Possible war crimes
World Criminal Court wants to investigate all sides in Gaza
December 3rd, 2023, 3:36 p.m
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The International Criminal Court in The Hague described Hamas’ atrocities on October 7 as crimes that shocked “the conscience of humanity.” But the law must also apply on all front lines, says their chief prosecutor Khan. Meanwhile, UNICEF makes serious accusations against Israel.
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, is committed to investigating possible war crimes on all sides of the Gaza war. “We must show that the law prevails on all front lines and that it is able to protect everyone,” said a statement distributed by the World Criminal Court in The Hague. Khan had visited Israel and the Palestinian territories in recent days. It was his first official visit as chief prosecutor. He was invited by relatives and friends of victims of the Hamas attacks on October 7th. On Saturday, Khan met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
Although Israel is not a state party to the court, Khan offered to help the country investigate the October 7 Hamas attacks. Khan spoke of “some of the worst international crimes that shock the conscience of humanity.” He called on Hamas to immediately release all hostages held.
At the same time, Khan emphasized that Israel is also bound by international law when it attacks the Gaza Strip. “As I have said before, Israel has trained lawyers to advise commanders and a robust system designed to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law.” Well-founded allegations of suspected war crimes must be examined independently and quickly.
The prosecutor also expressed grave concern about the increasing number of attacks by armed Israeli settlers on Palestinian citizens in the West Bank. The Criminal Court has been investigating Hamas and Israel for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip since 2021. Palestine has been a contracting state since 2015. The court determined in 2021 that it also has jurisdiction over areas occupied since 1967, such as the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
UNICEF: Attacks in Gaza “immoral” and “certainly illegal”
Meanwhile, the press spokesman for the UN children’s fund UNICEF, James Elder, sharply criticized the Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip during a visit. A “bloodbath” is taking place there that is “immoral” and that will “certainly be understood as illegal,” Elder told the Al-Jazeera news channel during a visit to Khan Yunis. Anyone who accepts this is making themselves guilty. “Silence is complicity,” said the visibly shaken Elder, who spoke in a shaking voice at times.
During his visit, he saw children everywhere with severe burns, shrapnel injuries, brain injuries and broken bones. You can see mothers crying for their children who are probably “hours from death”. Elder described the latest information about so-called “safe zones” for the population in Gaza as a “misrepresentation.” People are “moved to tiny patches of land” where there is only sand, no water, no sanitary facilities and no protection from the weather. “These are not safe zones, these will be dead zones,” Elder said. “We have to call it what it is.”
Israel wants to protect Gaza’s civilian population
Israeli government advisor Mark Regev rejected allegations that his country was not doing enough to protect the civilian population in Gaza in the fight against Hamas. “We are making maximum efforts, perhaps even unprecedented in similar circumstances,” Regev told the BBC. Israel has identified specific neighborhoods that would be targeted for attacks and warned civilians there in advance to leave them, Regev said.
Regev assigned responsibility for the Gaza war and the resumption of fighting after a ceasefire of several days exclusively to Hamas. The organization also hides “its military terror machine” in residential areas, under hospitals and in mosques. The blame for civilian deaths therefore lies with the Islamist organization. Israel is doing everything it can to distinguish between combatants and civilians. Regev also questioned the number of civilian deaths in Gaza released by the Hamas health authority. That will become clear after the end of the war, he said. “If you compare what Israel has done in Gaza and, say, Britain and other Western powers have done in the fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, you will see that through our actions we have managed to reduce the number to keep civilian casualties very, very low,” said Regev.
Israel’s army resumed fighting against the Islamist Hamas after the ceasefire expired. US Vice President Kamala Harris and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called on Israel to better protect civilians.
According to Hamas, well over 15,000 people have been killed in the Israeli attacks on Gaza, including many civilians. The numbers cannot currently be independently verified. The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7th in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip. On the Israeli side, more than 1,200 people were killed, most of them civilians.