EDITORIAL: There is a real prospect, at long last, of holding Israel to account for causing unspeakable suffering to the Palestinian people. The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday opened a formal investigation into the war crimes in occupied Palestinian territories with a focus on the 2014 Israeli operation in Gaza, launched on the pretext of stopping rocket fired by Hamas activists, which left 2,250 Palestinians, mostly civilians - including women and children - and 74 Israelis, mostly soldiers, dead. The probe is also expected to cover the 2018 border clashes and construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank; and no less important, that if the rockets fired by Hamas or other groups constitute war crimes. ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda explained that the formal investigation follows a "painstaking five-year preliminary probe, and would be conducted independently, impartially and objectively, without fear or favour."
The Palestinian Authority has hailed the move saying "the crimes committed by the leaders of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people - which are ongoing, systematic and widespread - make this investigation necessary and urgent." Predictably, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it an attack on his country, and in an obvious attempt to undermine the court's integrity termed its decision "the essence of anti-Semitism". The reality though is far more serious than anything the Zionist state has faced ever before. In 2015, the Palestinian Authority, realizing the futility of pursuing the US-led peace process, became a signatory to the ICC and the Rome Statute governing it over Israeli objections that it was ineligible as there was no sovereign Palestinian state. It has also been challenging the court's jurisdiction to hold investigation. But last month, the court paved the way for war crimes investigations when it ruled that it had jurisdiction since Palestine is a state party by dint of its membership. Considering the pace at which things move at the ICC, the probe and the possible trials may take years to conclude.
Israel, of course, counts on the support of its ally and patron, the US, which had expressed "serious concerns" over the ICC ruling, saying Israel should not be bound by the court as it was not a member - like the US itself. Notwithstanding posturing in public, media reports say the country's leadership is very worried, and preparing to counter or at least limit the impact of investigations. Meanwhile, hundreds of past and present senior security officials, including Defence Minister, Benny Gantz - who was military chief of staff in 2014 - are being advised about the risk of arrest once the investigation process starts. That means they would not be able to travel abroad; defiance could create serious problems for even the friendly states to let them in or allow the use of their air space. It is a moment of truth for Western countries who claim to be defenders of human rights but have had no qualms about turning a blind eye to the Zionist state's war crimes and crimes against humanity. They too are likely to feel the heat from the investigation, and would be closely watched worldwide for how they respond to a "historic opportunity", as an Amnesty International official aptly put it: "to finally put an end to the pervasive impunity that has driven serious violations in the occupied Palestinian territories for more than a half a century."
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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