After a five-year review the ICC (International Criminal Court) has determined that it has jurisdiction over Israeli-Palestinian issues and that Israel has potentially committed war crimes that are within the ICC’s jurisdiction. The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken correctly states that as Israel is not a signatory to the ICC, but as the alleged war crimes occurred on Palestinian soil and as the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza ARE signatories, then his objection is irrelevant.
The promise of the US Government is that, when a “two-state solution” is finally achieved, then Palestinians can seek justice. But as they are not yet a state, they can’t. This answer is, of course, completely unacceptable. This suggests that people without a state have no recourse, have nowhere to go, if they are abused by a state.
HAS Israel been committing human rights violations that might count as war crimes? The Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq says yes. The demolishing Palestinian homes and structures has increased in frequency over the past year.
In 2020, Israel human rights group B’Tselem documented 248 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians, including: 86 bodily assaults, in which 75 Palestinians were injured; 27 cases of stone-throwing at homes; 17 attacks on moving vehicles; 147 of the attacks were aimed at Palestinian farmers or their property, including 80 cases of damage to trees and crops owned by Palestinians, resulting in more than 3,000 trees vandalized.
The Palestinian territories are under siege, meaning Israel has complete control over who enters or exits those territories. That in turn makes Israel 100% responsible for getting COVID-19 vaccines into there and to get Palestinian people vaccinated. Medical facilities there are overstretched and “Human rights groups say Israel is shirking its obligations as an occupying power.“
The Palestinian Authority has reported more than 130,000 cases in the West Bank since the outbreak began, including at least 1,819 cases Tuesday. At least 1,510 have died, and dozens are in intensive care. In Gaza, which is ruled by the militant Hamas group and under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade, authorities have reported over 55,000 cases and at least 553 deaths.
Not at all surprisingly, Israel rejects the authority of the ICC and claims that the charges against it are based on “undiluted anti-Semitism. ”
