Law for Palestine Releases its Communication Submitted to the International Criminal Court: Genocide Perpetration in Gaza by Israeli War Cabinet Members
Today, Law for Palestine releases its communication, previously announced on March 20, 2024, that has been submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC). This communication, prepared with the support of the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) – Palestine and The Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions (ANNHRIs), includes a comprehensive legal analysis of the crime of genocide perpetrated by Israeli political and military leaders against Palestinians in Gaza.
The submission was backed by a diverse international coalition, including 15 National Human Rights Institutions across the Arab world: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Tunisia, Djibouti, Libya, and Kuwait, along with five Bar Associations – the Bar Associations of Palestine, Jordan, Algeria, Tunisia, and the Arab Lawyers Union.
The 220-page document, produced by a large team of experts and researchers, including 30 researchers from different countries around the world, underwent review by numerous experts, including 11 specialists in international law, international criminal law, and genocide, as well as experts affiliated with the ICC, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
According to Law for Palestine and its partners, this communication was submitted in accordance with Article 15 of the Rome Statute, in response to the Prosecutor’s call on November 17, 2023. This call urged parties, stakeholders, and those with relevant information to provide data to assist the investigation team’s ongoing probe into violations of the Rome Statute in Palestine, including the ongoing war in Gaza. The purpose of this communication is to provide a thorough and independent legal analysis demonstrating how the actions and conduct of Israeli politicians and members of the Israeli Forces constitute the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
The purpose of this communication is to provide a thorough and independent legal analysis demonstrating how the actions and conduct of Israeli politicians and members of the Israeli Forces constitute the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
For over 180 days, Palestinians in Gaza have endured death, famine, injuries, and homelessness due to Israel’s devastating military campaign. The military actions and collective punishment committed by Israel have already been recognized as potentially constituting genocide by the International Court of Justice.
With this communication, providing an in-depth legal analysis and consistent evidence of genocidal intent (mens rea) on the part of Israeli officials, and given its submission by a human rights organization supported by 22 national human rights institutions and bar associations from 15 state parties to the United Nations, the International Criminal Court cannot continue to ignore the mounting evidence of Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. It must fulfill its responsibility under the Rome Statute by opening investigations into Israeli leaders and military commanders complicit in this genocide, ensuring timely investigations of all plausible violations under its jurisdiction to uphold accountability and justice.
The submission, the first part of a two-part legal analysis, begins by examining the contextual background of the situation in Gaza, providing an overview of Israel’s settler-colonialism in Palestine and the apartheid regime it has imposed on Palestinians in Gaza and across Palestinian territories. The submission then explores the criteria for genocide under international law, considering jurisprudence from various tribunals and the ICC, and provides a clear analysis of the elements of genocide and their application to the situation in Gaza.
The communication underscores the explicit intent to eliminate Palestinians, evident in hundreds of statements made by Israeli officials, particularly those within Israel’s so-called ‘war cabinet.’ The communication also highlights Israel’s deliberate destruction of Palestinian culture, environmental devastation (ecocide), destruction of homes (domicide), and ethnic cleansing tactics, demonstrating a systematic effort to erase Palestinian identity and render Gaza uninhabitable. By framing the entire Palestinian population as human shields for enemy combatants, Israel justifies mass civilian casualties and infrastructure destruction, contravening both the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention.
The submission also scrutinizes prosecutorial discretion exercised by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor concerning case selection, elucidating how the criteria guiding this discretion necessitate prioritizing investigations into crimes committed in Gaza since October 2023, and prosecuting prominent Israeli perpetrators.
The second part of the submission, forthcoming, will build on the background established by the current one and focus on the Actus Reus of the crime of genocide. It will include the legal characterization of crimes outlined in Article 6 of the Rome Statute, along with witness testimonies and affidavits from Gaza.
Law for Palestine, along with other organizations and institutions submitting the communication, calls upon the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to include the crime of genocide and other violations of international humanitarian law in the ICC investigation. They urge the Prosecutor to immediately request the Pre-Trial Chamber to issue an international arrest warrant for suspects responsible for directly committing or aiding the commission of crimes within the Court’s jurisdiction. The organizations also call upon the Prosecutor to prioritize investigations into the situation in Gaza and prosecute Israeli officials for acts committed since October 7, 2023, that constitute the crime of genocide under Article 6 of the Rome Statute. They strongly urge the Prosecutor and his team to promptly visit the Gaza Strip to engage with victims and witness firsthand the dire consequences of the ongoing genocide, as well as to meet with victims and their families who have relocated from Gaza to Egypt and other countries.
