International Court of Justice (ICJ) Republic of South Africa Vs the State of and Israel Round Two

?

The Convention (ICJ) makes it the duty of every contracting state to combat genocide. Yet when Israel was compelled to protect its citizens from genocide, it found itself accused of the crime its duty was to prevent.

(25th May 2024: the Jerusalem Post)

?

International Court of Justice (ICJ) Republic of South Africa Vs the State of and Israel Round Two

There are two legal bodies operating out of the Hague in the Netherlands. The two are distinctively different and follow two separate legal frameworks. It is important to distinguish the differences to make it clearer to those who follow the actions that Republic of South Africa (RSA) is currently undertaking against the State of Israel.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ)

“The International Court of Justice or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on international legal issues. It is one of the six organs of the United Nations (UN), and is located in The Hague, Netherlands.”

The ICJ is not to be confused with:

The International Criminal Court (ICC)

The International Criminal Court is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The ICC is distinct from the International Court of Justice, an organ of the United Nations that hears disputes between states.

Established in 2002 pursuant to the multilateral Rome Statute, the ICC is considered by its proponents to be a major step toward justice, and an innovation in international law and human rights. However, it has faced a number of criticisms. Some governments have refused to recognise the court's assertion of jurisdiction, with other civil groups also accusing the court of bias, Eurocentrism and racism. Others have also questioned the effectiveness of the court as a means of upholding international law.

International Criminal Court Arrest Warrants

Recently the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan in the United Nations Global Perspective Human Stories on the 20th May 2024 said in a statement; “that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Hamas’s Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (Deif) and Ismail Haniyeh “bear criminal responsibility” for murder, extermination and taking hostages – among numerous other crimes – since the Gaza conflict erupted in the wake of Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on 7th October.” The statement continued; “There are also reasonable grounds to believe that Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, Israeli Minister of Defence, are responsible for other crimes and crimes against humanity “committed on the territory of the State of Palestine”.”

By the statement it is clearly defining the State of Israel’s right to defend itself against the aggressor Hamas and their leaders. In a rare report from ICC prosecutor Karim Khan on the 26th May 2024 he stated what justified his decision to request arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and defence minister. In a statement he said; “It’s a precarious moment internationally and if we don’t hold on to the law, we have nothing to cling onto,” Khan, who rarely speaks publicly, told a British newspaper. He added that countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia were watching closely as to whether global institutions would seek to uphold international law. “Are powerful states sincere when they say there’s a body of law or is this rules-based system all a nonsense, simply a tool of NATO and a post-colonial world, with no real intention of applying law equally?” Khan asked.”

“I am not saying that Israel with its democracy and its supreme court is akin to Hamas, of course not,” Khan added in his interview. “I couldn’t be clearer; Israel has every right to protect its population and to get the hostages back. But nobody has a license to commit war crimes or crimes against humanity. The means define us.” He cited a number of allegations against Israel, including “the fact that water was turned off... that people queuing for food [were] targeted, that people from aid agencies have been killed”. “This is not how war is supposed to be waged,” said Khan.

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas’s unprecedented attack on the 7th October 2023 resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians. Hamas militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.

There is an immense difference between Hamas and Israel. Israel, who are fighting to destroy a terrorist group whose ideology is to wipe Israel of the face of the earth and from being able to repeat the attack in the future as they have stated they will do. Also to rescue those who were forcibly taken and held against their will. Khan’s words regarding having electricity turned off and Palestinian civilians queuing for food that had been targeted by Israeli forces bears no resemblance. He forgets that the Hamas leadership uses the Palestinian population as human shields to protect themselves. There is also the network of tunnels that were built at the expense of the Palestinian civilian population to protect Hamas terrorists to wage war against Israel, Hamas chose the battle field well.

Reaction over the Arrest Warrants

The decision triggered a slew of reactions. Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the announcement “beyond outrageous and shows the extent to which the international judicial system is in danger of collapsing.” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz echoed Herzog’s comments, calling the ICC’s request to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant an “outrageous decision.”

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the prosecutor’s decision to request warrants for the three Hamas leaders “equates the victim with the executioner.” Hamas demanded the arrest warrant request for its leaders be cancelled.

A top US diplomat said he rejected the ICC’s equivalence of Israel with Hamas as “shameful” and suggested the decision could jeopardize “ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement that would get hostages out and surge humanitarian assistance in.”

The German foreign ministry said the ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders created a “false impression of equivalence”.

The Islamic State of Iran published another side of the ICC arrest warrant account through its government controlled news (propaganda) outlet the Tasnim News on the 27th May 2024. ?Iran suggested that Amnesty International urge the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate three Israeli attacks in Gaza that resulted in the deaths of 44 Palestinian civilians, including 32 children, in April. The attacks included a strike that killed children playing foosball at the Maghazi refugee camp on April 16 and two strikes on residential buildings in Rafah on April 19 and 20, the rights group said.

In all three cases, there was no evidence of military targets in or around the affected locations and no indication of prior warning, it said.

“Our findings offer crucial evidence of unlawful attacks by the Israeli military as the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court applies for arrest warrants for senior Israeli and Hamas officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As the Israeli military continues to escalate its ground incursion in Rafah, these cases also illustrate the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns.

“The cases documented here illustrate a clear pattern of attacks over the past seven months in which the Israeli military has flouted international law, killing Palestinian civilians with total impunity and displaying a callous disregard for human lives.”

(27th May 2024, on checking with the Amnesty International website there was no such request from Iran)

South Africa's presidency welcomed the ICC’s announcement.

Separately, South Africa had lodged a complaint at another court in The Hague, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), complaining that Israel’s campaign in the Palestinian territory of Gaza amounts to a genocide.

This would be the second high profile attempt by the RSA to try and stop the State of Israel defending itself against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

The Republic of South Africa Vs the State of Israel and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Round One

On the 29th December 2023 South Africa filed a case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel for what it said were “genocidal” acts by Israel in the Gaza Strip. In the United Nations press release (No. 2023/77) the ICJ informed press release stated: According to the Application, “acts and omissions by Israel . . . are genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent . . . to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group” and that “the conduct of Israel — through its State organs, State agents, and other persons and entities acting on its instructions or under its direction, control or influence — in relation to Palestinians in Gaza, is in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention”.

The Applicant further states that “Israel, since 7th October 2023 in particular, has failed to prevent genocide and has failed to prosecute the direct and public incitement to genocide” and that “Israel has engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza”.

South Africa not openly supports Iran on decisive issues with the United Nations but also commits to ensuring deep diplomatic ties and the two engage in joint business-tech forums, scientific cooperation and tourism. There is also a strong interaction with the Tehran government and the South African military navies.

On the 26th January 2024 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gave its ruling. It stated that although there was ‘plausibility’ that Israel ‘may’ be committing genocide this could not be defined at that time. The court stated that the State of Israel had a right to self-defence but should take steps to reduce the number of Palestinian casualties. The findings also said that there was no immediate measure to state that the case of genocide against the State of Israel was in fact being carried out.

The Republic of South Africa failed in its attempt to stop the war in Gaza although Iran, Turkey and other Hamas supporting states declared the ruling as a victory.

The Republic of South Africa Vs the State of Israel and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Round Two

Iranian government backed Tasnim News announced on the 11th May 2024 that they supported the South African pursuit of a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to stop Israeli action in the city of Rafah that spans the Egyptian and Gaza border.

On the 16th May 2024 the United Nations top court opened two days of hearings where South Africa had one day to plead its case and Israel had the following day to deny any accusations against them filed by South Africa. This would have been the second time that South Africa had attempted to stop Israel acting in self-defence against Hamas who savagely and brutally attacked Israel on the 7th October 2024.

South Africa had asked the court to order Israel to withdraw from Rafah; to take measures to ensure unimpeded access for UN officials, humanitarian organizations and journalists to the Gaza Strip; and to report back within one week on how it is meeting these demands. Israel had strongly denied that it was committing or going to commit genocide against the Palestinian people and that its war was against Hamas and other terrorist organisations that attacked them in October 2023.

South Africa was asking the ICJ for three emergency orders - “provisional measures” in court jargon - while it rules on the wider accusation that Israel is breaking the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

·???????? First, it wanted the court to order Israel to “immediately withdraw and cease its military offensive” in Rafah.

·???????? Second, Israel should take “all effective measures” to allow “unimpeded access” to Gaza for humanitarian aid workers, as well as journalists and investigators.

·???????? Lastly, Pretoria asked the court to ensure Israel reported back on its measures taken to adhere to the orders.

Pretoria stressed its view that the only way for the existing court orders to be implemented was a “permanent ceasefire in Gaza.”

Although the application filed the previous week requested an order from the court only to instruct Israel to halt the operation in Rafah, South Africa amended that request and asked the court to order Israel to stop all military operations in Gaza.

The South African delegation also asked for orders compelling Israel to provide “unimpeded access to Gaza for humanitarian aid” and for investigators and fact-finding missions to investigate allegations of war crimes and genocide.

On the 17th May 2024 Israel defended itself.

Israeli Justice Ministry official Gilad Noam called South Africa’s case, which accuses Israel of violating the Genocide Convention, “completely divorced from facts and circumstances.”

“(The case) makes a mockery of the heinous charge of genocide,” Noam said. He called it “an obscene exploitation of the most sacred convention,” referring to the international treaty banning genocide, agreed after the Holocaust of European Jews in World War Two.

Examples of alleged violations by Israel raised by South Africa were “not evidence a policy of illegal behaviour, let alone a policy of genocide,” he said. Ordering Israel to withdraw its troops would sentence remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza to death, Noam said.

Responding, the Israeli legal team accused South Africa of ignoring the fact that it is continuing to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and said Pretoria was trying to contort international law through the Genocide Convention in order to have the ICJ “micromanage” the war with Hamas, which Israel’s representatives insisted was far beyond the remit of the court.

The Israeli attorneys also pointed out that South Africa recently hosted Hamas officials in Johannesburg and alleged that Pretoria was allied with Hamas. They said the country’s repeated requests for the court to order Israel to halt its military operations against the terror group demonstrated South Africa’s desire to preserve Hamas rule in Gaza.

Noam accused Hamas of deliberately putting Palestinian civilians in harm’s way as a tactic in its war against Israel, noting that “rocket sites, tunnel shafts, command and control sites are all embedded among the civilian population in Rafah.”

“They did not use the meeting (Me: in Johannesburg) to urge Hamas to release hostages, stop targeting Israeli civilians, cease using human shields, cease operating in United Nations facilities, hospitals, schools and other protected sites. They apparently met to discuss their continuing campaign against Israel in court and on the ground,” accused Noam.

“South Africa,” Noam said, “is not interested in truth, law or justice.”

Noam said that Israel has “made repeatedly clear” that war policy and “instructions for conducting hostilities” emanated from the security cabinet and war cabinet only “and not from various social media accounts or interviews.”

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Tehran Times called the Israeli defence “transparent Lies.”

International Court of Justice Announces its Decision

On the 24th May 2024 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court announced its decision on the case brought to it by South Africa against the State of Israel. The body’s president Nawaf Salam said provisional measures ordered by the court in March 2024 did not fully address the situation in the besieged Palestinian enclave now, and conditions had been met for a new emergency order.

The court backed a South African request to order Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah, a week after Pretoria called for the measure in a case accusing Israel of genocide. South Africa’s wider case at the ICJ accuses Israel of orchestrating a state-led genocide against the Palestinian people. The ICJ has not ruled on the substance of that accusation - it could take years - but has rejected Israel’s demand to throw the case out.

The Israeli news outlet Ynet claimed, “despite initial headlines declaring the UN's International Court of Justice ordered Israel to immediately halt its offensive in Rafah, the ruling, when examined is quite different[1]. There is no dispute that the court's decision adds to the international pressure on Israel, which is seen as increasingly isolated. But Israeli officials said late on the 25th May 2024 that the judges issued a very carefully worded ruling that does not compel the fighting in Rafah to stop nor does it prevent Israel from defending itself.

The Ynet article continued, “the officials do not view the ruling as preventing IDF's offensive, as long as all measures to prevent harm to civilians are taken, and after Israel's National Security Council and Foreign Ministry have stated that Israel has not and will not create conditions that could bring about the destruction of the civilian Palestinian population in part or in full.”

An Israeli official said "It said genocide is forbidden, and we have no intention of committing genocide. What country would invest so many resources to bring in humanitarian aid, call off attacks and the like, if it intends to commit genocide? We are already doing and will continue to do what the ruling has called for."

The Times of Israel wrote, “confused by the ICJ’s decision on Gaza? Blame the judges’ deliberate ambiguity.”

The ICJ set a schedule for deliberations over the accusations of genocide. South Africa must present its written claims by the 25th October 2024 and Israel will have nine months to respond.

It is a criminal offence within itself to accuse the most persecuted and hated race in the world and history of genocide when during World War Two for example millions of Jews were genocidally killed in the worst case of genocide ever recorded. The Jews have been persecuted everywhere, now in the past four decades by Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Lebanese Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran who have clearly stated that Israel and the ‘Zionists’ should be removed from the face of the earth.

Israel should pursue a case of genocide against those mentioned to the ICJ and see what the outcome would be and what they would do about it.

What are the Israeli laws for protecting civilians in a conflict?

In the context of the Israel-Hamas conflict, there are several legal obligations and principles aimed at protecting civilians.

International Humanitarian Law (IHL), also known as the law of armed conflict, governs the conduct of parties during armed conflicts. It aims to minimize human suffering and protect civilians.

Principle of Distinction, combatants must distinguish between civilian and military targets. Deliberate attacks on civilians or civilian structures are prohibited unless they are used as firing points and/or stage of weapons then they lose that status.

Precautions in Attack, parties must take precautions to avoid harming civilians. This includes avoiding attacks on hospitals and other civilian structures. However, if they are used as firing points and/or stage of weapons then they lose that status.

Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, requires humane treatment of civilians and noncombatants during armed conflicts.

Article 51 of the Geneva Conventions’ Protocol I, protects civilian populations from attack. Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC): Contains provisions on war crimes and crimes against humanity. These apply to both Hamas leaders and fighters.

Hamas’s Violations

Hamas’s surprise attack on Israeli territory resulted in the killing of at least 1400 Israeli civilians, including women and children. This violated international humanitarian law.

Their continuous, indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israeli targets also put civilians and civilian structures at risk.

In summary, international law places significant emphasis on safeguarding civilians during conflicts, and parties involved must adhere to these principles to prevent unnecessary harm.

What are the Hamas laws for protecting civilians in a conflict?

Hamas, as a militant organization, “is not bound” by the same legal framework as states or recognized governments. However, there are international laws that apply to all parties involved in armed conflicts, including non-state actors like Hamas.

Slightly one-sided

Professor Alan Dershowitz, an American lawyer and law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law, co-edited a book honouring Israel’s 50th Anniversary, entitled – Israel Among the Nations. Dershowitz pointed out that “no civilized nation in the history of the world which has faced comparable threats to its survival – both external and internal – has ever made greater efforts at, and has ever come closer to, achieving the highest norms of the rule of law.

Republic of South Africa and Hamas

Quoted from the Jerusalem Post (24th January 2024) Research conducted by The Jerusalem Post staff and several sources uncovered what appears to be a network of several South African organizations and straw man companies deeply involved with funding Hamas activities through the Al-Quds Foundation, an international group sanctioned by the US and outlawed by Israel, using accounts registered in major local South African banks: Standard Bank, Nedbank, and Absa.

The report went on to say: Sanctioning by the US and Israel notwithstanding, the foundation continues its operations across the globe, featuring roughly thirteen branches in different countries, sometimes holding different names. In South Africa, a registered organization named “Al-Quds Foundation SA” also exists which openly admits on their new website that they are “a branch of Al-Quds foundation with headquarters in Lebanon.”

The organization itself boasts about its fundraising activities, claiming funds would be transferred to the needy in Gaza. The foundation’s website lists Sheikh Ebrahim Gabriels as its director, leading the South African branch since 2019.

Prior to that, Gabriels was the former president of the Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa (MJC), and of the United Ulama Council of South Africa (UUCSA). According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre, MJC forms part of the Union of Good, an umbrella organization comprised of over 50 alleged charity organizations worldwide which engage in fundraising and funding for Hamas activities, also designated as a terror group under US law since 2008.

The Islamic Republic of Iran and South Africa’s Monetary Commitments

High-profile South African activists have ‘suggested’ that Iran played a role in fixing the ANC’s financial problems. However, the idea that Iran directly funded the ANC’s approach to the ICJ remains a topic of debate.

It’s essential to note that South Africa’s constitution prohibits “unrehabilitated insolvents” (bankrupt individuals) from running for office, but it does not explicitly address whether a bankrupt party can run candidates. The ANC claims to have stabilized its finances, although specifics remain undisclosed.

Despite international sanctions against Iran, South Africa has reiterated its commitment to supporting Iran. Diplomacy remains crucial in resolving international issues.

In summary, South Africa’s relations with Iran involve complex financial challenges, legal cases, and diplomatic considerations.

Does the Republic of South Africa fund Hamas?

South Africa has indeed been implicated in providing support to Hamas, the Palestinian militant group. Here are the key points.

Hamas Support Network in South Africa.

A web of unsanctioned organizations operating in South Africa has enabled Hamas by building support for terrorism. These front organizations have allowed Hamas to turn South Africa into a base for fundraising. At the centre of this network is the Muslim cleric Ebrahim Gabriels, also known as Ibrahim Jibril. Gabriels has founded, directed, and currently directs several Muslim organizations tied to Hamas.

These organizations include the South African branches of the Al-Quds International Foundation (AQIF), the Al-Aqsa Foundation (AAF), and the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC).

·???????? Al-Quds Foundation (AQF): This is the South African branch of AQIF, which the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned in 2012. Several senior Hamas leaders are on its board. Gabriels serves as the president of the South African AQF.

·???????? Al-Aqsa Foundation: The Treasury has also sanctioned this foundation and its South African branch. Gabriels has served as the chairman of the board for the South African Al-Aqsa Foundation.

·???????? Union of Good: Gabriels was listed as a board member of the Union of Good, a charity umbrella group designated by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2008 for funding Hamas.

Gabriels and these organizations have hosted events and rallies expressing support for Hamas and Palestine. For instance, after a Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis, the AAF’s South African branch held an event in support of Palestine and Masjid Al-Aqsa (the mosque atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem). Gabriels praised Hamas fighters as “people who are connected to Allah” during these events.

Research has uncovered a network of South African organizations and straw man companies deeply involved in funding Hamas activities through the Al-Quds Foundation. These organizations have used accounts registered in major local South African banks, including Standard Bank, Nedbank, and Absa.

While South Africa’s direct financial contributions to Hamas may be limited, its support network and involvement in fundraising have drawn attention and concern.

Palestinian Pay-to-Slay

Pay-to-Slay refers to a controversial practice involving payments made by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to the families of Palestinians who have been killed, injured, or imprisoned while carrying out violence against Israel.

The Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund. The PA operates two funds related to these payments:

·???????? Foundation for the Care of the Families of Martyrs: This fund provides monthly cash stipends to the families of Palestinians killed, injured, or imprisoned during acts of violence against Israel.

·???????? Prisoners Fund: This fund disburses payments to Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails.

In 2016, the PA paid out approximately NIS 1.1 billion (US$303 million) in stipends and other benefits. Critics often refer to this system as “pay for slay” and argue that it encourages terrorism.

The practice of providing payments to families of militant’s dates back to the 1960s and became routinized during the Second Intifada (2000–2005). The stipends are higher than the average Palestinian wage, creating an incentive for families to apply posthumously to have their deceased relatives reclassified as fighters.

Since 2018, the Israeli government has deducted the amount the PA pays in martyr payments from the taxes and tariffs it collects on behalf of the PA. These funds constitute the largest source of income for the PA. Critics argue that these payments incentivize violence and terrorism, as they reward terrorists and their families based on the severity of the attacks. The discourse around “pay to slay” suggests that financial compensation motivates violence against Israelis, which is a highly debated and complex issue.

In recent years, there have been discussions about reforming this policy, especially in negotiations with international partners.

Claims against a Lack of Aid

There have been many claims cited that there is insufficient aid being allowed into the Gaza Strip to look after the population. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) stated that Israel had to do more to get aid into the small strip of land. Israel has shown that it is complying with that request along with the United Nations (who appear to have their own agenda) the United States and others who point the finger.

But once again when you read the news or hear it on the television or a radio its always half a story and one sided.

According to veteran Israeli journalist Ehud Ya’ari, (16th May 2024 on X) Hamas has earned at least $500 million from the sale of captured aid since the beginning of the war. This was backed up by reports in the Jewish Chronicle published on the 20th May 2024 that wrote, “Hamas has profited from Gaza aid ‘to tune of half a billion dollars’.” The Jewish News Syndicate also covered the same story on the same day, “Hamas reaped hundreds of millions off Gaza aid since Oct. 7.”

According to the Foundation for Defence of Democracies (FDD) on the 22nd May 2024 the United Nations announced that new routes are being planned for the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza arriving through a U.S.-built pier off the Mediterranean coast, Reuters reported on the 21st May 24. The announcement came as the distribution of aid delivered to the pier was suspended for a third day because of concerns over looting.

The United States of America military built a pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip as a means of enabling more aid to be distributed in the north of the Gaza Strip in an effort to stop the looting that was going on from the Egyptian Gaza border. The pier cost in the region of $320 million and did not use American boots on the ground. Aid would be delivered to Cyprus and then loaded onto maritime vessels which would then have completed security checks sailed to Gaza for unloading and distribution.

The Gatestone Institute International Policy Council claimed on the 22nd May 2024 that “Close to three-fourths of the humanitarian aid transported from a new $320 million floating pier built by the U.S. military off the Gaza coast was stolen on route to a U.N. warehouse, Reuters reported.”

Ten aid vehicles had been driven by U.N. contractors to a World Food Programme warehouse in Deir El Balah in Gaza. But on the 11th May 2024, only five trucks made it to the warehouse after others were intercepted. The news report explained how, "crowds had stopped the trucks at various points along the way. There was ... what I think I would refer to as self-distribution," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York on the 14th May.

An article in the Financial Times (21st February 2024) describes how youths jump fences into unloading areas and steal food by removing them on carts driven by donkeys. Fresh fruit and vegetables, 25kg sacks of flour and boxed supplies are also being stolen. Trucks are being attacked by gangs attempting to deliver food and supplies. Jamie McGoldrick, the UN’s humanitarian co-ordinator for the Middle East stated, “Lawlessness breeds lawlessness,” he said. “If we were able to secure a regular supply, and people saw trucks coming in all the time, they wouldn’t worry that ‘this may be my only chance to feed my family’.”

McGoldrick also explained “A lot of it goes to the black market. The prices are quite lucrative,” he added. “It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy — if we can’t get more supplies in, we can’t devalue the black market.” The problem here is the distribution. Without security which the police (who cannot be trusted) provided in the past deliveries are very difficult. Looters, armed criminal gangs and Palestinian civilians are responsible. Criminal gangs and others then sell the goods on the black market at extortionate prices.

According to the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), Hamas terrorists divert at least 60% of the goods entering Gaza for their own purposes. Hamas, the governing body of the Gaza Strip, is stealing from its own people, the ones they are allegedly fighting for. They make money while their people starve all because Hamas wants to gain sympathy from the world as to how the “occupying forces” are treating the Palestinians. All to apply pressure on Israel to stop the war and enable Hamas to survive.

Another reason for aid not to gain access to the people in the Gaza Strip is once again Hamas or one of the other terrorist groups. The aid crossing Kerem Shalom recently came under attack on the 23rd May 2024. The attack marked the fourth time in May that the Iran-backed group has targeted the crossing on Gaza’s southern border with Israel – one of several entry points for humanitarian aid provided to Gaza’s residents. A multiple rocket strike on the crossing launched on the 5th May resulted in the deaths of four Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers. On the 9th May, Hamas launched eight rockets at the crossing, lightly injuring an IDF soldier, while on the 12th May, two rockets fired by Hamas were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system. These attacks slow the transiting of aid into Gaza, yet another Hamas ploy to slow aid entering and allowing world pressure to build against Israel.

Egypt temporarily closed the Rafah crossing after Israeli troops had taken operational control on the 7th May 2024 of the Palestinian side. Rafah has been a key entry point for aid and the only exit for people able to flee since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October. Egypt and Gaza share the same border. Aid could flow instead through Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing. “We do not believe that aid should be held back for any reason whatsoever. Kerem Shalom is open. The Israelis have it open.” A senior U.S. official said.

Israel said it had kept the Rafah crossing open and asked Egypt to coordinate with it on sending aid convoys through. Egypt refused, fearing the Israeli hold will remain permanent, and demanded Palestinians be put back in charge of the facility. The White House had been pressing Egypt to resume the flow of trucks. Egypt said on the 25th May 2024 it had agreed to send United Nations humanitarian aid trucks through Israel’s main crossing into Gaza, but it was unclear if they would be able to enter the territory as fighting raged in the southern city of Rafah amid Israel’s escalating offensive there. Egypt was against the Israeli’s fighting in the last Hamas stronghold of Rafah.

On the 22nd May 2024 Israeli forces operating in the southern Gazan city of Rafah discovered Palestinian rockets primed for launch next to the Egyptian border. The rocket cache, concealed in what appeared to be a utility box, was within a few dozen yards of the fence separating Gaza from the Egyptian Sinai. It’s not to say this was the same firing point as others that have been fired but it does go to show how close Hamas is to the border and can be concealed ready to be launched.

In early May Israel announced the opening of a new crossing into the northern Gaza Strip for humanitarian aid deliveries, the third crossing enabling the passage of aid to the Strip’s north. The so-called Western Erez Crossing is located in the Zikim area, on the coast abutting the Strip’s northern border, the Israeli military and the Defence Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said.

“As part of the effort to increase aid routes to the Gaza Strip, and to the northern Gaza Strip in particular,” the military said. The army said dozens of trucks ferrying flour from the United Nations’ World Food Program had been delivered from Ashdod Port to the Gaza Strip through the new crossing after “undergoing security checks.”

Collectively and with other factors the whole aid program is leading to a humanitarian crisis which cannot be pinned down to one single factor. So, for the ICJ to condemn and blame Israel is incorrect.

Israel is clearly not committing genocide.

Turkey Joins South Africa in ICJ Case Against Israel

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan confirmed on the 1st May 2024 that Turkey will join South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging that Israel has committed “genocidal” acts in Gaza. “Israel systematically killing thousands of innocent Palestinians and rendering a whole residential area uninhabitable is a crime against humanity, attempted genocide, and the manifestation of genocide,” Fidan said. A representative of the foreign ministry subsequently told Reuters that Ankara had not yet submitted the formal application to the ICJ.

A secret Hamas document discovered by Israeli military personnel in Gaza revealed that the terrorist group planned to establish a base in Turkey, London-based news outlet The Times reported on the 14th May 2024. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reportedly unearthed the document at the home of Hamza Abu Shanab, chief of staff to Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza and the mastermind of Hamas’s savage 7th October 2023 assault on southern Israel.

Titled “Founding a base in Turkey,” the document provided details of the proposed funding and staffing of Hamas’s Turkish branch within the wider framework of a three-year plan to create “military cells and safe houses in many countries” that would carry out assassinations, kidnappings, and other acts of terrorism

The current Turkish president forgets two things: The first being the was the Armenian Genocide referring to the physical annihilation of ethnic Armenian Christian people living in the Turkish Ottoman Empire which was conducted between spring 1915 through to the autumn of 1916. It was thought that at least 664,000 and possibly as many as 1.2milliuon died during that genocidal time. The Holocaust Encyclopaedia claim that “the origin of the term genocide and its codification in international law have their roots in the mass murder of Armenians in 1915–16.” Armenians died “either in massacres and individual killings, or from systematic ill treatment, exposure, and starvation.”

Foreign Policy magazine wrote in June 2021 that Turkey Will Never Recognize the Armenian Genocide and only 9% of Turkish citizens believe that they should apologise for it.

A fitting Israeli reply to Erdogan was: Recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Accusations of War Crimes

Rape Allegations

The Association of Rape Crisis Centres in Israel on the 21st February 2024 submitted to the United Nations a report detailing the sadistic and systematic nature of the sexual violence employed by Hamas terrorists during the terror group’s brutal 7th October onslaught on southern Israel, as well as evidence of such crimes being perpetrated on an ongoing basis against hostages still held in Gaza. The association said the 35-page report, written by Dr. Carmit Klar Chalamish, head of the organization’s research department, and Noa Berger, its director of content, “is the first official research since the 7th October 2023, consolidating evidence and providing conclusions” from “numerous confidential and public pieces of information.” It identifies four main arenas where Hamas used rape as a weapon of war: the Supernova music festival near Re’im; Gaza border communities; military bases infiltrated by Hamas; and abuse of hostages inside the Strip.

The United Nations envoy focusing on sexual violence in conflict said in a new report[2] on the 4th March 2024 that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas committed rape, “sexualized torture,” and other cruel and inhumane treatment of women during its surprise attack in southern Israel on the 7th October 2023. There are also “reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing,” said Pramila Patten, who visited Israel and the West Bank from the 29th January 2024 to the 14th February 2024 with a nine-member technical team. Hamas had rejected earlier allegations that its fighters committed sexual assault.

Presenting the report at a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York, Pramila Patten, the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict, said that there was “clear and convincing information that sexual violence including rape, sexualized torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” was committed against hostages being held in captivity in the Strip by Hamas. Her team also viewed 5,000 photographic images and “some 50 hours of footage” of the attacks.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan lambasted the international body for taking so long to recognize what happened on the Gaza periphery. “It took the UN five months to finally recognize the horrifying sex crimes that occurred during the Hamas onslaught of the 7th October 2023,” Erdan said in a statement. “Now that the report of the sexual atrocities and abuse that our hostages are going through in Gaza is being released, the shame of the silence of the UN — which is not even holding one hearing on the issue — is crying out to the heavens.” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he had called Erdan back to Israel for discussions on how to move forward, due to the UN’s “silencing” of the issue. Katz slammed UN chief Antonio Guterres for not calling for a meeting of the UN Security Council “to declare Hamas a terror group and place sanctions on its supporters.” He said Israel had yet to hear “one word” from the UN chief over the report, adding: “Guterres, wake up.”

On the 23rd May 2024 the UK Daily Mail released a report that a Palestinian father and son admitted going from house to house and raping and murdering Israeli’s. The son Abdallah Ahmad Radi, 18 years old, and his father Jamal Hussein Ahmad Radi, 47 years old had been captured by IDF forces in Gaza and questioned about the atrocities they committed in a kibbutz close to the border.

The video footage of their confession obtained by the news outlet, the men chillingly described murdering innocent civilians in their homes, kidnapping others and brutally raping women they found and shooting them once they had finished their evil acts.

Father-of-seven Radi, a member of the Hamas Security Service, who was captured in March 2024 in Gaza, described how he, his son and other terrorists broke into the Nir Oz kibbutz. Without any visible sign of remorse, he said: 'In each house where we found someone, we either killed them or kidnapped them.'

Pressed further he added: 'In the first house I found a woman and her husband, and we hit them with fire and killed them…they were in their late 40s.' He then went on to confess how he had raped one woman and said: 'She was screaming, she was crying, I did what I did, I raped her. 'I threatened her with my gun to take her clothes off, I remember she was wearing jean shorts, that's about it.' 'I don't know what happened to her, I was there for fifteen minutes and then I left.'

But according to his son Abdallah, his father killed the woman, as he told investigators: 'My father raped her, then I did and then my cousin did and then we left but my father killed the woman after we finished raping her. 'Before this woman, we had raped another girl as well, I killed two people, I raped two people, and I broke into five houses.'

Hamas releases propaganda document denying atrocities, blaming Israel for civilian deaths on the 7th October 202. In a 16-page document, the terror group sought to justify the 7th October massacre, denying its atrocities committed against civilians, and branded itself as a “national liberation” group[3].

Hostages

Israel announced on the 18th May 2024 that they had recovered hostage Ron Benjamin who was murdered during the savage and brutal attack by Hamas, the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist group and others. His body was taken as a hostage and kept in the Gaza Strip where it was recently located and returned to the family.

The bodies of Yitzhak Gelerenter, Shani Louk, and Amit Buskila were also retrieved and returned back to their families for closure.

On the 24th May 2024 the Israeli army stated that three more bodies were recovered and returned to their families. The army said they were killed on the day of the attack at the Mefalsim intersection and their bodies were taken to Gaza. The three were, Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez Radoux.

Nisenbaum, 59, was a Brazilian-Israeli from the southern city of Sderot. He was taken hostage when he went to rescue his 4-year-old granddaughter. Oryon Hernandez Radoux, 30, was a French-Mexican citizen taken from the Nova music festival, which he attended with his partner Shani Louk. Louk’s body was one of those found by the army nearly a week ago. Yablonka, 42, a father of two, was also taken from the music festival.

Israel during ceasefire negotiations on the 1st March 2024 with Hamas had requested the names of living hostages held by Hamas and other terrorist groups.

Hamas claimed seven hostages killed in captivity in Gaza. "We confirm that the number of enemy prisoners who were killed as a result of the military operations of the enemy army in the Gaza Strip may exceed seventy prisoners." Hamas named three of the hostages that had been allegedly killed as Chaim Gershon Peri, 79, Yoram Itak Metzger, 80, and Amiram Israel Cooper, 85.

Hamas declined the request to provide names of living hostages stating it needed a ceasefire in place to gather the information. This was possibly a ploy in order to obtain the ceasefire knowing that there were a number of hostages that were already dead in their ‘care.’

Human Shields

Hamas relies on the Israeli government’s aim to minimise collateral damage, and is also aware of the West ‘s sensitivity towards civilian casualties. Hamas’ use of human shields is therefore likely aimed at minimising their own vulnerabilities by limiting the Israeli Defence Forces’ (IDF) freedom of action. It is also aimed at gaining diplomatic and public opinion-related leverage, by presenting Israel and the IDF as an aggressor that indiscriminately strikes civilians. Hamas’ most common uses of human shields include:

·???????? Firing rockets, artillery, and mortars from or in proximity to heavily populated civilian areas, often from or near facilities which should be protected according to the Geneva Convention (e.g. schools, hospitals, or mosques).

·???????? Locating military or security-related infrastructures such as HQs, bases, armouries, access routes, lathes, or defensive positions within or in proximity to civilian areas.

·???????? Protecting terrorists’ houses and military facilities, or rescuing terrorists who were besieged or warned by the IDF.

·???????? Combating the IDF from or in proximity to residential and commercial areas, including using civilians for intelligence gathering missions.

By engaging in these acts, Hamas employs a win-win scenario. If indeed the IDF uses kinetic power, and the number of civilian causalities surges, Hamas can use that as a weapon in the lawfare it conducts. It would be able to accuse the IDF (and Israel) of committing war crimes, which in turn could result in the imposition of a wide array of sanctions. On the other hand, if the IDF limits its use of military power in Gaza to avoid collateral damage, Hamas will be less vulnerable to Israeli attacks, and thereby able to protect its assets while continuing to fight.

In an interview with Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior member of the Hamas politburo and published in the Foundation for Defence of Democracies (FDD) on the 1st November 2023 who was questioned about the tunnel network in the Gaza Strip,? “Since you have built 500 kilometres of tunnels, why haven’t you built bomb shelters where civilians can hide during bombardments?”

Hamas’s Abu Marzouk replied that the tunnels were, “meant to protect us” from Israeli aircraft and facilitate attacks on Israeli targets. “Us” meaning Hamas. Not the civilian population. Hamas chooses not to build bomb shelters in Gaza because that would undercut its ability to use the population as human shields. By putting civilians in or above its military positions, Hamas knows it cannot lose.

Either it will prevent Israel from attacking, since the Israeli military tries to minimize harm to civilians, or if Israel does attack, the use of human shields will ensure high civilian casualties, publicity, public outcry and pressure. Hamas can then hold the death toll against Israel while generating sympathy for itself. Equally important, the tunnels are a convenient way for Hamas to hide its military assets underneath civilian infrastructure. That is a textbook use of human shields, which international law prohibits.

Its currently believed that the Hamas leader and mastermind of the 7th October 2023 in Gaza is protecting himself by using Israeli hostages as Human shields in Gaza. This prompts the thought of how many live Israel hostages there are. If Hamas is willing to use its own people in order to protect the cowardly leaders of Hamas, they will not give a second thought to using Israeli’s.

But none of this comes from the United Nations nor the criminal court.

Hospitals

Since the war began between Israel and the terrorist organisation Hamas, the Israelis through the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) has been putting in place ‘Field Hospitals; to treat wounded and injured Palestinians.

Israel has coordinated the establishment of a new field hospital in the central Gaza Strip. The hospital is run by the International Medical Corps aid organization and is located in the Deir al-Balah area. It began operations in recent days. Israeli authorities facilitated the entry of 150 international medical staff and equipment, including medication, beds, food, water, tents, and other materials for the field hospital. The equipment underwent a security check before entering Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing. In addition to this new field hospital, seven other field hospitals were previously established in Gaza during the conflict.

On the 12th May 2024 Israel was reportedly opening up an 8th Field Hospital in Gaza. This new hospital comes as the Israeli military encourages Palestinians located in Rafah to move into humanitarian zones in anticipation of an expanded offensive to locate Israeli hostages and root out the terrorist organization Hamas. Israel is attempting to fight the final few battalions in Rafah where it is thought That the remaining hostages and the leadership of Hamas are hiding using Palestinians and Israeli hostages as human shields.

Establishing hospitals in order to treat wounded and injured Palestinian civilians is hardly the work of a state who is being accused of genocide.

The Republic of Nicaragua, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the State of Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany

With everything else going on Nicaragua decided to join the party.

Germany is the one of the largest suppliers of arms to Israel. According to a Reuters report on the 10th May 2024, German defence export approvals for Israel rose nearly tenfold to 326.5 million euros ($351 million) in 2023 compared with 2022 as Berlin treated permit requests as a priority after Hamas' 7th October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war. The largest is the United States with Italy lying in third place.

Nicaragua on the 2nd March 2024 had sued Germany at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for funding Israel and cutting aid to the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), the court announced. The Latin American country accused Berlin of violating international law in its continued funding for Tel Aviv and asked the ICJ to order emergency measures that would force Germany to cease military aid to Israel, and restart funding to the UNRWA. “By sending military equipment and now defunding UNRWA which provides essential support to the civilian population, Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide.”

Preliminary hearings opened on the 8th April 2024 at the United Nations’ top court in a case that seeks an end to German military and other aid to Israel, based on claims that Berlin is “facilitating” acts of genocide and breaches of international law in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Nicaragua’s government, which has historical links with Palestinian organizations dating back to their support for the 1979 Sandinista revolution, was itself accused earlier this year by UN-backed human rights experts of systematic human rights abuses “tantamount to crimes against humanity.” The government of President Daniel Ortega fiercely rejected the allegations.

Germany rejected the allegations.

On the 30th April 2024 the International Court of Justice decided not to issue provisional measures against Germany for its arms sales to Israel, rejecting a demand filed by Nicaragua against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The court ruled, however, that it would not dismiss the case from its docket as Germany had requested, saying it could only do so if there was a manifest lack of jurisdiction, which it asserted was not the situation in Nicaragua’s application.

In a strange twist the Islamic Republic of Iran on the 26th December 2023 announced in the government-controlled Tasnim News that Iran’s oil minister said competent Iranian companies are ready to rebuild and overhaul oil refineries in Nicaragua. Javad Owji is an Iranian oil engineer and politician who has been serving as the minister of oil since 25th August 2021 said the two countries share the same view in terms of fighting against the Global Arrogance (the United States and the State of Israel).

Iran and Nicaragua have maintained a relationship that centres around economic cooperation. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega visited Iran in June 2008 and held talks with then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. During these discussions, they explored several joint development and trade projects.

In recent months, Iran and Nicaragua have deepened their cooperation agreements in various sectors.

Discussions have included commitments by Iran to supply fuel to Nicaragua. There have been discussions about possible Iranian investments in a new oil refinery for Nicaragua called “Supremo Sue?o de Bolívar.” Iran has also begun purchasing Nicaraguan beef. The two countries have expanded their collaboration beyond economic matters.

In December 2022, Nicaragua’s Foreign Minister Denis Moncada visited Tehran, and a comprehensive plan for cooperation between Iran and Nicaragua was signed. This agreement is described as a “new and strategic road map” for expanding relations. It includes a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on political consultations, paving the way for close cooperation between the foreign ministries of both nations.

Quid pro Quo.

Conclusion

It is important to see here that those countries pursuing genocide and crimes against humanity are backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, namely South Africa and Nicaragua. Although there is not a great deal of evidence using open-source material, there is circumstantial evidence linking South Africa to Hamas and Iran; there is also evidence pointing towards Nicaragua and Iran as well. These two countries are hounding Israel on a different world platform. But the two need to be careful as they are opening themselves up to close scrutiny from the world. Iranian “Quid pro Quo” we do not give and support you for nothing may well bear fruit in these scenarios. Iran is fighting Israel on as many fronts as it can including through legal challenges. South Africa and Nicaragua have now become political pawns of Iran and should be labelled “Iranian political” proxies.

There are no accusations from elsewhere stating that Israel had been committing war-crimes or crimes against humanity. There is clear evidence that Hamas had committed hostage taking and using live and dead bodies in order to gain concessions in ceasefire talks. There is also clear, videoed and documented evidence of rape by Hamas against Israeli civilians in their aggression against Israel. ?

Yet, where are the accusations against genocide, rape and war crimes regarding Hamas, the Palestine Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups involved in the conflict? The same groups that planned and assaulted Israel that are now fighting a guerrilla war from tunnels built at the expense over a number of years and safety of the Palestinian civilian population from money syphoned off and clearly prepared before the 7th October 2023. Palestinian terrorist groups chose their battleground as they knew what was to happen after attacking Israel. All the International Criminal Court says is that all hostages should be released and that has not been mentioned on the South African second attempt at stopping the war. Instead, the ICC issues arrest warrants against Israeli politicians and equates them to the Hamas leadership.

It is all one-way traffic, there is no outcry regarding Abbas and Syria as there is no outcry against the war in the Sudan. They are Arab speaking countries.

Organisations and those who support these accusations against Israel need to have their ducks in the correct order before laying the blame at another country’s feet. Clearly by the way Israel conducts its war against Hamas and other terrorist groups they are doing their best to avoid civilians being in the line of fire. That is not genocide. The same cannot be said for Hamas, the PIJ and others who are involved in fighting against Israel.

However, that will not change the thoughts and challenges of those states who in reality who cannot tell the difference from what is right and wrong in the first place and leave unwarranted accusations unchallenged.

We will have to wait and see which other ‘Iranian political proxy’ tries its hand at putting a stop to the war between Hamas and Israel. A despot regime such as Venezuela, Cuba or Bolivia? Countries that will take financial incentives or the promise of having some form of money-making structure overhauled. That country will then become another pawn in a war that has nothing to do with them.

?

Paul Ashley

?

Further Information

[1]??????? Summary of ICJ’s Order of 24 May 2024 – Request for the modification of the Order of 28 March 2024 – Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel) 24 May 2024 Summary of ICJ's Order of 24 May 2024 - Request for the modification of the Order of 28 March 2024 - Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel) - Question of Palestine

[2]??????? United Nations Rape Allegation Report. 4th March 2024????? United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict: https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/press-release/israel-west-bank-mission/

[3]??????? Hamas???????????? Our Narrative… Operation Al-Aqsa Flood: https://www.lbcgroup.tv/uploadImages/ExtImages/Images2/Our%20Narrative-Operation%20Al-Aqsa%20Flood-Web_compressed%20(1).pdf

?