The pendulum is swinging towards justice in the Middle East. Over eight days at the end of May, there were three major developments.
The first major step was the May 20th application by Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), for arrest warrants for both Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as other officials from both countries, accusing both sides of war crimes. The ICC is a criminal court that prosecutes individuals, targeting those deemed most responsible for atrocities. If the ICC acts on the chief prosecutor’s recommendation, it will effectively mean that the officials named, including Sinwar and Netanyahu, will be subject to arrest and extradition to the Hague for trial should they ever travel to any of the ICC’s 124 member states.
It is telling that the ICC’s actions appear deeply worrying to Netanyahu. An investigation by the Guardian, an Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine, and Local Call, a Hebrew-language outlet, indicates that Israel has been spying on and intimidating ICC officials for the past nine years, clearly attempting to derail ICC probes and any potential for the issuing of arrest warrants.
I have hope that the ICC investigations will move ahead and look forward to the day when the world can witness those responsible sitting in the courtroom, on trial for their war crimes in Gaza, and see them convicted and sentenced to very lengthy prison terms.
The second step towards justice occurred on May 24, 2024, when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued new provisional measures that ordered Israel to immediately end military operations in Rafah in southern Gaza and to open the area’s border crossing for urgent aid deliveries. The ICJ is a United Nations body that deals with the legal responsibilities of nation states.
The Israeli invasion of Gaza began after the horrific events of October 7, 2023, when approximately 3,000 Hamas insurgents attacked Southern Israel, massacring civilians in 21 communities, including at the Nova Music Festival. A reported 1,139 people were murdered – 695 Israeli citizens (38 of them children), 71 foreign nationals, and 373 members of the security forces. At least 8,700 were injured. Approximately 250 civilians and soldiers, including 30 children, were taken into Gaza as hostages.
In response to the Hamas attack, the state of Israel overreacted, immediately bombing and then invading Gaza in force – disproportionally killing over 36,000 Palestinians so far, and injuring a further 81,000 plus. More than 10,000 are missing. Over 15,000 of the dead are children. The Israeli invasion has damaged or destroyed more than half of Gaza’s homes, 80% of commercial facilities, 85.8% of school buildings, and 267 places of worship. Only 15 out of 35 hospitals are still partially functioning, and 83% of groundwater wells are not operational.
As Israeli forces moved southward after initially attacking northern Gaza, roughly half of the over two million population sought refuge in the southern Rafah area. More than a million have now been forced to seek safety by fleeing Rafah, although as Al Jazeera reports, there are no longer any safe places in Gaza.
Conditions are catastrophic. A majority of civilians are now without adequate shelter or drinkable water and are on the brink of starvation. Israel, in an act of collective punishment, still severely limits food and medical supplies coming into Gaza.
Despite international criticism and the ICJ order to cease military operations, Israeli troops continue to act on Netanyahu’s pledge to move ahead with the Rafah invasion. On May 27th, the day after Hamas in return had launched eight rockets at Tel Aviv, Israel bombed a Rafah tent encampment for displaced Palestinians, killing at least 45 civilians and wounding dozens more – a particularly horrendous attack as many were burned alive by fires that spread through the densely placed tents. By May 28th, Israeli tanks reached the centre of Rafah, and a further 21 people were killed that day when the tanks attacked an evacuation zone close to the area bombed on May 27th.
While the ICJ order by itself has no mechanism for enforcement, the Rafah attacks by Israel after this order was issued are likely to add to international pressure for a ceasefire.
The third step towards justice occurred on May 28th when Norway, Ireland, and Spain recognized Palestine as an independent state. For many decades, Palestinians have yearned for a state of their own. Yassar Arafat, leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization for 35 years, had recognized the state of Israel in 1993 after a series of negotiations – including 1978 Camp David Accords, the Madrid Conference of 1991, the 1993 Oslo Accords. In return, the state of Israel had promised to recognize a Palestinian state but only at the end of a peace process.
While Israel took the initial steps agreed to, the process was derailed with the November 4, 1995 assassination of then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. This brought to power hard liner Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposed the Oslo Accords. Netanyahu’s control made it possible for Israel to avoid recognizing a Palestinian state by simply ensuring that the peace process would never reach a conclusion.
There can be no doubt that the recognitions of Palestine by Norway, Ireland, and Spain will be copied by a many more countries. Despite Netanyahu’s long-standing opposition, this will put further pressure on Israel to allow Palestinians the same statehood that Israel obtained over three-quarters of a century ago.
Future historians may very well look back at these eight days in May 2024 and conclude that this was one of the most consequential weeks in bringing about a permanent and just peace in the Middle East.
Daily atmospheric CO2 [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]
Latest daily total (June 1, 2024): 427.43ppm
One year ago (June 1, 2023): 424.58ppm
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