Prosecutor looks at ways to put Israeli officers on trial for Gaza 'war crimes'

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"The International Criminal Court is exploring ways to prosecute Israeli commanders over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The alleged crimes include the use of deadly white phosphorus in densely populated civilian areas, as revealed in an investigation by The Times last month. Israel initially denied using the controversial weapon, which causes horrific burns, but was forced later, in the face of mounting evidence, to admit to having deployed it.

When Palestinian groups petitioned the ICC this month, its prosecutor said that it was unable to take the case because it had no jurisdiction over Israel, a nonsignatory to the court. Now, however, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC prosecutor, has told The Times that he is examining the case for Palestinian jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed in Gaza.

Palestinian groups have submitted arguments asserting that the Palestinian Authority is the de facto state in the territory where the crimes were allegedly committed.

“It is the territorial state that has to make a reference to the court. They are making an argument that the Palestinian Authority is, in reality, that state,” Mr Moreno-Ocampo told The Times at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Part of the Palestinian argument rests on the Israeli insistence that it has no responsibility for Gaza under international law since it withdrew from the territory in 2006. “They are quoting jurisprudence,” Mr Moreno-Ocampo said. “It’s very complicated. It’s a different kind of analysis I am doing. It may take a long time but I will make a decision according to law.”

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[Howardx]

1. interesting argument

to see where this ends up.

[azurnoir]

2. I wish them luck n/t

[Scurrilous]

3. Gazans say Israeli troops forced them into battle zones

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"The Israeli soldiers outside Majdi Abed Rabbo's home were after the three Hamas fighters holed up next door, and they wanted Abed Rabbo to be their point man.

For the next 24 hours, Abed Rabbo said, the soldiers repeatedly forced him to walk through the battle zone to see whether the militants were dead or alive.

Abed Rabbo wasn't alone. Eight other residents in this northern Gaza Strip neighborhood told McClatchy Newspapers in separate interviews that Israeli soldiers had conscripted them to check homes for booby traps, to smash holes in the walls of houses so that soldiers could use them as escape routes, or to try to pull dead Palestinian militants from the rubble.

Conscripting Palestinians during the recent fighting in Gaza would appear to violate not only international law, but also Israel's court-imposed ban on using civilians as human shields.

"The laws of war make it clear you must distinguish between civilians and combatants and you cannot force a civilian to take on a combat role," said Daniel Reisner, a legal scholar who spent nearly a decade as the head of the Israeli military's international law department. "Using a human shield is illegal."

The issue is especially charged in Israel because its government has said that Hamas fighters put innocent Palestinians in harm's way by hiding in crowded Gaza neighborhoods and using civilian homes, schools and mosques to stage attacks on Israeli forces."

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[azurnoir]

5. So IDF was using human shields again

the 2005 court decision appears to mean very little except as PR.

[Jefferson23]

4. Good, at least they are examining the situation legally.

[Scurrilous]

6. ICC prosecutor mulls 'Gaza war crimes' probe

Luis Moreno-Ocampo tells Argentinean newspaper he is considering launching investigation into Israel's alleged use of white phosphorus shells in densely-populated areas during recent offensive

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3683267,00.html

<snip>

"The chief prosecutor of the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) announced he may launch an investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes committed during its recent military offensive in Gaza.

"We are in the analysis phase. I have not yet decided whether we will launch an investigation, but it is a possibility," Luis Moreno-Ocampo told the Argentinean newspaper Perfil, just a few days after the ICC issued an international arrest warrant against Sudanese president Omar el-Bashir, accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

In the interview, published Sunday, Moreno-Ocampo said he was examining complaints filed by Palestinian Justice Minister Ali Kashan in January according to which Israel used incendiary white phosphorus shells in crowded civilian areas in Gaza, contrary to international law.

According to the ICC prosecutor, Amnesty International and the Arab League had also presented his office with documentation related to Israel's alleged illegal activities in the Hamas-ruled territory."

[Idealism]

7. The Palestinian Authority has observer status so I am not sure if this will play in court.