November 9th 2023
To the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
Statutory Regulations, Art. 15.1 and 53.1
Associations, trade unions and NGOs
1. AFAK Bethléem
2. AFD International, Bruxelles
3. AFPS Meurthe et Moselle NORD
4. AGAP, Association Guadeloupéenne d’action contre le Chlordécone, Pointe-à-Pitre
5. Agir pour la Paix, Bruxelles
6. Agora des Habitants de la Terre, Bruxelles
7. Al Islah Al Nakabi, Beyrouth
8. Albertville Jourdain Vallée Solidarité, Albertville
9. Anayasa Hukukculai Dernegi, Association of Constitutional Lawyers, Istanbul
10. ANC Communiste, Paris
11. ANMWE 67, Port-Louis, Guadeloupe
12. Artistes pour la Paix, Canada
13. Association Belgo-Palestinienne
14. Association club Mohamed Ali de la culture Ouvrière, ACMACO, Tunis
15. Association Collectif Blouses Blanches pour les Libertés Fondamentales, Les Mureaux
16. Association Contre le Colonialisme Aujourd'hui (ACCA), Paris
17. Association Culturelle Musulmane Meyrinoise, Meyrin, Suisse
18. Association des Palestiniens de France, AL JALIYA, Union d’Associations palestiniennes en France, Paris
19. Association Femmes Plurielles, Paris
20. Association For Democraty and Développement
21. Association France Palestine Solidarité, AFPS, Calvados
22. Association Médico-Sociale Libanaise, Beyrouth
23. Association Humanitaire Salem, Ambérieu en Bugey
24. Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale (AQOCI), Montréal
25. Association Victimes de Torture A.V.T.T, Tunis
26. Campagne Civile Internationale pour la Protection du Peuple Palestinien, CCIPPP, Montpellier
27. CAPJPO-Europalestine, Paris
28. Carré Citoyen, Stains
29. Centre international de solidarité ouvrière (CISO), Montréal, Québec
30. Centre Islamique de Genève
31. Charente Palestine Solidarité
32. Collectif contre l’Injustice, Strasbourg
33. Collectif contre l'injustice, Strasbourg
34. Collectif de Strasbourg de Première Heure, Strasbourg
35. Collectif Grands Méchants Mots, Marseille
36. Collectif Jasmin, Genève
37. Collectif Palestine 69, Lyon
38. Comité Action Palestine, Bordeaux
39. Comité de Libération des Prisonniers Politiques (CL2P), Paris
40. Comité de Solidariedade com a Palestina, Lisbonne
41. Comité de solidarité des Trois-Rivières, Québec
42. Comité Palestine 94 Nord, groupe local de Fontenay-sous-Bois de l'Association France Palestine Solidarité
43. Comité pour le Respect de la Mémoire du Peuple Guadeloupéen, Pointe-à-Pitre
44. Comité pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient, Luxembourg
45. Commission Contributive Citoyenne Genève (CCC Genève) Suisse
46. Conseil de Genève pour les Affaires Internationales et le Développement
47. Couleur Palestine 69
48. Cultures Solaires Bédarieux
49. Cultures solidaires Béziers
50. Deutsch-Palästinensische Gesellschaft (DPG), ie The German Palestinian Association, Bremen
51. Dituria, centre culturel islamique albanais de Genève
52. Echange Rhône-Alpes Palestine, Lyon
53. Espace Vêtements du Cœur, Lyon
54. European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP), Bruxelles
55. European Palestinian Council For Political Relations, Belgique
56. Europeans Against Apartheid (EAA), Bruxelles
57. Fédération Droit Au Logement (DAL), Paris
58. Femmes en Noir de Caen
59. Filistin Gozlemevi Aeastirmw, Istanbul
60. Fondation Frantz-Fanon, Paris – Martinique
61. Forum Nord Sud, ASBL, Belgique
62. FORUM Training and Empowerment, Amman
63. GAPE, George Antoine pour l’Espoir, Sens
64. Groupe de Recherche sur les Imaginaires Politiques en Amérique Latine (GRIPAL), Montréal
65. Hope for Palestinian Students, Bruxelles
66. Hukukçu Akademisyenler Denergi, Association of legal Academics, Istanbul
67. Hukukçu Kadinlar Denergi, Association of Women in Law, Istanbul
68. Human Right Solidarity Organisation, Genève
69. IBRASPAL, Instituto Brasil Palestina, Sao Paulo
70. Institut scandinave pour les Droits de l’Homme / Fondation Haytham Manna, Genève
71. International Association Of Syrian Jurists, Istanbul
72. ISM-France, Douarnenez
73. JAI JAGAT, Belgique
74. JSF, Justice Sans Frontières, Belgique
75. Justice and Democracy ASBL, Bruxelles
76. Justice et Droit Sans Frontières, Paris
77. Justice et Psychologie, Strasbour
78. Justice for Human Rights, JHR, Istanbul
79. L’@SoS, Alès
80. La Courneuve Palestine, La Courneuve
81. LAKOU LKP, Pointe-à-Pitre
82. Le Diwan des 1000 et 1 mondes, Poitiers
83. Mayouri No’No Fii Gwiyann (MNFG), Cayenne
84. MAZLUMDER, Insan Haklari ve Mazlumlar Icin Dayanisma Dernegi, Association for Human Rights
85. Mouvement pour une Solidarité Internationale, MSI, Lyon
86. MRAP 26, Valence
87. MRAP Rhône, Villeurbanne
88. National Society for Human Right, Aman
89. Obsevatoire, violence, criminalisation et démocratie, Montréal, Québec
90. Oh association d'aide sociale, Tripoli, Liban
91. One Justice for Human Rights, Paris
92. Palestina Solidariteid, vzw, Belgique
93. Palestine 13, groupe local de l’AFPS, Marseille
94. Palestinian Monitor, Malmö, Suède
95. PALMED EUROPE, Paris
96. Poitiers Palestine, Poitiers
97. Présence et Action Culturelles, ASBL, Bruxelles
98. Résistance Palestine, Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon
99. SAM pour les droits et libertés
100. SOLSOC, Solidarité Socialiste, ASBL Belgique
101. Sunbula, Association de Solidarité Internationale, Compiègne
102. Syndicat National des Praticiens de Santé Publique, Alger
103. Terres du Sud
104. The American Center for Justice (ACJ), Dearborn, Michigan, the United States of America
105. TURKAD, Türkiye Adalet Arasturmalari Denergi, Turkish Justice Research Association, Istanbul
106. UJFP, Union Juive Française Pour la Paix, Paris
107. Uluslararasi Hukukçular Birligi, International Jusits Union, Istanbul
108. UM Association, Beyrouth
109. Un Nouveau Visage, Joinville-le-Pont
110. Union Générale des Travailleurs de Guadeloupe (UGTG), Pointe-à-Pitre
111. Union Générale des Travailleurs de Martinique (UGTM), Fort-de-France
112. Union Internationale des juristes, Genève
113. Union française des binationaux et de la diaspora algérienne, Paris
114. Unis Pour une Meilleure Société, Grand-Charmont
115. United Motter, Beyrouth
116. Yardimeli Uluslarar Arasi Insami Yardim Dernegi, Yardimeli International Humanitarian Association
HAVING AS LAWYERS
1. Me Gilles DEVERS, du Barreau de Lyon, France, registered in the CPI’s list of advisers, practicing at 3 place Louis Pradel, 69001 Lyon, France
2. Maître Khaled Al-SHOULI Avocat au Barreau de Jordanie, Jabal Al-Hussein, 85 Al-Razi Str., Amman, Jordanie
3. M. Abdelmajid MRARI, Advocate, Bar of Tanger, 19 Rue de Kénitra, Marchan Tanger, Maroc
CHOICE OF DOMICILE
For the purposes of this procedure, the associations and their advisers all choose as their domicile the office of Me Gilles DEVERS, 3 place Louis Pradel, 69001 Lyon, France, e-mail gilles@deversavocats.com
Thus, all correspondence and any notification should be made only to this address, and will be considered valid for all.
4. Monsieur le Bâtonnier Abderrahmane BENAMEUR, Barreau de Rabat
5. Monsieur le Bâtonnier Abderrahim JAMAI, Barreau de Rabat
6. Monsieur le Bâtonnier Hatem MZIOU, Barreau de Tunisie
7. Monsieur le Bâtonnier S.S. SAAEV, Bar association of the Chechen Republic « Justice », Grozny, Chechen Republic, Russia
8. Monsieur le Bâtonnier Turgay SAHIN, Afyonkarahisar, Turquie
9. Me Ali ABU ALI, Barreau de Palestine
10. Me Aseel ZAGHIBI, Barreau de Palestine
11. Me Ghassan ESTITI, Barreau de Palestine
12. Me Julnar BADAWIYA, Barreau de Palestine
13. Me Karam AWAD, Barreau de Palestine
14. Me Magdy HAMMADI, Barreau de Palestine
15. Me Imad HAMAD, Barreau de Palestine
16. Me Muhammad HOSHIYA, Barreau de Palestine
17. Me Qutaiba BADAWIYAH, Barreau de Palestine
18. Me Raed OBAIDI, Barreau de Palestine
19. Me Abdallah ALHARAHSHEH, Barreau de Jordanie, Jordanie
20. Me Abdelhafid Kourtel, Barreau d’Alger
21. Me Abdelmadjid BENAMARA, Barreau de Paris, France
22. Me Abdelmon’em HUSSEIN -H éà Barreau de Jordanie, Jordanie
23. Me Abdenour ABBAS, Barreau de Boumerdès, Algérie
24. Me Abderrahmane BELHOUARI, Barreau d’Alger, Algérie
25. Me Abdoul Gadiri Diallo, Barreau de Guinée Conakry, Guinée Conakry
26. Me Abdoulaye Amadou BA, Barreau de Mauritanie, Mauritanie
27. Me Abdul-Aziz MUNJ, Barreau d’Ecosse, Ecosse
28. Me Abdulhalim TIRABZON du Barreau d’Istanbul, Turquie
29. Me Abdulhamit CEYLAN du Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
30. Me Abdulsamet UYGUN du Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
31. Me Abubakr ASHRAF, Barreau de Faisalabad, Pakistan
32. Me Adnan LIAKAT, Barreau de Lahore, Pakistan
33. Me Adriana IVANOVA, Barreau de Montpellier, France
34. Me Agnès MARTIN, Barreau de Grenoble, France
35. Me Ahlem HASNI, Barreau d’Aix-en-Provence, France
36. Me Ahmet AKCAN du Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
37. Me Ahmet YILMAZ du Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
38. Me Ajer DAHMANI, Barreau de Seine-Saint-Denis, France
39. Me Akila MEHADJI, Barreau de Paris, France
40. Me Ala ADAS, Barreau de Lyon
41. Me Alima BOUMEDIENE-THIERY, Barreau de Val-d'Oise, France
42. Me Amandine SIAU, Barreau de Paris, France
43. Me Amel BCHINI, Barreau de Tunisie, Tunisie
44. Me Amele MANSOURI, Barreau de Rouen, France
45. Me Amina FAISI, Barreau d’Alger, Algérie
46. Me Amina MEGDOUB, Barreau de Paris, France
47. Me Amine EL QATIB, Barreau de Paris, France
48. Me Anaïs BAZIZ, Barreau de Paris, France
49. Me Anaïs PLACE, Barreau de Paris, France
50. Me Anis BENISAD, Barreau de Paris, France
51. Me Anis F. KASSIM, Barreau de Jordanie, Jordanie
52. Me Anne ROBERT, Barreau de Lyon, France
53. Me Annissa EL-ALAMI, Barreau de Paris, France
54. Me Antoine DE FLANDRE, Barreau de Paris, France
55. Me Antoine LE SCOLAN, Barreau de Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin et Saint-Barthélemy, France
56. Me Aouicha BEKHTI, Barreau d’Alger, Algérie
57. Me Arooj AHSAN, Barreau de Paris, France
58. Me Asif ARIF, Barreaux de Paris, France et de Californie Etats-Unis d’Amérique
59. Me Asif RIZWAN, Barreau de Lahore, Pakistan
60. Me Asmaa ELMOUDDEN, Barreau de Tanger
61. Me Atéka VASRAM, Barreau de Paris, France
62. Me Audrey BERTEAU, Barreau du Québec, Canada
63. Me Aws ALMAHASNEH, Barreau de Jordanie, Jordanie
64. Me Ayse DOGANGUZEL du Barreau No 2 d’Ankara, Turquie
65. Me Balkiss EL ACHECHE, Barreau de Paris
66. Me Bassem EL HOUT, Barreau de Beyrouth, Liban
67. Me Berra Nur YILDIRIM Barreau d’Istanbul No 2, Turquie
68. Me Bilel IRATNI, Barreau de Paris, France
69. Me Bircan KACMAZ ALTIN du Barreau de Diyarbakir, Turquie
70. Me Boudjema GHECHIR, Barreau d’Alger, Algérie
71. Me Brahim AKARIOUH, Barreau de Paris, France
72. Me Burak TUREDI du Barreau d’Ankara No 1, Turquie
73. Me Busra KOYUNCU du Barreau d’Ankara No 2, Turquie
74. Me Cafer TANRIKULU du Barreau d’Istanbul No 2, Turquie
75. Me Cahit OZKAN du Barreau d’Istanbul No 2, Turquie
76. Me Camille DORE, Barreau d’Amiens, France
77. Me Catherine DESCOTEAUX, Barreau du Québec, Canada
78. Me Celal KARA du Barreau de Kahramanmaras, Turquie
79. Me Celia BOUKHTOUCHE, Barreau de Paris, France
80. Me Cem ALP, Barreau de Lyon, France
81. Me Cem KAYA du Barreau d’Istanbul, Turquie
82. Me Ceren TUNCER du Barreau d’Ankara No 2, Turquie
83. Me Cérine Ben Hamouda, Barreau de Paris, France
84. Me Chahaida YANNI, Barreau de Paris, France
85. Me Cherryne RENAUD, Barreau de Paris, France
86. Me Chouaib AHIDI, Barreau de Tanger, Maroc
87. Me Claudia MEDINA OLIVIERA, Barreau de Paris, France
88. Me Corine BEN HAMOUDA, Barreau de Paris, France
89. Me Cynthia WEIBEL Barreau de Genève, Suisse
90. Me Dananir RHARNIT, Barreau de Casablanca, Maroc
91. Me Daoud MILCENT, Barreau de Thonon-les-Bains, France
92. Me Diala AL-SHAMAN, Barreau de Paris, France
93. Me Dilan DAMLA, Barreau du Québec, Canada
94. Me Dounia BELGHAZI, Barreau de Lyon, France
95. Me Ebubekir PENBEGULLU du Barreau d’Istanbul
96. Me Ece ESERLI du Barreau d’Istanbul, Turquie
97. Me Eddine DENFER-DJEFFAL, Barreau de Lille France
98. Me Eizer SOUIDI, Barreau des Hauts-de-Seine, France
99. Me Elif Nur GUVENCER Barreau d’Istanbul, Turquie
100. Me Elif YILDIRIM Barreau d’Ankara, Turquie
101. Me Elodie COUVRAND, Barreau de Paris, France
102. Me Emilia ZELMAT, Barreau des Hauts-de-Seine, France
103. Me Eyuphan KORKMAZ Barreau d’Ankara, Turquie
104. Me Fadila OUADAH-BENGHAL, Barreau de Paris, France
105. Me Faïza BENKENANE, Barreau de Paris, France
106. Me Faïza KADRI, Barreau du Québec, Canada
107. Me Faizat EL HILALI DALLA-VECCHIA, Barreau de Senlis, France
108. Me Farah BENAMARA, Barreau de Paris, France
109. Me Faten BEN HASSINE, Barreau de Toulon, Paris
110. Me Fatima LAMALMI, Barreau de Paris, Paris
111. Me Fatma BENLI YALCIN Barreau d’Istanbul, Turquie
112. Me Faycal CHAOUCHE, Barreau de Luxembourg, Luxembourg
113. Me Figen SASTIM Barreau d’Istanbul, Turquie
114. Me Fikret OZTAMUR Barreau d’Istanbul, Turquie
115. Me Flaminio MAFFETTINI, Barreau de Bergamo, Italie
116. Me Ghizlane MAMOUNI, Barreau de Paris, France
117. Me Hadjer ROUABAH, Barreau de Lyon, France
118. Me Hakim CHERGUI, Barreau de Paris, France
119. Me Hakim KEBILA, Barreau de Paris, France
120. Me Halil UGURSEVENLER, Barreau d’Istanbul, Turquie
121. Me Halit ALI, Barreau No:1 d’Istanbul, Turquie
122. Me Hamida BENTAOUIT, Barreau de Tanger, Maroc
123. Me Hasan Huseyin PALAN, Barreau No:2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
124. Me Havva KUTLUAY, Barreau No:1 d’Istanbul, Turquie
125. Me Héla NACEUR HIRMANPOU, Barreau de Paris, France
126. Me Hind BEN MILOUD, Barreau Alger, Algérie
127. Me Hind SEDKI EL IDRISSI, Barreau de Casablanca
128. Me Huseyin AKYOL, Barreau No:1 d’Istanbul
129. Me Husnu TUNA du Barreau No:2 d’Istanbul
130. Me Hweida SHAREEF, Barreau de Soudan
131. Me Hychem MEJERI, Barreau de Toulon, France
132. Me Inès Ben MADKHOUR, barreau des Hauts-de-Seine, France
133. Me Iris PRENI, Barreau de Strasbourg, France
134. Me Isa GULTASLAR, Barreau de Bruxelles, Belgique
135. Me Isa SAY du Barreau de Van, Turquie
136. Me Ismaël HERDA, Barreau de Lyon, France
137. Me Ismaël MEZITI, Barreau de Marseille, France
138. Me Jérôme BRASSART, Barreau de Lille, France
139. Me Jessica DUFRESNE, Barreau du Québec, Canada
140. Me Judie HAJJO, Barreau de Lyon, Paris
141. Me Julie CROWET, Barreau de Bruxelles
142. Me Julien MARTIN, Barreau de Strasbourg, France
143. Me Juliette Detrixhe, Barreau de Bruxelles
144. Me Kahina TOUAMI, Barreau des Hauts-de-Seine, France
145. Me Kamara EL YAAGOUBI, Paris, France
146. Me Kaouçar YOUNES – GHARBI, Barreau de Lille, France
147. Me Karim TOURMOUS, Barreau du Brabant Wallon
148. Me Kaya KARTAL du Barreau No:1 d’Istanbul
149. Me Khadija EL MADMAD, Barreau de Rabat
150. Me Khadija SIDDIQI, Barreau de Lahore, Pakistan
151. Me Khaled ELACHI, Barreau de Paris
152. Me Kourtel A. HAFID, Barreau d’Alger
153. Me Kubilay SARI, Barreau de Paris
154. Me Laetitia YADEL, Barreau de Paris
155. Me Laila ATTA, Barreau de Jordanie
156. Me Lamis DEEK, Barreau de New York, USA
157. Me Lamyaa NAICH, Barreau de Luxembourg, Luxembourg
158. Me Lara ELBORNO, Barreau de Paris
159. Me Laura NASSRALAH, Barreau de Genève, Suisse
160. Me Lauriane PALARDY, Barreau de Québec, Canada
161. Me Laurie COMBES, Barreau de Marseille, France
162. Me Layla HAMERY, Barreau de Paris, France
163. Me Lazare AMRANE, Barreau de Lyon
164. Me Leila AISSAOUI, Barreau de Paris, France
165. Me Lina VITALE, Barreau de Genève, Suisse
166. Me Linda AOUADI, Barreau de Montpellier, France
167. Me Linda BOUDOUAOUIR, Barreau de Paris, France
168. Me Linda HOUFAF, Barreau de Paris, France
169. Me Linda TEGHDIT, Barreau de Paris, France
170. Me Louise HUBERT, Barreau de Paris, France
171. Me Lynda SADLAOUD, Barreau de Batna, Algérie
172. Me Maëlla DUCASSOUX, Barreau de Paris, France
173. Me Magda EL HAITHEM, Barreau de Paris, France
174. Me Maqsood RANA BALAWAL, Barreau de Lahore, Pakistan
175. Me Marguerite du TERTRE, Barreau de Paris
176. Me Mariama MILLOU, Barreau de Metz, France
177. Me Marie POGLIONE, Barreau de Paris, France
178. Me Marine ZAGAR, Barreau de Paris, France
179. Me Mark PHILLIPS, Barreau de Montréal, Canada,
180. Me Maurice BUTTIN, Avocat honoraire, Barreau de Paris
181. Me Maya LINO, Barreau de Paris
182. Me Mazen FAKIH, Barreau de Paris, France
183. Me Mehdi Belkacem, Barreau de Paris France
184. Me Mehmet Fatih KIRATLI du Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul
185. Me Mehmet Fatih YALCIN du Barreau de Kilis
186. Me Mehmet KOCAK du Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul
187. Me Melissa DEBARA, Barreau de Lille
188. Me Meriem KHELLADI-REINAERT, Barreau de Paris, France
189. Me Merve BINGOL, Barreau de Montpellier, France
190. Me Merve Erol, Barreau de Paris, France
191. Me Merve Sultan BILGEN du Barreau No 1 d’Istanbul, Turquie
192. Me Mesut TORAMAN du Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
193. Me Metin ILHAN du Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
194. Me Mohamed BENNEGUEOUCH EL BACHIR, Barreau de Blida, Algérie
195. Me Mohamed JALAL, Barreau de Rabat, Maroc
196. Me Mohamed MBARECK Mohamed VALL, Barreau de Mauritanie, Mauritanie
197. Me Mohamed Yassir SEMLALI, Barreau de Rabat, Maroc
198. Me Mounir BENNAOUM, Barreau de Bruxelles, Belgique
199. Me Mubarak Al Mutawaa, Bar of Koweit City, Koweit
200. Me Muhammed Hamza ATAMAN du Barreau No 1 d’Ankara, Turquie
201. Me Muhammed İkbal DEMIRAL du Barreau No 1 d’Istanbul, Turquie
202. Me Muhammet Fatih SONMEZ du Barreau No 2 d’Ankara, Turquie
203. Me Mustafa NASRALLAH, Barreau de Jordanie, Jordanie
204. Me Mustafa TASBASI du Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
205. Me Myriam DROUCH, Barreau de Seine Saint-Denis
206. Me Myriam ZAHID, Barreau de Paris, France
207. Me Nadia FALFOUL, Barreau des Hauts-de-Seine, France
208. Me Nadia LEBECHE, Barreau de Rouen, France
209. Me Nadia TEBAA, Barreau de Paris, France
210. Me Naila SOUBKI, Barreau de Québec, Canada
211. Me Najet HADRICHE, Barreau de Tunisie, Tunisie
212. Me Nawal BOUZINAB-CHUITAR, Barreau de Bruxelles, Bruxelles
213. Me Nawal KACI, Barreau de Paris, France
214. Me Nawel GAFSIA, Barreau de Paris, Paris
215. Me Necati CEYLAN du Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
216. Me Nora DHRISS, Barreau de Mulhouse, France
217. Me Nora MISSAOUI-LEFEBVRE, Barreau de Lille, France
218. Me Nourredine BENISSADA, Barreau d’Alger, Algérie
219. Me Nuray ALBAYRAK du Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
220. Me Oguzhan TURHAN, Barreau No 1 d’Istanbul, Turquie
221. Me Omer GENCICEK, Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
222. Me Omer TEMEL, Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
223. Me Osaid NAJAJREH, Barreau de Jordanie, Jordanie
224. Me Ossama DAHMANE, Barreau de Lille, France
225. Me Ozlem Fadime ALTUN AKYOL, Barreau No 1 d’Istanbul, Turquie
226. Me Oznur OZDEMIR, Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
227. Me Parina MASKEEN, Barreau de Luxembourg, Luxembourg
228. Me Pauline BOULARD, Barreau de Lyon, France
229. Me Rachid ABDERREZAK, Barreau de Paris, France
230. Me Rachid ELOMARY, Barreau de Tanger, Maroc
231. Me Rahma HAMROUNI, Barreau de Paris, France
232. Me Rai USMAN, Barreau de Lahore, Pakistan
233. Me Rajnish LAOUINI, Barreau de Paris, France
234. Me Rajuish LAOUNI, Barreau de Créteil, France
235. Me Redwan METTIOUI, Barreau de Bruxelles, Belgique
236. Me Riza SAKA, Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
237. Me Rym GOUIZI, Barreau de Paris, France
238. Me Saadia DRAISS Barreau de Casablanca, Maroc
239. Me Sabine VENTURELLI, Barreau du Québec, Canada
240. Me Sabrina BESANGER, Barreau d’Avignon, France
241. Me Sabrina BOUAOU, Barreau de l’Essonne, France
242. Me Sabrina HADDAD, Barreau de Marseille, France
243. Me Sabrina MAHDOUD, Barreau Mulhouse, France
244. Me Sadjia MADI, Barreau de Boumerdes, Algérie
245. Me Sahra HAKIM, Barreau de Créteil, France
246. Me Salima HAMIDATOU, Barreau de Paris, France
247. Me Samet ÖZTÜRK, Barreau d’Avignon, France
248. Me Samira BOUYID, Barreau de Bruxelles, Belgique
249. Me Sanam MOHSENZADEGAN, Barreau de Seine Saint-Denis, France
250. Me Sara BELLAHOUEL, Barreau de Paris, France
251. Me Sarah AHMED YAHIA, Barreau de Paris, France
252. Me Sarah BECHARI, Barreau de Besançon, France
253. Me Sarah BOUGRAB, Barreau des Hauts-de-Seine, France
254. Me Sarah KECHA, Barreau de Bordeaux, France
255. Me Sarah NADJI, Barreau de Lille, France
256. Me Sarah SABER, Barreau de Lyon, France
257. Me Sarah TARABAY, Barreau de Paris, France
258. Me Sawsan ABU MAYALEH, Barreau de Jordanie, Jordanie
259. Me Sayah OUERIEMMI, Barreau de Tunisie, Tunisie
260. Me Sefa YOZGATLI du Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
261. Me Selma Benkhelifa, Barreau de Bruxelles, Belgique
262. Me Sevda GOG, Barreau d’Istanbul, Turquie
263. Me Seyf-Eddine MOKEDDEM, Barreau de Saint-Etienne, France
264. Me Sezgin TUNC, Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
265. Me Skander LAHMAIER, Barreau de Tunisie, Tunisie
266. Me Sofia SADFI, Barreau de Paris, France
267. Me Sonia DELAYE-NSIR, Barreau de Paris, France
268. Me Sonia LAAREG, Barreau de Lyon, France
269. Me Sophia CHINOUF, Barreau de Lyon, France
270. Me Suheda TURAN OZKAN, Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
271. Me Suraya SYED, Barreau de Paris, France
272. Me Talitha Camargo DA FONSECA, Barreau de Sao Paolo, Brésil
273. Me Tania VARELA-GONZALEZ, Barreau de Barcelone, Espagne
274. Me Tuba ARSLAN, Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
275. Me Tuba Ummuhan UNLU, Barreau No 2 d’Ankara, Turquie
276. Me Tugce KOSE, Barreau No 1 d’Ankara, Turquie
277. Me Usman RAI, Barreau de Lahora, Pakistan
278. Me Valdrin GERGURI, Barreau de Bruxelles, Belgique
279. Me Veysel KAHRAMAN, Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
280. Me Vlora HOXHA, Barreau de Paris, France
281. Me Yamina KEBIR, Barreau d’Alger, Algérie
282. Me Yasmine ABARAH, Barreau de Paris, France
283. Me Yasmine ABDOUCH, Barreau de Paris, France
284. Me Yasmine SADFI, Barreau de Paris, France
285. Me Yasmine TABOURI, Barreau de Paris, France
286. Me Youness SIPKIN, Barreau de Paris, France
287. Me Yousef IDCHAR, Barreau de Saint-Etienne, France
288. Me Yousha TAYOB, Barreau de Johannesbourg, Afrique du Sud
289. Me Zafer Ersin TOPOGLU, Barreau de Denizli, Turquie
290. Me Zahid HASSAN, Barreau de Sahiwal, Pakistan
291. Me Zeliha ATAK BOZKURT, Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
292. Me Zerrin BATARAY, Barreau de Vienne, France
293. Me Zeynep KOLA CAGIS, Barreau No 1 d’Istanbul, Turquie
294. Me Zeynep ULU, Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
295. Me Ziya ER, Barreau No 2 d’Istanbul, Turquie
PLAN
I - FACTS
A - Earlier events
1/ From the era of Palestine
2/ The creation of the State of Israel, as a Jewish state
3/ Since 1967, the military occupation and colonization
B - Recent events
1/ The Hamas attack
a/ Accusation and Evidence
b/ The strict and limited framework of the justification
c/ The need for an investigation
d/ The need for an impartial investigation, by the ICC
2/ The Israeli response
a/ An "unprecedented" price
b/ A complete siege
c/ The forced displacement of more than a million people
d/ The blocking of energy supplies
e/ Hateful and morbid propaganda
f/ The plan for the expulsion of Gazans to Sinai
g/ A major humanitarian crisis
II - DISCUSSION
A - General data
1/ The legal framework
2/ The procedural framework
B - The facts of October 7, 8 and 9, 2023
1/ Applicable law
2/ Analysis
C - The Israeli response
1/ Discussion on the crime of genocide
a/ Applicable law
i) The texts
Genocide by murder
Genocide by serious injury to physical or mental integrity
Genocide by intentional submission to conditions of existence that must lead to the total or partial physical destruction of a group
ii) The case-law General Regime
The material criterion
The intentional criterion
b) Analysis
i) The material elements
ii) Intentional elements
2/ Other crimes provided for by the Statute
Deportation or forced transfer of populations
Persecution
Intentional homicide
Attack on civilians
Attack on personnel or property employed as part of a humanitarian aid mission
D - On the investigation
1/ Applicable law
2/ Analysis
- FACTS
As stated by the UN Secretary-General, current events "did not happen in a vacuum"1.
A - Earlier events
1/ From the time of Palestine
The Arab national movement in the Middle East is of ancient origin, on this land which had been under Ottoman administration since the conquest of Cairo in 1517 and Baghdad in 1533.
Palestine was a province of the Ottoman Empire, with a well-defined territory, centered around Jerusalem, with a people grouping Muslims, Christians and Jews. However, the Jews were then very much in the minority, that is to say in October 1922: 589,177 Muslims, 71,464 Christians, 83,790 Jews, 7,617 others 2.
The reality of this Arab society would find a legal realization with the League of Nations, which would adopt for the former provinces of the Ottoman Empire the "class A" mandate, acknowledging the development of these peoples and their right to independence :
"Some communities that previously belonged to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the granting of advice and administrative assistance by a proxy until they are autonomous. The wishes of these communities must be a main consideration in the selection of the representative"3.
In the end, the Arab national movement prevailed, and the Ottoman provinces became independent states: Iraq on October 3, 1932, Lebanon on November 22, 1943, Syria on January 1, 1944, and the Kingdom of Jordan on March 22, 1946 4. For Palestine, the process failed because of the project to establish a Jewish state in Palestine.
Following the Zionist congress of 1897 5, the mayor of Jerusalem, Youssouf al-Khalidi, had challenged this idea of creating a Jewish state, given the political and social organization on the spot6.
It was the imperialist powers of the time, France and the United Kingdom7 who chose to give full force to the Zionist project, mortgaging the fate of the Palestinian people, and in 1917, the Balfour declaration, opportunistically, validated this project8.
In 1921, Palestine became a mandate state, with a complete organization of powers internally, and an assumed international life, including the ratification of numerous treaties.
Between 1922 and 1948, the year of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom, Palestine, like all the former Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire, was treated in international relations as a state on an equal footing with the others. A State under mandate, but a State 9. The borders were established by international acts, in the east with Transjordan which established for its inhabitants a nationality distinct from that of the Palestine10, in the north, with Lebanon and Syria11, and in the south, with Egypt12. These borders have never been disputed.
The NDS mandate of 1921 included the commitment of the Balfour Declaration. The report of the United States administrators, King and Crane, of 1921, described the reality of Palestinian society, and recommended giving up that commitment or else face a century of war13.
The United Kingdom, a proxy power, has done everything possible to facilitate Jewish immigration and ensure its grip on the land, creating great political, economic and social difficulties. Realizing that the real goal was the creation of a Jewish state, the Arab opposition became became a protest movement, with large-scale social protests, and considerable disorders14.
The British representative did not realize the division into two states, which was their original project.
In November 1947, the UN General Assembly recommended a partition plan, and advocated an international status for Jerusalem. This proposal was rejected by the Arab countries15.
2/ The creation of the State of Israel, as a Jewish state
The United Kingdom announced the end of its mandate in May 1948. On the same day, Zionist officials, under the leadership of Ben Gurion, proclaimed the State of Israel on the part of the territory recommended by the UN16, and immediately engaged in military hostilities which allowed the new state to expand its territory with, after a ceasefire, led to the provisional drawing of a border, called the Green Line, which remains relevant to this day.
The leaders of Israel, seeking to create a Jewish state in an Arab land, carried out the ethnic cleansing of 90% of the Arab population on the territory they had seized: these 750,000 Palestinians victims of the Nakba have the right of return, which could never be exercised17. As early as June 1948, David Ben-Gurion, then Prime minister, declared to his cabinet that "no Arab refugees should be allowed to return"18.
Internationally, the State of Israel has established itself as a subject of international law without ratifying new treaties, asserting itself as the successor state to the treaties that had been ratified by the State of Palestine on its new territory.
The Palestinian refugees were grouped under the status of UNRWA.
The years that followed were those of high tension, marked by sometimes serious incidents, but the Palestinian people, grouped within the PLO 19, were ignored by the UN.
3/ Since 1967, the military occupation and colonization
In June 1967, Israel conducted a military operation leading it to take control of the entire territory of the former mandate Palestine, under the regime of military occupation for the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
Israel annexed the eastern part of the territory of Jerusalem and 38 neighboring municipalities, violating the principle prohibiting the acquisition of territory by armed force.
Since 1967, to this day, Israel retains the status of occupying military power over the entire occupied Palestinian territory, including Gaza.
Israel has taken advantage of this situation and of international complacency to establish a large number of settlements in the occupied territories, counting to date 700,000 people.
The UN has always denounced the illegal nature of its colonies, but no action has been taken either for the colonized settlements or for Jerusalem20.
As a result of the armed struggle, the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination was recognized by the UN21, and the State of Palestine was proclaimed in Algiers22.
As a result, peace talks were initiated, according to the Oslo process, that is to say on a flawed basis, either in a bilateral relationship and with an unknown status of "Palestinian Authority", admitting a State of Israel as the holder of all sovereign rights, which it could agree to transfer to this "Palestinian Authority". Nothing was done to dismantle the settlements, and on the contrary, a "Zone C" was created in the West Bank ensuring continuous Israeli control over the Palestinian territory23.
In 2006, general elections were held in Palestine, the democratic character of which is undisputed, and which was won by the movement of the Islamic resistance Hamas, with nearly 60% of the votes, the people manifesting their opposition to the Oslo process.
Subsequently, driven by the international context, Israel imposed a blockade, thus arbitrarily and drastically limiting its obligation to protect the civilian population, in application of the 4th Geneva Convention.
Armed resistance has developed from the territory, with limited means, in the face of an army endowed with the most powerful weapons.
In 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021, Israel launched military operations causing significant human losses and destruction. These actions have been well documented by the UN, but despite many efforts, no legal proceedings have been initiated.
B - Recent events
1/ The Hamas attack
On October 7, 2023, Hamas, through its military branch, the Al Qassam brigade, launched a large-scale attack on Israel, with missile strikes and the entry of fighters into the territory of Israel, by land, by air and by sea. The crossings were operated throughout the border line by neutralizing the Israeli defense. The fighting was rough, but permitted a rapid advance of the Palestinians.
Many deaths have been caused, and the Israeli side has published the number of 1,400 deaths.
The Palestinian groups have taken more than two hundred people prisoner as hostages, including women, children and the elderly.
The Israeli army regained control of the territory on October 9, 2023. Israeli officials have reported "atrocities" committed on the victims, but these data remain confidential to the ongoing Israeli investigation.
2 / The Israeli response
a / An "unprecedented" price
On October 7, 2023, in a televised speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war: "Citizens of Israel, we are at war. Not in operations or in skirmishes but in war". He announced that he had "ordered a vast mobilization of reserves and that [Israel] is responding to fire on a scale that the enemy has not known", adding: "The enemy will pay an unprecedented price". He ordered the people of Gaza to "get out now", and "[Israel] will be everywhere and with all our might" 24.
Israel has mentioned its right to self-defense, but in reality, this legal basis is inapplicable, as the International Court of Justice had ruled in the separation wall case. First, Article 51 of the Charter recognizes the existence of a natural right of self-defense "in the event of armed aggression by a State against another State". Or, the Court had noted, the violence suffered by Israel was not attributable to a foreign state. Moreover, Israel is the occupying military power of the Palestinian territory, and the threat evoked to justify the response originates inside this territory, and not outside it. The ICJ had ruled: "This situation is therefore different from that envisaged by Security Council resolutions 1368 (2001) and 1373 (2001), and therefore Israel cannot in any case invoke these resolutions in support of its claim to exercise a right of self-defense". Consequently, the Court concluded that "Article 51 of the Charter is irrelevant to the particular case" 25.
The Minister of Energy, Israel Katz announced an order cutting off all electricity throughout the Gaza Strip: "What was will not be"26.
Knesset member Ariel Kallner said ""At the moment, only one goal: the Nakba! A Nakba that will eclipse the Nakba of 1948 "27.
In fact, Israel has suspended the supply of fuel and electricity, ordering the shutdown of the Gaza power plant which provides 90% of the electricity consumed, leaving only generators, also made unusable by the deprivation of fuel.
The UN immediately deplored these decisions28.
For this first day, the toll has already been 232 dead and 1,700 injured.
b / A complete siege
On October 9, 2023, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a complete siege of the Gaza Strip, with dehumanizing language: "There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We fight human animals and we act accordingly" 29. He threatened to "bomb those who are trying to provide aid to the Gaza Strip" and ordered the unprecedented recall of 300,000 reservists. The occupying army also bombed the Rafah crossing, imposing a total closure.
On October 10, 2023, the spokesman of the army, Daniel Hagari announced the dropping of "hundreds of tons of bombs", adding "the emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy" 30.
The chief coordinator of the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), General Ghassan Alian, affirmed: "Human animals must be treated as such. There will be no electricity or water [in Gaza], there will only be destruction. You wanted hell, you will have hell" 31.
The Reservist General Giora Eiland wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth: "Creating a serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza is a necessary means to achieve the goal. Gaza will become a place where no human being can exist" 32.
c/ The forced displacement of more than a million people
The Israeli army ordered the entire population of northern Gaza – more than a million people, including UN personnel and civilians housed in UN facilities – to relocate to southern Gaza within 24 hours, despite the strong disapproval of the UN33.
The UN Secretary-General recalled that "even wars have rules" adding
"Moving more than a million people through a densely populated war zone to a place without food, water or housing, while the entire territory is under siege, is extremely dangerous". He warned that we were "on the brink of the abyss" and he called on Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. 34.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called for the cancellation of this measure and denounced the complete siege of Gaza, believing that it was a collective punishment against civilians, which is strictly prohibited by international law35.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has described as a "death sentence" the evacuation ordered by Israel to more than a million Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip, according to its spokesman, Tarik Jasarevic 36.
On October 15, the Commissioner General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, from the agency's offices in East Jerusalem, warned of the imminence of an "unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe": the UNRWA agency in Gaza "is no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance. In fact, Gaza is being strangled and it seems that the world has lost its humanity"37.
d/ The blocking of energy supplies
The Minister of Energy, Israel Katz said: "Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home. Humanitarianism for humanitarianism. And no one will preach us morality"38.
On October 13, 2023, President Isaac Herzog said: "It's an entire nation out there that is responsible. It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not involved. It's absolutely not true"39.
Prime Minister Netanyahu affirmed: "We are striking our enemies with unprecedented might... I emphasize that this is only the beginning"40.
The Minister of Energy Israel Katz for his part added: "All the civilian population in [G]aza is ordered to leave immediately. We will win. They will not receive a drop of water or a single battery until they leave the world"41.
UN experts have warned of the inevitable catastrophe linked to these population transfers, in this social and health disorder42.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has indicated that "Blocking electricity and preventing the entry of food, fuel and water into Gaza will put children's lives at risk"43.
e/ A hateful and morbid propaganda
The army services solicited the statements of a famous 95-year-old veteran, Ezra Yachin, former member of the Lehi militia, responsible for the massacre of Deir Yassin44, for a video that quickly exceeded 2 million views: “Be triumphant and finish them off and don't leave anyone behind. Erase the memory of them. Erase them, their families, mothers and children. These animals can no longer live... Every Jew with a weapon should go out and kill them. If you have an Arab neighbor, don't wait, go to his home and shoot him... We want to invade, not like before, we want to enter and destroy what's in front of us, and destroy houses, then destroy the ones after it. With all of our forces, complete destruction, enter and destroy. As you can see, we will witness things we've never dreamed of. Let them drop bombs on them and erase them"45.
Tzipi Navon, an adviser close to the Prime minister, said: "We keep saying to flatten Gaza, flatten Gaza, and I think that's not enough [...] It won't calm the storm of emotions, it won't dull the intensity of the rage and pain that can't find an outlet for them". She explained: "the people of Gaza should be captured and tortured 'one-by-one' by pulling out their nails and skinning them alive and that men's genitals should be cut off, fried, and fed to the captured"46.
On October 16, 2023, the Prime Minister declared: "This is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle"47.
On October 22, 2023, the Israeli army spokesman said: "Anyone who chooses not to leave northern Gaza to go to southern Wadi Gaza could be identified as the accomplice of a terrorist organization"48.
f/ The plan for the expulsion of Gazans to Sinai
For the Israeli Ministry of Intelligence, according to an October 13 document that was published on the Mekomit49 website, the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza to Sinai is the preferred option. The ministry recommends taking measures for the population to evacuate to the South, the north of the Gaza Strip being the target of shelling, then occupy the territory and clean the underground bunkers of Hamas fighters, and "make it clear that there is no hope of return".
The ministry, recognizing that the option would not benefit from international legitimacy, evokes a necessary communication campaign explaining that the goal is to reduce the number of civilian casualties in Gaza. Campaigns are planned dedicated to the Palestinians of Gaza that there is no choice but to leave for another place "with the help of your Muslim brothers" Refusing, among other things, to be accomplices in a new "Nakba", Egypt and Jordan have firmly opposed a population displacement that could impact them directly, on the security and political levels.
On October 31 and November 1, 2023, the Israeli army bombed the Jabaliya refugee camp, causing 195 deaths, 120 missing under the rubble and 777 seriously injured.
On November 1, experts mandated by the UN Human Rights Council and the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories considered that the Palestinian people "run a serious risk of genocide", adding that "it is time to act now. Israel's allies also bear a responsibility and must act now to prevent it from taking this disastrous path," said these independent experts mandated by the UN, but who do not speak on its behalf50.
g/ A major humanitarian crisis
Alarming about a "deeply worrying" situation, the Director of the WHO, explained :
"Due to the lack of fuel as well as the damage, attacks and insecurity, fourteen of the thirty-six hospitals and two specialized centers in Gaza are not functioning. The hospitals that remain open are overloaded with 40% more patients"51.
On October 26, 2023, the UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian Territories explained: "When evacuation routes are bombed, when people in the north and in the south are caught up in hostilities, when the essential elements for survival are lacking, and when there is no guarantee of return, people are left with only impossible choices. No place is safe in Gaza"52.
According to OCHA, nearly 1.5 million people in Gaza are internally displaced. Of these, 710,275 are housed in 149 UNRWA institutions, 122,000 people are in hospitals, churches and public buildings, 109,755 people are in 89 non-UNRWA schools and the rest reside in host families53.
The UN estimates that there are 1.4 million internally displaced people in the Gaza Strip. According to OCHA, overcrowding is a growing concern, as the average number of displaced people per shelter has reached 2.7 times their designated capacity, with the most overcrowded shelter reaching 11 times its planned capacity54.
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for human rights said that "the imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of civilians by depriving them of goods essential for their survival is prohibited by international humanitarian law". Before the start of this war, more than 60% of the Palestinians in Gaza needed humanitarian aid55.
On October 28, 2023, Craig Mokhiber, director of the New York Office of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, writes: "This is a textbook case of genocide. The European, ethno-nationalist colonial project of colonization in Palestine has entered its final phase, towards the accelerated destruction of the last vestiges of indigenous Palestinian life in Palestine. Moreover, the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom and much of Europe are totally complicit in this horrible assault. Not only do these governments refuse to fulfill their treaty obligations 'to ensure compliance' with the Geneva Conventions, but they are actively arming the offensive, providing economic support, intelligence, and politically and diplomatically covering up the atrocities committed by Israel"56.
On October 31, 2023, the UN Secretary-General reaffirmed that "international humanitarian law is not an à la carte menu to be applied selectively. All parties must respect it, including the principles of precaution, proportionality and distinction". The level of humanitarian aid that is allowed in Gaza "is completely inadequate and does not correspond in any way to the needs of the population, which adds to the humanitarian tragedy. I reiterate my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and for continued, unhindered, secure and sufficient humanitarian access to meet the needs created by the unfolding disaster in Gaza"57.
According to the UN High Commissioner for human rights, "Given the high number of civilian deaths and the extent of the destruction following the air strikes on the Jabaliya refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could constitute war crimes"58. According to The New York Times, the Israeli army resorted to two bombs of almost a ton each to hit the Palestinian camp of Jabaliya59.
Dr Mike Ryan, in charge of emergency situations within the WHO, denounced the obstacles to the distribution of aid, when it arrives to return to the Palestinian territory :
"Getting trucks across the border is one thing, but getting them to where they are needed is another, and it has not been facilitated, it has not been supported and in fact, it is even rather the opposite. At the moment, there is no humanitarian access and all those who say that humanitarian aid is arriving, it is not true!»60.
On November 2, 2023, the Israeli security cabinet announced that "Israel is cutting all ties with Gaza"61.
On the same November 2, 2023, seven UN special rapporteurs, independent experts appointed by the UN, issued a communiqué in which they expressed concern about the risk of genocide in Gaza and asked Israel and its allies to accept an immediate ceasefire: "We have little time to prevent genocide and a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza," UN experts warned today, expressing "their deep frustration at Israel's refusal to put an end to its plans to destroy the besieged Gaza Strip"62.
On November 4, 2023, the Minister of Heritage of Israel, Amihai Eliyahu, writes: "The north of Gaza is more beautiful than ever. To blow everything up is amazing. Once completed, we will hand over the lands of Gaza to the soldiers and settlers who lived in Gush Katif"63.
On November 5, the directors of the 18 main UN agencies, including UNICEF, the World Food Programme and the World Health Organisation, issued a rare joint communiqué expressing their outrage at the civilian casualty toll in Gaza and calling for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire" in the war between Israel and Hamas. "For almost a month now, the world has been observing the situation unfolding in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory with shock and horror at the (growing) number of lives lost and devastated". In Gaza, "an entire population is besieged and attacked, denied access to the (elements) essential for survival, (residents) are bombed at their homes, in shelters, hospitals and places of worship. This is unacceptable; [...] We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It's been 30 days. Too much is too much. This must stop now"64.
The attacks committed in Srebrenica, described as genocide by the International Court of Justice and by the Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, had caused the loss of 8,372 victims65. This figure is exceeded in Gaza.
- DISCUSSION
A - General data
1/ The legal framework
International humanitarian law is an obligation for both parties to the conflict.
The West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem are occupied Palestinian territories. The law also applies the occupation regime, governed by the Hague Regulations of 1907 and the 4th Geneva Convention relating to the protection of civilians in time of war.
As such, the State of Israel must take the necessary measures to ensure the protection of the occupied population.
A people under occupation has the right to oppose it, a right that must be exercised within the limits authorized by international law. Armed resistance is therefore bound by the rules of international humanitarian law.
2/ The procedural framework
On February 5, 2021, the pre-trial chamber of the Court said that Palestine was a state, according to the statute of the Court, with sovereign jurisdiction over all the occupied Palestinian territories, namely the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Since then, an investigation has been launched into crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the Court.
Israel did not ratify the Treaty of Rome, but had signed it. After the decision of February 5, 2021, the israeli leaders accused the Court of antisemitism66, referring to a long memorandum from the attorney general of Israel dated December 20, 201967, which ignores the basics of international law and jurisprudence, representing a complete rewrite of the law to serve Israel’s colonization policy.
B - The facts of October 7, 8 and 9, 2023
1/ Applicable law
Faced with a military occupation, which has been going on since 1967 and whose obvious purpose is to conquer the territories and deprive the Palestinian people of their right to self–determination, armed resistance is a right to defend the territory and the people, and should is exercised in proportion to the violence imposed by the military power, and - in the case of organized and hierarchical combat groups, acting under a command68 - in compliance with international humanitarian law, which is imposed on all69.
The facts at issue all refer to criminal criteria provided for by the Statute.
This right to self-defense is exercised within the framework strictly defined by the provisions of Article 31 (c) and (d) of the Statute of the International Criminal Court.
2/ Analysis
a/ Accusation and Evidence
Criminal matters respond to strict principles which are those of a fair trial, guaranteed by an independent and impartial judge, and which place the rule of proof and the presumption of innocence at the forefront.
An accusation is not proof, as you excellently stated in your statement of October 30, 202370: "And when these types of acts take place, they cannot go uninvestigated and they cannot go unpunished. Because these types of crimes that we've all been watching, that we saw on the 7th of October, are serious violations, if proven, of international humanitarian law. [... ] As I stated five days after the attacks that took place on the 7th of October, we have jurisdiction over crimes committed by the nationals of state parties. And therefore that jurisdiction continues over any Rome Statute crimes committed by Palestinian nationals or the nationals of any state parties on Israeli territory, if that is proven".
The signatories note and deplore the extreme seriousness of certain accusations.
b/ The strict and limited framework of justification
The violence of the occupation and the continuous practice of colonization aimed at breaking up the Palestinian people, without any consideration for the right to self-determination and the sacred rule of the equality of human beings, can, in fact, cause profound traumas to the victims, but these serious violations of law cannot justify the commission of crimes.
This principle of responsibility, resulting in the matter of the rules of distinction, proportionality and self-defense, does not suffer from exceptions, on the legal level or on the human level, as is self-evident.
c/ The need for an investigation
There is clearly cause for an investigation.
First, it is necessary to conduct a thorough examination of the facts. The investigation must determine, with the precision required for the criminal, i.e. beyond reasonable doubt, the reality of the facts qualified as crimes. The investigation must be thorough while facts are evoked testifying to a total barbarism, and that these facts are undisputed.
Then, the information given mainly concerns the Supernova Festival and the kibbutz of Kfar Aza, while there had been widespread border crossings, and many places of intervention by Palestinian fighters. It will therefore be necessary to methodically restore the accuracy of the facts, then distinguishing what falls under general instructions or the autonomous action of the groups.
Finally, this factual analysis must be assessed in a concrete way and in context, in order to measure the exact scope of the facts in question.
In abstracto, all the facts of which the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, and the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed branch of Islamic Jihad, are accused correspond to the criteria of the statute, with indiscriminate shootings hitting civilian populations, hostage-taking and accusations of abject crimes.
As for the indiscriminate shootings, there is no doubt about their occurrence, and it is also claimed by the fighting groups. However, investigation is necessary to determine the exact content of the facts, and gather the material elements to discuss the criminal responsibility of the fighters, according to the rules recalled above. Indeed, these facts "do not come in a vacuum". They must also be analyzed in the context of a proportion with the practices of the occupying military power, that is to say in full respect of international humanitarian law, based on the principles of distinction and proportion, and the regime of self-defense.
The soldiers apprehended have the status of prisoners of war, and must be treated as such.
With regard to the taking of hostages of civilians, which are established, even if the exact extent is not known, they cannot have any justification.
As far as the abuses are concerned, they are disputed by Hamas, and the only question is the material proof, because they cannot have any justification.
d/ The need for an impartial investigation by the ICC
The signatories insist that this investigation be carried out by the ICC Prosecutor's office, which has jurisdiction because of the nationality of the fighters.
Indeed, the experience is long and constant of the total lack of reliability of the Israeli judiciary when it comes to Palestinian rights.
With regard to the applicable law, the political bodies and the Supreme Court have carried out a complete rewrite of international law, inventing a body of rules all dedicated to defending colonization and the violence of occupation, eliminating the right to self-determination. The Supreme Court has denied any value to the opinion of the ICJ on the separation wall, and refuses to admit the application of human rights treaties in the occupied territory. Among so many other rules "apart", it has legitimized certain forms of torture. On the occasion of the ICC decision of February 5, 2021, the Attorney General of Israel, in his aforementioned memorandum, rejected this reading of the law – indisputable to the point that no State party appealed – by an implausible exposition, ignoring especially the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice, which is nothing but legal denialism71.
As far as the investigations conducted by the Israeli army are concerned, they have not the slightest credibility. This is the constant datum of an institutionalization of lies, and only three illustrative reminders will be made of it:
* for the murder of Abu Thorraya, in 2017, the Israeli army "demonstrated" that it was a Palestinian shot, before an autopsy, made after exhumation, made it possible to extract an Israeli bullet ;
* for the destruction of the Gaza media towers in 2021, 6 successive versions were counted to explain the shooting ;
* for the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022, the army assured that it was a Palestinian shot, before having to recognize, after the ballistic expertise, that it was an Israeli shot.
Therefore, the signatories strongly wish that the facts in question can be investigated and judged by the instances of the International Criminal Court.
However, it is to be feared that the principle of subsidiarity72 will be put forward, while Israel has initiated investigative procedures, and clearly does not intend to delegate its competence to the Court.
The ICC, of course, seeks to cooperate with all States whether they have ratified the Statute or not. However, the signatories express the greatest reservations about cooperation with the State of Israel, whose leaders have insulted the Court, and which works to rewrite the law allowing the Supreme Court to ignore the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, and to legitimize colonization and all its violence. Participation, in any form, in the procedure presupposes at least the acceptance of the terms of the decision of February 5, 2021.
C - The Israeli response
This response must be examined from the angle of the crime of genocide (1) and other crimes provided for by the Statute (2).
1/ Discussion on the crime of genocide a/ Applicable law
The texts
In 1946, genocide was for the first time recognized as a crime under international law by the United Nations General Assembly73. It was established as an autonomous crime in the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 194874.
The Statute of the ICC, taking up the terms of the Convention of December 9, 1948 for the prevention and Punishment of the crime of genocide, provides that the commission of massacres is one of the means by which genocide is committed, but other methods of destruction of the group are also described.
Entitled "Crime of Genocide", Article 6 of the Statute provides as follows :
"For the purposes of this Statute, the crime of genocide means any of the following acts committed with the intention of destroying, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such :
Murder of members of the group ;
Serious damage to the physical or mental integrity of members of the group ;
Intentional submission of the group to conditions of existence that must lead to its total or partial physical destruction. […] »
This approach is in line with the fundamental doctrine of Raphael Lemkin stating that genocide often includes "a coordinated plan aimed at destroying the essential foundations of the life of national groups so that these groups wither and die like plants that have suffered a plague... This can be accomplished by eliminating all the foundations of personal security, freedom, health and dignity"75.
The "intention to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such" is the proper component of genocide, which distinguishes it from other serious crimes. It is considered as a dolus specialis, that is, a specific intention that is added to that specific to each of the acts incriminated, to constitute the genocide76.
The preamble to the Genocide Convention emphasizes that "genocide has inflicted great losses on humanity" and that the contracting parties set themselves the goal of "liberating humanity from such a heinous scourge". As the Court noted in 1951 and recalled in 2007, the Convention aims in particular to safeguard "the very existence of certain human groups"77.
The elements of crime provide all the details.
Article 6(a) Genocide by murder
The perpetrator killed one or more people.
This person or persons belonged to a particular national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
The author intended to destroy, in whole or in part, this national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such.
The behavior was part of an overt series of similar behaviors directed against this group, or could in itself produce such destruction.
Article 6(b) Genocide by serious injury to physical or mental integrity
The perpetrator has seriously damaged the physical or mental integrity of a person or several people.
This person or persons belonged to a particular national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
The author intended to destroy, in whole or in part, this national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such.
The behavior was part of an overt series of similar behaviors directed against this group, or could in itself produce such destruction.
Article 6 c) Genocide by intentional submission to conditions of existence that must lead to the total or partial physical destruction of a group
The author has subjected one or more people to certain conditions of existence.
This person or persons belonged to a particular national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
The author intended to destroy, in whole or in part, this national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such.
The conditions of existence had to lead to the total or partial physical destruction of this group.
The behavior was part of an overt series of similar behaviors directed against this group, or could in itself produce such destruction.
The jurisprudence
General scheme
Genocide presupposes that a "group" is targeted78, in particular for reasons of nationality or ethnic origin, and it is the "group" that is protected79. Within a general group, a subgroup may be targeted, in a specific geographical area80.
Genocide, like the crime against humanity of persecution, is characterized by the intention to target this group for specific reasons and within the framework of a state policy, but in the context of genocide, it is the group itself, as a whole, that is targeted to be destroyed. In 1946, the General Assembly adopted the notion of "denial of the right to existence" of human groups, as being in breach with the objectives of the United Nations81. There must be sufficient acts that demonstrate not only the intention to target certain people, because of their belonging to a particular group, but also that of destroying, in whole or in part, the group itself82.
The ICJ considered in 2007 that "the intention must be to destroy at least a substantial part of the group"83, and that this is a "decisive" criterion 84. According to the Court, "it is widely accepted that genocide can be concluded when the intention is to destroy the group within a specific geographical area"85. If a given portion of the group is representative of the entire group, or essential to its survival, it can be concluded that it is substantial within the meaning of Article 4 of the Statute 86.
According to case law, the crime consists of "subjecting a group of people to a subsistence regime, systematically evicting them from their homes and reducing essential medical services below the minimum requirement", sanctioning these "methods of destruction by which the perpetrator does not immediately kill the members of the group, but which, ultimately, seek their physical destruction"87.
The definition given by Article 2 of the Genocide Convention is taken up by the statutes of the ICC, but also of the ICTY and the ICTR88.
The specific intention to destroy a group can be deduced from the general context89.
The dolus specialis, the specific intention to destroy the group in whole or in part, must be established "with reference to specific circumstances, unless the existence of a general plan tending to this end can be convincingly demonstrated; for a course of action to be admitted as evidence of such an intention, it should be such that it can only denote its existence"90.
In order to deduce the existence of the dolus specialis from a line of conduct, it is necessary and sufficient that this conclusion be the only one which can reasonably be deduced from the acts in question91.
In the Krajišnik case, the trial chamber held that the infringement "must be such that it contributes, or tends to contribute, to the destruction of the group or part of it"92. Serious injury to physical or mental integrity, within the meaning of lit. (b) of Article II of the Convention, must be such that it contributes to the physical destruction of the group, in whole or in part93.
Finally, genocidal action is incompatible with legitimate defence94. The right of self-defense, subject to the principles of international law95, including the rules of distinction and proportionality, "cannot include reprisals or punitive measures"96.
The material criterion
The intentional submission of the group to conditions of existence that must lead to its total or partial physical destruction within the meaning of lit. (c) Article II of the Convention concerns the methods of physical destruction, other than murder, by which the author aims, ultimately, the death of the members of the group97. These modes of destruction include deprivation of food, medical care, housing or clothing, lack of hygiene, systematic eviction from housing or exhaustion by work or excessive physical efforts98.
Acts that are described as "ethnic cleansing" can constitute genocide if they are such that they can be qualified, for example, as "intentional[s] omission of the group to conditions of existence that must lead to its total or partial physical destruction", in violation of lit. c) of Article II of the Convention, provided that such an action is carried out with the specific intention (dolus specialis) necessary, that is to say with the intention of destroying the group, and not only to expel it from the region ... In other words, whether a particular operation presented as belonging to "ethnic cleansing" amounts to genocide or not depends on whether the material acts listed in Article II of the Genocide Convention exist or not and on the intention to destroy the group as such. [... ] [D]he acts of "ethnic cleansing" can occur at the same time as acts prohibited by Article II of the Convention, and make it possible to detect the existence of a specific intention (dolus specialis) at the origin of the acts in question "99.
In the case of Srebrenica, the ICTY ruled that such methods of destruction "do not immediately kill the members of the group, but ultimately seek their physical destruction", adding that "proof that the result has actually been achieved is not required"100. Thus, according to established case-law, account is taken of compromising access to medical services101, systematically evicting group members from their domiciles102, and creating circumstances that would "lead to a slow death", such as lack of adequate housing, water, shelter, clothing, hygiene, sanitary facilities or adequate nutrition, including subjecting people to a subsistence regime103. These "living conditions" are imposed to favor the physical elimination of a group with a view to its destruction, in whole or in part :
"The real nature of the living conditions, the duration for which the members of the group have been subjected to them, and the characteristics of the group such as its vulnerability are illustrative factors to be taken into account in the evaluation of the probability criterion"104.
There is no minimum number of people killed necessary to establish that a genocide has been commited105. Examples of serious bodily or mental damage as an act of genocide include inhuman or degrading treatment, damage that harms health and it is not necessary that the damage be permanent and irremediable106. Death threats and the knowledge of imminent death can constitute such a prejudice,107 since the war crimes tribunals specifically recognize the serious mental damage caused by the threat of indiscriminate murders: "the feeling of total helplessness and extreme fear for the safety of their family and friends constitute a traumatic experience from which one does not recover quickly, if ever"108. Expulsion has also long been recognized as causing serious bodily or mental harm109.
The intentional criterion
The legal regime requires that these acts be committed "with the intention of destroying, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group"110. The goal of destroying the group, in whole or in part, must be clearly identified, but it is the group as a group, and not just certain individual members of the group, who must be targeted in order to be destroyed111. "In part" means a substantial part of a particular group in a limited geographical area112.
This specific intention can be analyzed on the basis of all the facts and circumstances113.
Evidence of specific intent may include the general context, the scale of the atrocities, the systematic targeting of victims because of their belonging to a particular group, other culpable acts systematically directed against the same group, or the repetition of destructive acts and discriminatory acts114.
Forced population transfer is an important point when assessing genocidal intent115. This practice is characteristic of the specific intent116. It is also necessary to take into account public speeches and statements by the people responsible117.
When considering a request for precautionary measures concerning the ongoing genocide of the Rohingya in Myanmar (Burma), the ICJ analyzed a variety of reports from the United Nations services, and it highlighted "the systematic deprivation of human rights, dehumanizing narratives and rhetoric, methodical planning, massacres, mass displacement, mass fear, overwhelming levels of brutality, combined with the physical destruction of the homes of the targeted population, in all directions and at all levels" to grant measures provisions118.
b) Analysis
The material elements
There is no need here to undertake a list of the details of the facts, because this will be the subject of the investigation.
On the spot, the services, especially health and civil security, gather, case by case and day after day, all the elements to establish the facts. A thorough work is undertaken by the UN agencies, especially the UNRWA119. Moreover, this work is carried out in a complementary way by the ONGS120. Finally, the press is very present, and provides high quality information.
But above all, in this factual work, the remarkable fact is that the most striking facts are announced and claimed by the Israeli political and military command. This concerns both the facts – power cut, food deliveries stopped, hospitals attacked, medicines restricted, houses destroyed, travel obligation under fatal threat, bombing of areas inhabited by civilians ... - as well as the declarations marking the intention.
In this way, and even in the urgency of this first step, there is no real doubt about the facts, which are put forward and claimed by the Israeli side.
However, these facts correspond to those retained by the jurisprudence, and there is therefore reason to open an investigation.
The intentional elements
The combined elements establish the reality of a succession of statements, by political and military leaders, who unambiguously and on the contrary in overbite, affirm the desire to destroy Palestinian society in Gaza, by creating living conditions that no human group can resist. The language is not one that regrets imposing constraints on the civilian populations because of a military operation, but of a military operation that will strike every Palestinian, upsetting his whole life, to bring him to options that he would never have accepted, and especially renounce his sovereign rights, and abandon his land.
From day one, these statements have been aimed at the entire Palestinian people in Gaza, without distinguishing civilians and fighters, without any reference to gender or age, each Palestinian being an inseparable part of a whole, who must leave the premises.
The language used is clearly dehumanizing, describing the Palestinians of Gaza as "human animals", who must be treated as such. Also, only the reality of the damage caused will count, the army using "munitions of a magnitude that the enemy has not known".
Declarations are made to tell the Palestinians that they are from another world, and that no form of dialogue is conceivable, the Palestinian people being rejected on the margins of the human community, with no other future than relegation and submission.
Moreover, this military operation of massive destruction is not accompanied by any realistic political project. 2.3 million Palestinians live in Gaza, out of a total of 13 million. While the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination, there is not the slightest proposal for a political solution in compliance with the Green Line. The Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, himself stated that the Palestinian people do not exist121.
While we are reaching 10,000 dead and 30,000 seriously injured, with a strong majority of civilians, in this context of maximum pressure combining the bombings, the total blockade, the deprivation of basic needs, the forced transfer of population – while no area is safe - all with dehumanizing words, the goal is clearly to tell the Palestinians that they are not human like the others, that their lives are worth less, and even that their lives do not matter as long as they remain on this Palestinian land, which has been coveted since 1917. The fact is explicit when it was decided, twice, to bomb the Jabaliya refugee camp, that is to say that even refugees have no place.
Finally, these statements and these current facts, find their deep roots in a reality that is expressed simply: the Israeli leaders, of all times, have never taken into account the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people on their land. The raison d'être of the state, which has characterized itself as a Jewish state, is the elimination of the Palestinian people, who must get out of their land, because in reality, according to these leaders, everything belongs to Israel. The line is constant from the Nakba. This denial of the existence of the people explains how easily the leaders commit the most serious violations of the law without the slightest moral or political restraint: ethnic cleansing to ensure the Jewish character of the state, open refusal of the right of return of refugees, annexation of East Jerusalem despite the strong opposition of the Security Council, generalization of settlements in Palestinian lands, management of a colonizing military occupation since 1967, refusal to apply international law, illegal blockade of Gaza, disproportionate recurring attacks on the territory of Gaza…
According to Article 1 paragraph 2 of the UN Charter, "The goals of the United Nations are to 'Develop friendly relations between nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights of peoples and their right to self-determination, and take all other measures appropriate to consolidate world peace'".
It cannot be better expressed that the refusal to consider the right of peoples to self-determination is the mechanical factor of war, and over time, feeds genocidal practices.
In this way, on the factual level as well as on the intentional level, the elements have been collected for the opening of a specific criminal investigation on the crime of genocide, under the definitions of Article 6, a), b) and c).
2/ Other crimes provided for by the Statute
The reported facts also justify being investigated, within the framework of the following articles :
Article 7 (1) (d) Deportation or forced transfer of populations
The author deported or forcibly transferred122, without grounds admitted in international law, one or more persons to another State or another place, by expelling them or by other coercive means.
The persons concerned were legally present in the region from which they were deported or displaced in this way.
The author was aware of the factual circumstances establishing the legality of this presence.
The behavior was part of a generalized or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.
The perpetrator knew that this behavior was part of a generalized or systematic attack directed against a civilian population or intended that he be part of it.
Article 7(1)(h): Persecution
The author has seriously infringed, in violation of international law, the fundamental rights of one or more persons.
The perpetrator targeted the person(s) because of their membership in an identifiable group or community or targeted the group or community as such.
Such targeting was based on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious or gender-based grounds within the meaning of Article 7, paragraph 3, of the Statute, or other criteria universally recognized as inadmissible under international law.
The conduct was committed in correlation with any act referred to in Article 7(1) of the Statute or with any crime falling within the jurisdiction of the Court123.
The behavior was part of a generalized or systematic campaign directed against a civilian population.
The author knew that this behavior was part of a generalized or systematic campaign directed against a civilian population or intended to be part of it.
Article 8(2)(a)(i): Intentional homicide
The perpetrator killed one or more persons124.
Said person or persons were protected by one or more of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.
The author was aware of the factual circumstances establishing this protected person status125.
The behavior took place in the context of and was associated with an international armed conflict126.
The author was aware of the factual circumstances establishing the existence of an armed conflict.
Article 8(2)(b)(i): Attack on civilians
The perpetrator directed an attack.
The objective of the attack was a civilian population as such or civilian persons not directly participating in hostilities.
The author intended his attack to target the said civilian population or those civilian persons not directly participating in the hostilities.
The behavior took place in the context of and was associated with an international armed conflict.
The author was aware of the factual circumstances establishing the existence of an armed conflict.
Article 8(2)(b) (iii): Attack on personnel or property employed in the context of a humanitarian aid or peacekeeping mission
The perpetrator launched an attack.
The target of the attack was personnel, installations, equipment, units or vehicles employed as part of a humanitarian aid or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
The perpetrator intended to target the said personnel, installations, equipment, units or vehicles for his attack.
The said personnel, installations, equipment, units or vehicles were entitled to the protection that the international law of armed conflicts guarantees to civilians and civilian objects.
The author was aware of the factual circumstances establishing this protection.
The behavior took place in the context of and was associated with an international armed conflict.
The author was aware of the factual circumstances establishing the existence of an armed conflict.
C - On the investigation
1/ Applicable law
According to Article 68 (3) of the Statute, as well as Articles 92-3 and 8(1) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, the Court must carry out awareness-raising activities on its activities with people who may be affected by a case.
In its decision of 13 July 2018, paragraph 7, the Chamber sets out the issues of mutual understanding :
"In the opinion of the Chamber, in order for the Court to be able to fulfill its mandate correctly, it is imperative that its role and its activities are well understood and accessible, in particular to the victims of situations and cases brought before the Court. Awareness-raising and public information activities in countries in crisis are essential to foster public support, understanding and confidence in the work of the Court. At the same time, they allow the Court to better understand the concerns and expectations of the victims, in order to be able to react more effectively and clarify, if necessary, possible misconceptions".
In paragraph 8, the Chamber writes :
"The Chamber recalls that victims play an important role in the Court's proceedings. In accordance with Article 68(3) of the Statute, the Court allows the views and concerns of victims to be presented and taken into account at the stages of the procedure that it considers appropriate. The victims therefore have the right to be heard and taken into consideration, at the stages of the procedure deemed appropriate, and the Court has the duty to effectively allow them to exercise this right".
After recalling the provisions of the Statute and the references to international law, the Chamber adds to paragraph 10 :
"The Chamber stresses that in accordance with the legal framework of the Court, the rights of victims before the ICC are not limited to their general participation in judicial proceedings in accordance with Article 68(3) of the Statute. In this regard, it should be recalled that victims also have the right to provide information, to receive information and to communicate with the Court, regardless of the judicial procedure, including during the preliminary examination phase".
2/ Analysis
On the basis of these elements, the witnesses signing this act intend to emphasize the imperative need to involve the Palestinian victims from the very first phase of the investigation.
This consideration for the victims is all the more necessary in the context of an investigation for the crime of genocide, which is based on the denial of the person. Thus, giving victims their full place as a party to the proceedings is the first way to restore the fundamental right.
On a practical level, the testimonies of the victims, which will be both globally repetitive but in reality all unique, will be the decisive elements of the evidence, it being understood that the material and intentional elements of the genocidal attack are well established and even claimed.
Experience has proven that hospital services are perfectly adapted, in addition to the practice of war medicine, to the constitution of quality files on the medico-legal level.
The occupying power, which is built on the violation of the law as has been explained, will never let the ICC teams visit the site, and of course, there is no question that the rights of victims in access to justice will be blocked or limited. Also, the main work to be implemented is the hearing of the victims, which can be carried out on the spot and under the direct control of the ICC teams, via communication processes.
The first auditions are expected at the earliest opportunity.
And it will be justice
In The Hague, on November 9, 2023
Notes
1 UN, “Remarks of the Secretary-General to the Security Council-on the Middle East [as pronounced]’, October 24, 2023, online: <https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2023-10-24/secretary-generals-remarks-the-security-council-the-middle-east-delivered>.
2 Jihane SFEIR-KHAYAT, "Palestinian Historiography – The construction of a national identity", Annals of History, Social sciences, January-February 2004, Editions of EHESS, p. 35; Eliezer TAUBER, The emergence of Arab movements, London, Routledge, 1993; Nadine PICAUDOU, The Palestinian national movement, genesis and structures, The Harmattan, Paris, 1989, p. 34; Albert HOURANI, Arab thought in the liberal era, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1970, translation by Sylvie BESSE-RICORD, Beirut, Naufal, 1983.
3 See: "Mandates in the Middle East: very contrasting developments", Pierre BROCHEUX, Samya El MECHAT, Marc FREY, Karl HACK, Arnaud NANTA, Solofo RANDRIANJA, Jean-Marc REGNAULT, Decolonizations in the twentieth century, 2012, p. 12 ".
4 After concluding an alliance treaty with Britain.
5 First Zionist Congress (Basel, August 29-31, 1897) - Official protocol, Fausto GIUDICE and Michèle MIALANE, Workshop 19, 2013, 212 p.; https://mfa.gov.il/MFA_Graphics/MFA%20Gallery/Documents%20languages/herzl-fr.pdf
6 Henry LAURENS, The Question of Palestine, T. I, The invention of the Holy land, 1999, Paris, Fayard, p. 88 and 204.
7 From Balfour to Saint-Jean-de-Luz. The European powers and Palestine, 1917-1948, Ran AARONSOHN and Dominique TRIMBUR, (ed.), Paris, CNRS editions, 2008; Palestine: Retirement from the mandate: The making of British politics 1936 - 1948, Michael J. COHEN, London, Paul Elek, 1978; Middle East, between war and peace, Olivier CARRÉ, Paris, Epi Editors, 1974; Palestine, a land for two peoples, Dominique PERRIN, Paris, Northern University Press, 2000; The Middle East in the Middle East, 1974; Palestine, a land for two peoples, Dominique 20th century, Vincent CLOREC and Henri LAURENS Paris, Armand Colin, 2005.
8 UNISPAL Document; The hidden history of the Balfour Declaration, Sahar HUNEIDI, New York, OR books, 2019;, Balfour's Shadow: A century of support for Zionism and Israel, David CRONIN, London, Pluto Press; The Balfour Declaration: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Jonathan SCHNEER, London, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011.
9 Palestine under Mandate, 1920-1948, Albert M. HYAMSON, London, Methuem and Co., 1950; Abraham BAUMKOLLER, The mandate on Palestine, Paris, Arthur Rousseau Bookstore, 1931.
10 "Genesis of citizenship in Palestine and Israel", Mutaz M. QAFISHEH, Bulletin of the French Research Center in Jerusalem [Online], 21 / 2010 URL: http://journals.openedition.org/bcrfj/6407
11 League of Nations Treaty Series, 1924, Vol. 22, p. 355.
12 Compendium of Consolidated Treaties, Clive PARRY, New York, Oceana Publications, 1906, Vol. 201, p. 190 and vol. 203, p. 19.
13 The King-Crane Commission. An American Investigation in the Middle East, Harry N. HOWARD, Beirut, Khayats, 1963;
"The King-Crane Commission, a lost opportunity", Philippe DAUMAS, Review of Palestinian Studies, Vol. 96, p. 78. 14 The great Arab revolt of 1936 in Palestine, Ghassan El KHAZEN, Beirut, Dar An-Nahar, 2005; "The great Arab revolt in Palestine (1936-1939), February 22, 2021", Nora TOGNI, Orient XXI https://orientxxi.info/va-comprendre/la-grande-révolte-arabe-en-palestine-1936-1939 ,4546; "Arab Revolt of 1936-1938", April 6, 2011, Lisa ROMEO, The Keys to the Middle East, https://www.lesclesdumoyenorient.com/Revolte-arabe-de-1936-1938.html ; Palestine 1948 - The expulsion, Elias SANBAR, The books of the Journal of Palestinian Studies, Paris, 1985; Law, order and riots in Mandatory Palestine, 1928-1935, Martin KOLINSKY, London, St. Martin's Press, 1993.
15 The statehood of Palestine", Jean SALMON, "Belgian Journal of International law, 2012, n° 45, p 13; The creation of states in international law, James CRAWFORD, Oxford, OUP, 2nd ed., 2006; "The Palestinian question before the United Nations Assembly", Mahmoud AZMI, Foreign Policy, 1948, p. 403; "November 29, 1947 and after", in History of Israel, Michel ABITBOL, Paris, Perrin, 2018, p. 204; "The UN and the Palestinians: from ambiguity to impotence", Sandrine MANSOUR, History Notebooks. Critical History review, n° 142, 2019, p. 19.
16 History of Israel, Michel ABITBOL, Paris, Perrin, 2018, 880 p; A modern history of Israel, Élie BARNAVI, Paris, Flammarion, 1988, 388 p.; Destiny of Israel. The Unique and the Universal, Jacob TALMON, Paris, Calmann Lévy, 1967, 312 p.
17 The birth of the Palestinian refugee problem, 1947-1949, Benny MORRIS, Cambridge University Press, 1987; The Demons of the Nakba, Ilan PAPPÉ, La Fabrique, Paris, 2004.
18 "The Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the Jordanian prism", Vincent LEGRAND, Mediterranean Confluences, n° 110, 2019, p. 169
19 The Palestine Liberation Organization; The people, Power and Politics, Helena COBBAN, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1984, 286 p.; "The PLO's civil infrastructure", Cheryl A. RUDENBERG, Journal of Palestine Studies, 1983, n° 3/47, p. 54; "The PLO, from the incarnation of the people to the government of the State", Bassma KODMANI-DARWISH, Review of Muslim worlds and the Mediterranean, 1993, n ° 68-69, p. 107.
20 HRC, Report of the independent fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of Israeli settlements, www.ohchr.org / Documents / Human Resources Bodies/Human Resources Council / Ordinary Session / Session22 / A-HRC-22-63_en.pdf, p. 26 ; UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL, Report of the independent fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, Doc.UN. A/HRC/22/63, February 7, 2013 www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil / Regular Session / Session22 / A-HRC-22-63_en.pdf, page 24
21 Resolution n° 2535 of December 10, 1969; resolution 2672 C (XXV) of December 8, 1970; resolution 3210 (XXIX) of October 14, 1974.
22 "The proclamation of the Palestinian State", Jean SALMON, French Yearbook of International Law, 1988, n° 34, p. 37
23 "The lost bet of Oslo: the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the impasse", Alain BOCKEL, French Yearbook of International Law, 2000, n° 46, p. 13; "Oslo: return on a failure", Isabelle AVRAN, Orient XXI, September 12, 2013, https://orientxxi.info/magazine/oslo-retour-sur-un-echec ,0343; "The Oslo accords accelerated Israeli colonization", Gilbert ACHCAR, L'Orient-Le Jour, interview by David NASSAR, September 15, 2018.
24 "Israeli Prime Minister declares war on Palestinian Hamas militants", WSJ Wall Street Journal, October 7, 2023; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PsOw7hxiXs
25 ICJ, Legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian territory, advisory opinion, Recueil 2004, p. 136. Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, said that "Israel cannot claim the right to self-defense in the current conflict, because it is an occupying state" " https://www.aa.com.tr/fr/monde/russie-isra%C3%ABl-est-un-%C3%A9tat-occupant-et-ne-peut-se-pr%C3%A9valoir-du-droit-%C3%A0-la-l%C3%A9gitime-d%C3%A9fense/3040796
26 Israel KATZ, Israeli Energy Minister, Twitter (Oct. 7, 2023), https://twitter.com/Israel_katz/status/1710695021769265450 .
27 Ariel KALLNER, Knesset member, Twitter (Oct. 7, 2023), https://twitter.com/ArielKallner/status/1710769363119141268 The message of. Kallner has also been widely reported and translated. See, for example, Joseph Krauss, Israel's recent call for a mass evacuation echoes the catastrophic exodus of Palestinians in 1948, PBS NewsHour, October 13, 2023): https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/in-israels-call-for-mass-évacuationpalestiniens-entendre-des-échos-de-leur-exode-catastrophique-d'origine.
28 UN experts deplore attacks on civilians, call for a truce and urge the international community to address the root causes of violence, UN High Commissioner (Oct. 12, 2023), https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-communiqués/2023/10/israël occupied-Palestinian-territory-UN-experts-deplore-civilian-attacks.
29 Yoav GALLANT, On Twitter (oct. 9 2023), https://twitter.com/yoavgallant/status/1711335592942875097 . See also: Human Rights Watch, Twitter (Oct. 9, 2022), https://twitter.com/hrw/status/1711424885908791505/
30 Bethan MCKERNANON and Quique KIERSZENBAUM ‘ "The focus is on damage, not accuracy": a ground offensive on Gaza seems imminent, Guardian (Oct. 10, 2023), http://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/10/right-now-itis-one-day-à-la-fois-la-vie-en-Israël-en-première-ligne-avec-gaza.
31 Gianluca PACCHIANI, COGAT chief addresses Gazans‘ 'You wanted hell, you will get hell’, Times of Israel (Oct. 10, 2023), https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/cogat-chief-addresses-gazans-you-wanted-hell-youwill-get-hell/.
32 Giora EILAND, It's time to rip off the Hamas band-aid, YNet News (Oct. 12, 2023), https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sju3uabba (originally published in Hebrew on Oct. 10, 2023, https://www.ynet.co.il/yedioth/article/yokra13625377 ).
33 United Nations, Israel must rescind evacuation order for northern Gaza and comply with international law: AN expert (Oct. 13, 2023), https://www.un.org/unispal/document/israel-must-rescind-evacuation-order-for-northerngaza-and-comply-with-international-law/.
34 "Israel and Hamas: 'Even wars have rules', affirms the UN chief", UN Info, October 13, 2023.
35 "Israel and Hamas: 'Even wars have rules', affirms the UN chief", UN Info, October 13, 2023.
36 "The evacuation orders sent by Israel to the hospitals in northern Gaza are a death sentence for the sick and injured", WHO, press release, October 14, 2023.
37 "Gaza is strangled and it seems that the world has lost its humanity: Unrwa is sounding the alarm", L'Orient Le Jour, October 16, 2023; "Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner general: Despite all the unbearable images from Gaza, there is no reaction", Interview collected by Laure Stephan (Le Monde, Amman, Jordan, special envoy) and Françoise Joly (TV5 Monde), October 28, 2023.
38 Nicola SLAWSON, First Thing: no power, water or fuel for Gaza until hostages are freed, Israel says, The Guardian (Oct. 12, 2023), https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/12/first-thing-no-power-water-fuel-gazauntil-hostages-freed-israelsays#:~:text=Israel%20Katz%2C%20israel's%20energy%20minister,one%20will%20reach%20us%20morali ty.%E2%80%9D.
39 Paul BLUMENTHAL, Israeli President Says There Are No Innocent Civilians in Gaza, HuffPost (Oct. 13, 2023), https://www.huffpost.com/entry/israel-gaza-isaac-herzog_n_65295ee8e4b03ea0c004e2a8 .
40 Only the beginning’ says Netanyahu as Israel makes first raids into Gaza, Reuters (Oct. 13, 2023), https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/now-is-time-war-says-israels-military-chief-2023-10-12 /. See also Israeli PM, Youtube (Oct. 13, 2023), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4HXaZ20M6Q
41 Israel KATZ, Twitter (Oct. 13, 2023), https://twitter.com/Israel_katz/status/1712876230762967222 .
42 United Nations, Israel must rescind evacuation order for northern Gaza and comply with international law: AN expert (Oct. 13, 2023), https://www.un.org/unispal/document/israel-must-rescind-evacuation-order-for-northerngaza-and-comply-with-international-law/.
43 "Information on the humanitarian situation in Gaza from UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell to the UN Security Council", October 30, 2023, UNICEF Portal.
44 Tzvi FISHMAN, Lehi Fighter Recalls 1948 Battle At Deir Yassin, Jewish Press (May 21, 2020), https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/interviews-and-profiles/lehi-fighter-recalls-1948-battle-at-deiryassin/2020/05/21/.
45 Middle East Eye, "These animals can no longer live," Twitter (Oct. 13, 2023), at 00:00-00:33, https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1712918166437806294 .
46 Israel-Palestine war: Sara Netanyahu's adviser calls for torture of Gaza residents involved in killing Israelis, Middle East Eye (Oct. 14, 2023), https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-war-sara-netanyahu-advisortorture-gazans - rant. See also Sara Netanyahu's advisor spreads poison against leftists: "The traitors continue to incite," YNet (Oct. 14, 2023), https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/rjscwxobt . ("There should be an area that is classified as a security zone where whoever enters is intercepted".
47 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Excerpt from PM Netanyahu's remarks at the opening of the Winter Assembly of the 25th Knesset's Second Session (Oct. 16, 2023), https://www.gov.il/en/departments/news/excerpt-from-pmnetanyahu-s - remarks-at-the-opening-of-the-knesset-s-winter-assembly-16-oct-2023.
48 "Israel tells Gazans to move south or risk being seen as 'terrorist' partner", Reuters, October 22, 2023.
49 Ref. For an English translation: https://fr.scribd.com/document/681086738/Israeli-Intelligence-Ministry-Policy-Paper-on-Gaza-s-Civilian-Population-October-2023
50 https://www.lemonde.fr/international/live/2023/11/02/en-direct-guerre-israel-hamas-nouvelles-tensions-a-la-frontiere-entre-israel-et-le-liban_6197302_3210.html
51 "As Gaza's health system disintegrates, WHO calls for safe passage of fuel, supplies for health facilities", WHO, News and Press Release, October 24, 2023.
52 "Israel-Palestine: the UN insists on the urgency of protecting civilians and freeing hostages", Lynn Hastings, UN Info, October 26, 2023.
53 Ref. : https://ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-29 ; "In Gaza, the humanitarian system facing a total collapse, warns Guterres", UN Info, October 27, 2023.
54 "Israel-Palestine: the UN insists on the urgency of protecting civilians and freeing hostages", Lynn Hastings, UN Info, October 26, 2023.
55 "The total siege of Gaza is prohibited by international humanitarian law, reminds the UN", Franceinfo with AFP, October 10, 2023.
56 Letter of resignation from Craig Mokhiber, director of the New York Office of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, addressed on October 28, 2023 to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk.
57 "Gaza: International humanitarian law is not an à la carte menu to be applied selectively, the Secretary-General reminds the parties to the conflict", General Secretariat, Press Release, SG/SM/22106, October 31, 2023.
58 "Israel's attack on the Jabaliya camp could constitute a war crime, according to the UN", Reuters Staff, November 1, 2023.
59 Israel used 2,000-pound bombs in strike on Jabaliya, analysis finds", Christoph Koettl, Ainara Tiefenthäler, Haley Willis, Alexandre Cardia, New York Times, November 3, 2023.
60 "The WHO denounces the obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza", L'Orient Le Jour and AFP, November 2, 2023.
61 "Israel sends back the Gazan workers and 'cuts off all contact' with the territory", L'Orient Le Jour and AFP, November 3, 2023.
62 "Gaza/Israel: Serious risk of genocide (UN rapporteurs)", UNRIC, November 2, 2023.
63 Ref. : https://twitter.com/L_ThinkTank/status/1720721292436156752?s=20 ; On August 1, 2023, he had urged the government to annex the West Bank: "I don't really think there is a Green Line. It's an imaginary line. This is our homeland. It was here that the Jewish people were born. The attitude of the State of Israel which consists in saying that there are two states here is a mistake. We should impose our sovereignty on Judea and Samaria": Times of Israel, August 2, 2023.
64 https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1356274/les-chefs-des-grandes-agences-onusiennes-reclament-un-cessez-le-feu-a-gaza.html
65 ICJ, Application of the Convention for the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro), February 26, 2007, n° 2007/8; ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstic, August 2, 2001, n° IT-98-33, confirmed on appeal on April 19, 2004.
66 For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the decision is "the embodiment of anti-Semitism and hypocrisy": Times of Israel, "Israel angry at the ICC's "anti-Semitic" investigation into war crimes; The PA and Hamas applaud", March 3, 2021: https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-livid-over-scandalous-icc-war-crimes-probe-pa-and-hamas-cheer/
67 In French on the government website: Attorney General of the State of Israel, Absence of jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court concerning the alleged situation in Palestine: https://iccjurisdiction.com/wp - content/uploads/2020/07/L-ABSENCE-DE-COMPETENCE-DE-LA-COUR-PENALE-INTERNATIONALE-CONCERNANT-LA-PR%C3%89TENDUE-SITUATION-EN-PALESTINE.pdf
68 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Haradinaj et al., n° IT-04-84- T, April 3, 2008, § 60; ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Boskovskiet and Tarculovsi, n° IT-04-82- T, July 10, 2008, § 194-205. "The applicability of international humanitarian law to organized armed groups", J.K. KLEFFNER, International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 93, n° 882, June 2011, p. 443-461 "Taking prisoners: reviewing the international humanitarian law grounds for deprivation of liberty by armed opposition groups", D. CASALIN, International Review of the Red Cross, n° 883, September 2011, pp. 743-757.
69 ICC, The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, March 14, 2012, ICC-01/04-01/06, sentence pronounced on July 10, 2012; ICTY, The Procrurator v. Hadzihasanovic, Alagic and Kubura, n° IT-01-47- AR72, July 16, 2003, § 14-18. Special Court for Sierra Leone, The Prosecutor v. Sam Hinga Norman, May 31, 2004, §
70 Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A. A. Khan KC from Cairo on the situation in the State of Palestine and Israel, October 30, 2023: https://www.icc-cpi.int/fr/news/statement-icc-prosecutor-karim-khan-kc-cairo-situation-state - palestine-and-israel
71 See also the point of view of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "DISPUTED TERRITORIES: Forgotten Facts About the West Bank and Gaza Strip, February 2003 https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFA - Archive/2003/Pages/DISPUTED%20TERRITORIES-%20Forgotten%20Facts%20About%20the%20We.aspx
72 Statute, Art. 17.
73 AGONU, Resolution 96 (I) of December 11, 1946, A/RES/96-I.
74 Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the crime of genocide of 1948 December 9, 1948, General Assembly Resolution 260 A (III). United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 78, p. 277.
75 Genocide, A Modern Crime, Raphael Lemkin, 1945; Axis Rule in Occupied Europe: Laws of Occupation - Analysis of Government - Proposals for Redress, Raphael Lemkin, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1944.
76 ICJ, Application of the Convention for the prevention and punishment of the crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro), judgment, ECR 2007 (I), p. 121, para. 187.
77 ICJ, Reservations to the Convention for the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide, advisory opinion, ICJ, Code 1951, p. 23, and Application of the Convention for the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro), judgment, ICJ Code 2007 (I), p. 125, para. 194.
78 ICTR, The Prosecutor v. Musema, n° ICTR-96-13- T, judgment of first instance, January 27, 2000, para. 165.
79 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Krstić, n° IT-98-33, judgment of the Appeals Chamber, April 19, 2004.
80 This was the case during the Srebrenica genocide, the "group" for the purposes of the genocide being the Bosnian Muslims and the "part" of the group represented by the Bosnian Muslim community of Srebrenica.
81 ICJ, Application of the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the crime of Genocide, Gambia v. Myanmar, precautionary measures, order of January 23, 2020, C.I.J. Reports 2020, p. 3, para. 69, citing UNGA Res. 96(I) of December 11, 1946.
82 ICJ, Application of the Convention for the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (Croatia v. Serbia), judgment, ICJ, 2015 Report, p. 3, para. 139.
83 ICJ. Recueil 2007 (I), p. 126, para. 98.
84 Ibid., p. 127, para. 201.
85 Ibid., p. 126, para. 199.
86 Art. 4 of the Statute of the ICTY, paragraph 2 of which essentially repeats Article II of the Convention: IT-98-33- A, judgment of 19 April 2004, para. 12.
87 The Prosecutor v. Akayesu,* Trial Judgment.
88 Statute of the ICC, Art. 6; Statute of the ICTY, adopted by resolution S/RES/827, May 25, 1993, Art. 4; Statute of the ICTR, adopted by resolution S/RES/955, November 8, 1994, art. 2
89 ICTR, The Prosecutor v. Akayesu, case n° ICTR-96-4- T, judgment of first instance, September 2, 1998, p. 523.
90 ICJ Recueil 2007 (I), pp. 196-197, para. 373.
91 ICJ, Application of the Convention for the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (Croatia v. Serbia), judgment, ICJ, Recueil 2015, p. 3, para. 148.
92 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Krajišnik, IT-00-39- T, judgment of September 27, 2006, para. 862; see also ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Tolimir, IT-05-88/2- T, trial chamber, judgment of 12 December 2012, para. 738.
93 ICJ, Application of the Convention for the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (Croatia v. Serbia), judgment, ICJ, Recueil 2015, p. 3, para. 157.
94 ICC, Statute, Art 31. Hannah TONKIN, "Defense Force Under the Rome Statute", Melbourne Journal of International Law, 2005; William A. Schabas, Genocide in International Law: The Crime of Crimes, Chapter 7 "Defenses to Genocide", Cambridge University Press, July 2009.
95 ICJ, Legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons, advisory opinion, ICJ Reports 1996, p. 226, para. 42
96 See William A. SCHABAS, Genocide in International Law: The Crime of Crimes, Cambridge University Press 2009, p. 395; ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Martić, Case No. IT-95-11- R61, Examination of the indictment in accordance with Article 61 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, March 13, 1996, para. 17.
97 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Stakić, IT-97-24- T, judgment of July 31, 2003, para. 517 and 518 98 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Brđanin, IT-99-36- T, judgment of September 1, 2004, para. 691 99 ICJ Recueil 2007 (I), p. 123, para. 190
100 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Popović et al., N° IT-05-88- T, judgment, June 10, 2010, para. 814.
101 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Popović et al., N° IT-05-88- T, judgment, June 10, 2010, para. 815; ICTR, Musema, judgment, para. 157.
102 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Brđanin, N° IT-99-36, judgment, September 1, 2004, para. 691; The Prosecutor v. Stakić, N° IT- 97-24-T, judgment, July 31, 2003, para. 517; ICTR, The Prosecutor v. Akayesu, judgment, para. 506.
103 ICTR, The Prosecutor v. Akayesu, judgment, para. 523; ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Stakić, judgment, para. 517; The Prosecutor against Karadžić, N° IT-95-5/18- T, judgment, para. 547. The ICJ also includes the destruction of villages and houses, the denial of access to food, shelter and other essentials for life, as well as massacres as acts that infringe on the "right to the existence of a protected group" under the Genocide Convention in the context of the accusations of genocide against the Rohingya. Gambia Ordinance, para. 71.
104 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Karadžić, judgment, para. 548.
105 The extent of the actual or attempted destruction of a group, by any act listed in Article 2 of the Statute, is solid proof of the intention to destroy a group, in whole or in part. ICTR, The Prosecutor v. Muhimana, n° ICTR-95-1BT, judgment, April 28, 2005, para. 498.
106 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Karadžic, judgment, para. 545; Akayesu Trial, Judgment, para. 502.
107 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Tolimir, N° IT-05-88/2- T, Judgment, December 12, 2012, paras. 754- 755. Assessing the death threat in the context of Srebrenica, the trial chamber concluded: "The suffering of the men separated in Potocari or detained after their surrender or capture in the column of men leaving Srebrenica, knowing that they were at risk of being killed, constituted serious bodily and mental damage as acts of genocide. It was likely to contribute or tend to contribute to the destruction of the group insofar as their suffering prevented these members from leading a normal and constructive life".
108 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Blagojević and Jokić, No. IT-02-60- T, judgment, January 17, 2005, para 647.
109 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Blagojević, judgment, para. 646 and 650: "The forced displacement of women, children and the elderly was in itself a traumatic experience, especially when it was followed by a flight from an area subjected to a five-day military offensive when he was shot at, separated from his family and smoke was seen rising from their homes, knowing that the displacement was not temporary".
110 Genocide Convention, Art. 2.
111 ICJ, Judgment, Application of the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, ICJ Reports 2015, para. 139.
112 ICJ, Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro, 26 February 2007, ICJ Reports 2007, para. 126; ICJ, Application of the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Croatia v. Serbia), preliminary exceptions, judgment, C.I.J. Reports 2008, para. 199 : https://www.icj-cij.org/case/118/judgments
113 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Jelisić, N° IT-95-10- A, judgment of appeal, 5 July 2001, para. 47. In fact, explicit manifestations of criminal intent are "often rare in the context of criminal trials". Deducing the intention from relevant facts and circumstances "prevents the perpetrators from escaping a conviction simply because such manifestations are absent": ICTR, The Prosecutor v. Rutaganda, n° ICTR-96-3- T, judgment, May 26, 2003, para 525. 114 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Jelisić, judgment on appeal, para. 47; ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Karadžić, judgment, para 550.
115 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Popović et al. Judgment, para. 824.
116 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Jelisić, judgment on appeal, para. 48
117 ICTR, The Prosecutor v. Nahimana et al., No. ICTR-99-52- A, judgment on appeal, November 28, 2007.
118 ICJ, Gambia v. Myanmar, Order, para. 55-56.
119 The UN website keeps an up-to-date chronological summary: https://unric.org/fr/onu-et-la-crise-au-proche-orient-gaza / "Israel/OPT: Urgent call for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to end the unprecedented civilian suffering", Amnesty International, October 26, 2023 October 26 2023https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/10/israel-opt-urgent-call-for-an-immediate-ceasefire-by-all - parties-to-end-unprecedented-civilian-suffering/ Gaza Strip, Al-Haq, https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/gaza-strip; Press Releases 2023, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, https://www.mezan.org/en/Archive/2/2023 ; Gaza Strip, Defense for Children International-Palestine, https://www.dci-palestine.org /; Press Releases, PCHR, https://pchrgaza.org/en/category/press-releases /. See also: AlHaq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights & PCHR, Joint Urgent Appeal to A Special Procedures on Israel's Total Warfare on Gaza's Civilian Population (Oct. 11, 2023), https://www.alhaq.org/cached_uploads/download/2023/10/12/final-urgent-appeal-to-special-procedures-on-gaza-11 - oct-1697135190.pdf ; "Israel's Unfolding Crime of Genocide of the Palestinian People & U.S. Failure to Prevent and Complicity in Genocide", The Center for Constitutional Rights, October 18, 2023.
120 Louis IMBERT, "Bezalel Smotrich, the radical settler who imposes his mark on the Israeli government", Louis Imbert, Le Monde, March 7, 2023.
121 Jonathan LIS, "Far-Right Minister Smotrich: Palestinians Don't Exist, White House Must Hear the Truth", Jonathan Lis, Haaretz, March 20, 2023.
122 The term "by force" is not limited to physical force and may include an act committed by using the threat of force or coercion against said or said or third persons, such as that caused by the threat of violence, coercion, detention, psychological pressure, abuse of power, or in favor of a coercive climate.
123 It is understood that no additional psychological element is necessary here, except that which is inherent in element 6.
124 The term "killed" is interchangeable with the expression "caused the death of".
125 As regards nationality, it is understood that the perpetrator only had to know that the victim belonged to the enemy side in the conflict.
126 The expression "international armed conflict" encompasses military occupation.