas and destroy it. The entire population of Gaza has been ordered to leave immediately. We will win. Unless they leave the world, they will not get a single drop of water or a single battery.

The choice of phrases appears to support the South African thesis that “incitement to genocide” cannot be presented as separate phrases from “groups out of control”, but rather “emanate from the highest levels” of government. . In contrast, Israel argues that those words have not been implemented. To support this, he presented to the court more than 30 minutes of declassified documents from both government meetings and communications between military commanders, in which he authorized the entry of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave and the establishment of field hospitals and approaches Recommended. A hospital ship has been offered by several countries off the coast of Gaza, the newspaper reported on Thursday the new York Times.

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