War Crimes & Genocide

In a moment of symbolic optimism it seems that Benjamin Netanyahu’s goose has been cooked. The latest is a warrant of arrest issued against him, and the 60-day ceasefire in Lebanon.

Anyway, the war was started by Israel with targeted pager attacks against civilians in Beirut and elsewhere, in which pagers subverted by Israeli intelligence would explode suddenly, blowing parts of the body — torso, genitals, limbs, face, eyes, fingers. Besides, around 4,000 Lebanese people have been killed by air strikes. Not able to get the underground fighters of the Hezbollah, the mass murder of civilians seems to be a deliberate military policy of the extreme Right-wing regime in Tel Aviv.

On November 21, 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu, his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas commander Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri (Deif). According to Israel, Deif has been killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). This report has not been confirmed as yet.

The ICC stated that it had “reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare”. It is well known, that apart from the bombs, the snipers, the tanks, and the targeted assassination of mothers and children (including about 190 journalists), the blockade of food and medical aid has been used as a military strategy by Israel. All wars are brutal, but this regime seems to be unsurpassed in its execution of daily brutality.

Unofficial sources have reported that the death toll might be many times higher in Gaza, while the Western media now cites a figure of 44,000, a large number of them women and children who are especially slaughtered so that new generations of Palestinians are not allowed to be born.

The ICC has said that the compulsive blockade of food and aid seems to be the principal charges against Netanyahu and Gallant. As for Dief, he was declared as “responsible for the crimes against humanity, of murder; extermination; torture; and rape and other forms of sexual violence…”

In an opinion piece in Al Jazeera (November 28, 2024), the writer says: “On the positive side, in and of itself, the ICC decision is historic, as for the very first time, it issued warrants for nationals of – politically speaking – a Western country. Intense pressures and threats from Israel, its friends and its protector-in-chief, the United States, did not shield the two principal members of Israel’s war cabinet from becoming fugitives… Of course, the prospect of seeing Netanyahu and Gallant in the dock is quasi nil. For now, those seeking a modicum of justice would find solace in the symbolism the international warrants for the two Israeli leaders carry.”

Significantly, Justin Trudeau has said that he will “abide” by the ICC decision. “We stand up for international law, and we will abide by all the regulations and rulings of the international courts. This is just who we are as Canadians.”

He also said, “We need to see a ceasefire that protects civilians. We need to get back on track towards a two-state solution with a peaceful Israel living alongside a peaceful Palestinian state.”

Besides, the spokesman of British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer , said: “The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law, and, indeed, international law.”

Other countries that are in agreement with the ICC are France, Belgium, Jordan, Iran, Turkey, Ireland, The Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, Norway and the European Union. UK and Canada are members of the ‘Five Eyes’, an intelligence network along with New Zealand, Australia, and the US.

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The US, not part of the ICC, has reacted in a predictable manner. Joe Biden called the ICC decision “outrageous”. He gave the usual spiel: “Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”

This is the line he and Kamala Harris have been taking since last year, all the while supplying Israel with billions of dollars, bombs, arms and ammunition, while backing the genocide in Gaza, even while thousands of students and citizens in America protested for months against the killings, calling for a ceasefire.

The ceasefire with Lebanon is more than a breakthrough, though Israel went on a bombing spree in southern Lebanon soon after citing “terrorist activity”. However, there has been no escalation. The point is that why did Israel go for a ceasefire at all?

There could be many reasons. While media reports are more or less absent from inside Israel, or, perhaps, censored, there are reports that since long big cities in the country are surviving in a state of siege. Thousands have gone underground in bunkers, and normal life has been disrupted. Clearly, the emotional and mental state of the people might be on a volatile edge. This especially triggered after Netanyahu opened up another front with Hezbollah and Iran — killing two top commanders of Hamas and Hezbollah in a high security area in Tehran. Iran vowed revenge.

No one knows what is the death toll of IDF soldiers in Gaza and Lebanon, or the damage inflicted by the missiles of Iran and Hezbollah, which have, effectively, broken through the once invincible Iron Dome, a gift by the US to its Nazi ally in the Middle East. Reservists were called in for the new war against Lebanon. Thousands of Israelis have reportedly escaped out of their country — looking for sanity and peace. A huge section is against Netanhayu, who is living on the edge with a serious corruption case hanging over him.

“It’s a whole new kind of world that we’re going into…And we’ll also have to wait and see if the ceasefire holds. I think the Israelis will do everything they can to provoke,” said Karim Makdisi, a professor of international politics at the American University in Beirut. “I think that as long as you have Netanyahu, something is going to happen.” He was quoted by independent media outfit, Drop Site.

In a speech on television, Netanyahu said he backed the ceasefire to rebuild arms and ammunition (now depleted), that he will shift his attention to Iran, and “to separate the fronts and isolate Hamas. From day two of the war, Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side. With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own.”

Meanwhile, Biden said on X: “Over the coming days, the United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza with the hostages released and an end to the war without Hamas in power.”

Will Gaza see peace in the coming days? It’s doubtful because Netanyahu’s best trump card is an endless genocide, and the liberation of the holy land, so that armed settlers can now occupy large parts of Gaza, as they have done in the West Bank — the two little strips of land left with the Palestinians of their original homeland.

He has shown no intention for the release of hostages, and, reportedly, has been the main obstacle as and when reached some form of reconciliation in Qatar. Indeed, he cares two hoots for the suffering of the hostages, or the suffering of their loved ones and families.

Besides, Hamas wants IDF to totally withdraw from Gaza. This seems highly improbable. And it wants thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, most of them innocent, now condemned in Israeli prisons, in exchange for the hostages. This too seems improbable, with Israel picking up several young boys and men recently from Gaza, taking them to unknown destinations.

As for Hamas getting isolated after the ceasefire with Lebanon (and Hezbollah), that too seems unlikely. The Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran are linked politically and militarily. And they will always operate strategically, in synthesis.

Hence, as a bitter and freezing winter takes over a ravaged Gaza, new stories of infinite tragedy will unfold. It’s just that there are no journalists or writers from across the world reporting and writing about it.