Israel and Hamas: War that violates all rules

With aggressor in lane Loop The heartbreaking images were broadcast live by his victims for nearly a month. caused great destructionrelated to Bodies were pulled from the ruins and about the hundreds of civilians mourning their dead families,The commission of war crimes is on the rise. But the narrative imposed in such a grave conflict and the moral judgment these perverted acts deserve are one thing, the other is the acceptance of the reported facts by law. assumptions of international humanitarian law – distinguishing between three major crimes: war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide so that those most responsible can be held accountable and their actions do not go unpunished.

Authorized institution TPI

Although war crimes are limited to these committed during armed conflicts An event that occurs within a country or between two states, the last two can also occur in peacetime. Is that it? International Criminal Court The ICC (headquartered in The Hague, founded in 2002 and with 123 countries as members) is the only person authorized to judge them. The ICC’s definition of war crimes is comprehensive;Article 8 of the Rome Statute, which gave rise to the tribunel – but includes, among others: Intentional attack against civilians and civilian objects that are not military targets, hospitals, historical monuments and buildings dedicated to religion, art, education, science and charity, the use of prohibited methods of warfare and the use of prohibited means of warfare.

In proving this intention lies precisely one of its aims. main challenges and the controversies facing war crimes charges. Not every attack against civilians can be considered a war crime because Attacking civilian infrastructure may be deemed militarily necessary. In fact, this has historically been one of the arguments Israel has repeatedly used to blame Hamas. They hide their structures in schools and hospitals and use civilians as human shields. He did so this week when the Israeli Army confirmed it. Bomb attack on Jabalia refugee camp, It targeted a Hamas commander who participated in the October 7 attack that left dozens dead.

However, it is clear to many human rights organizations such as Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that war crimes have been committed. “Our determination to commit war crimes is based on serious and systematic violations by the killing and hostage-taking of civilians by Palestinian armed groups, as well as the collective punishment and blockade of Gaza by the Israeli armed forces.” Both sides will act with impunity, the Prensa Ibérica Group tells El Periódico de Catalunya: Bruno StagnoDeputy executive director of HRW.

“Disproportionate and indiscriminate”

Donatella Rovera, The Artificial Intelligence researcher also points out that the fuel required for the generators that power hospitals and make water drinkable is prohibited from entering Gaza.Evacuation order from the north of the Strip It emphasizes that “each attack must be investigated on an individual, case-by-case basis” and in relation to the bombings as serious violations of international humanitarian law. “It is not possible to investigate so many bombings in such a short time, but the information we received is that there are very strong indications. disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks“It could constitute a war crime,” he tells EL PERIÓDICO.

commissioner UN For Human RightsNavi Pillay announced that they had already opened an investigation when she was the director of the New York office of this United Nations organization. Craig MokhiberHe condemned and resigned from his post, saying, “Once again, we see a genocide taking place before our eyes, and the organization we serve does not seem to have the power to stop it.” then go Reporters Without Borders has already made a move and requested the ICC to officially open a war crimes investigation. Death of eight Palestinian journalists Israeli bombings of civilian areas in Gaza and the killing of an Israeli journalist while covering the attack on a Hamas kibbutz on 7 October. First of all, there is an ongoing “I”“active investigations”, As the TPI prosecutor stated last weekend, Karim Khan We visited the Rafah Border Gate.

The UN Commission of Inquiry is currently “collecting evidence of war crimes committed by all parties.” This task is carried out by the same court and various NGOs. “We use ammunition remnants, “Trajectory studies of projectiles or other explosives, verified verbal testimony, other evidence or evidence collected from the field by our investigators, satellite images and data analysis to verify the accuracy of the facts and the necessary elements that constitute war crimes,” explains Stagno. In this sense, Rovera believes that Israel He regrets the obstacles it poses to investigations on the ground and that the AI ​​has to resort to local collaborators in Gaza, who send them video, photos, phone numbers of survivors, and “interviews that investigators from the organization must verify”.

2021 investigation

Only the ICC has jurisdiction to prosecute war crimes, but Israel, like the United States, China or Russia, among other countries, does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction or comply with its decisions. But Palestine has been a member since 2015 and that year asked the ICC to investigate the previous year’s Gaza offensive and the expansion of Jewish colonies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. After the ICC ruled that it had jurisdiction over the West Bank, Gaza and occupied Jerusalem, and after a five-year “comprehensive preliminary review”, then-Attorney General Fatou Bensouda launched a formal investigation in 2020. Bensouda left his post in June 2021. and the investigation came to a halt.

But for HRW, there are signs that “we hope it shows that this investigation is being truly prioritized,” as Stagno noted, referring to the current prosecutor’s recent visit to Rafah and his statements there. is under the jurisdiction of the court. Rovera is much more skeptical, blaming above all “the lack of political will on the part of the international community to push for investigations.”

The CFI judges individuals, not states, to whom it attributes maximum responsibility for the facts on trial. Since there is no power to make an arrest, it is up to foreign governments to execute orders and arrest the defendant. This means Israeli soldiers and politicians could be arrested under international arrest warrants if they travel abroad.

TPI’s actions are a source of great concern to the Jewish State. When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started the investigation in 2020, he considered it an “attack” on Israel. As the Libyan and Sudanese precedents remind us, time works in its favor as an investigation can take years to complete; with one exception: Russia, which is not a member of the ICC. In this case, the prosecutor issued an international arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin last March, just 13 months after the invasion of Ukraine began.

Stagno says that this will not be that easy in the current case: “There will be political and diplomatic obstacles for Israel and its main allies, as there have been since 2021 when the Court opened the investigation. All parties will likely make accusations that the investigation is biased and attacks Israel.” There is nothing new in these latitudes