Isabelle Defourny, president of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) France, said a few weeks ago that the US, Britain, France and other nations are “morally and politically complicit with what to our eyes amounts to genocide” by providing military support to Israel. Defourny also said that “for the last six months we have witnessed the choices which Israel makes in waging war on an entire population, a population that is trapped, deprived of food and massively bombed.” She added that “Gaza is progressively being made unfit for human life” and that it “has passed the threshold of absolute horror.” (1)
The United Nations and other international organizations have said that Israel may be committing a war crime by deliberately causing a famine in Gaza. Israel has been obstructing the entry of aid into Gaza. (2) After Israel killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers at the beginning of this month, US President Biden reportedly demanded during a phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel has to implement “specific, concrete and measurable” steps in order to protect civilians and aid workers in Gaza. Biden also stressed that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation in Gaza are “unacceptable”. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby suggested that there may be consequences for Israel if it does not increase the flow of aid into Gaza and try to safeguard civilians and humanitarian workers, but Kirby declined to provide details. However, Kirby also reiterated that the US still has “an ironclad commitment to help Israel with its self-defense.” (3, 4) Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office said that Israel will allow “temporary” delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The statement of the office added, “This increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis and is necessary to ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war.” (5)
However, Andrea De Domenico, head of UNOCHA, the United Nation’s humanitarian aid agency for Palestinians, said last week that Israel still seems to “systematically” impede the delivery of food and other vital goods by imposing delays at checkpoints (6). It is also notable that the US has suspended funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) until March 2025, even though its own intelligence services expressed “low confidence” in the Israeli allegations against UNRWA in February. Also new independent review for the UN, headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, made clear that Israel has failed to provide any evidence to support its claims that some UNRWA workers belong to either Hamas’s military wing or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and helped those groups during the attack against Israel on the 7th of October, last year. The US has been the principal donor to UNRWA. (7)
The US has continued to show its “ironclad commitment” to support Israel. Last week, the US vetoed the United Nations Security Council resolution which would have made it possible for the State of Palestine to gain full membership at the UN (8). A couple of weeks ago, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that the US hasn’t got “any evidence of genocide being created” in Gaza (9). On Saturday, the US House of Representatives passed a 95 billion-dollar legislative package. A total of 26 billion dollars was given to Israel – 17 billion dollars in defense aid to Israel and approximately 9 billion dollars for humanitarian aid in Gaza and other war-torn regions. According to media reports, roughly 2 billion dollars is expected go to Gaza. The bill for Israel aid was passed with votes of 366-58. It was notable that 37 Democrats and 21 Republicans opposed the bill. The Democrats who voted against the bill on Israel were reportedly very critical of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. (10, 11)
In Britain, Prime Minister Sunak and Foreign Secretary Cameron have refused to publish the legal advice the British government has received regarding the war in Gaza, but there have been claims that the government lawyers have already warned that Israel has breached humanitarian law. According to Cameron, the Israel-Hamas conflict is a “different situation” compared to other situations when Britain published a summary of legal advice before taking military action, for example in Libya and more recently in the Red Sea (12, 13). At the beginning of this month, over 600 lawyers, academics and retired senior judges warned in a letter to Prime Minister Sunak that the British government is breaching international law by continuing to arm Israel. The signatories wrote in their 17-page letter (14, 15):
“While we welcome the increasingly robust calls by your government for a cessation of fighting and the unobstructed entry to Gaza of humanitarian assistance, simultaneously to continue (to take two striking examples) the sale of weapons and weapons systems to Israel and to maintain threats of suspending UK aid to Unwra falls significantly short of your government’s obligations under international law.”
“The ICJ’s (i.e. the International Court of Justice’s) conclusion that there exists a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza has placed your government on notice that weapons might be used in its commission and that the suspension of their provision is thus a ‘means likely to deter’ and/or ‘a measure to prevent’ genocide.
The provision of military assistance and material to Israel may render the UK complicit in genocide as well as serious breaches of IHL (i.e. international humanitarian law). Customary international law recognises the concept of ‘aiding and assisting’ an international wrongful act.”
Also in Britain, civil servants who are members of Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) have requested a possibility to “cease work immediately” on tasks related to arms export licences to Israel, because they fear that they may be liable if Israel is deemed to have broken international law (16). Prime Minister Sunak and Foreign Secretary Cameron have said that Britain will continue to allow arms exports to Israel just like other “like-minded countries” and “closest allies”. (13, 17)
Germany has faced charges at the International Court of Justice for allegedly “facilitating the commission of genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza in coordination with its military and political ally, Israel. When Nicaragua presented its case against Germany before the ICJ, Nicaragua demanded the judges to impose emergency measures to stop Germany from providing Israel with weapons and other assistance. (18) German Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said, “Let me announce here and now that we reject Nicaragua’s accusations. Germany has neither violated the Genocide Convention nor international humanitarian law, and we will explain this in detail at the International Court of Justice.” (19) Around 600 German civil servants have urged the German government to “cease arm deliveries to the Israeli government with immediate effect”. The civil servants said in their statement, “Israel is committing crimes in Gaza that are in clear contradiction to international law and thus to the Constitution, which we are bound to as federal civil servants and public employees.” According to some estimates, 99 percent of Israel’s arms come from the United States and Germany – Germany is the second-biggest supplier of arms. (20)
In France, President Emmanuel Macron was criticized for being ambiguous or biased in his approach during the first months of the Israel-Hamas war – for example, he suggested that “the anti-ISIS coalition” should be used to fight Hamas. However, he has been slightly more critical about Israel’s actions, as well. (21) In January, before the ICJ gave its interim ruling on genocide case against Israel, France’s new foreign minister Stéphane Séjourné suggested that Israel is immune from genocide charges by saying that “to accuse the Jewish state of genocide is to cross a moral threshold.” (22) Left-wing opposition party France Unbowed (La France Insoumise, LFI) as well as Amnesty International France and many other organizations have demanded suspension of sale of weapons and military equipment to Israel (23, 24). At the end of March, French Foreign Ministry announced that French-Israeli soldiers implicated in war crimes in Gaza will face legal action. The announcement came after release of a video where French-speaking Israeli soldiers engaged in violations against Palestinian captives. According to French media, over 4,000 Israeli soldiers hold French nationality. (25)
A few days ago, Israeli media reported that the Israeli far-right government is increasingly worried that the International Criminal Court ICC may issue soon arrest warrants against Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli political and military leaders for alleged breaches of international law in Gaza. The far-right government reportedly had an “emergency discussion” last Tuesday about the ways they could avoid the arrest warrants. Prime Minister Netanyahu asked help from British Foreign Secretary Cameron and German Foreign Minister Baerbock when they visited Israel, last week. (26)
It has been interesting to see that several Israel’s allies seem to knowingly ignore international law in order to support Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians. It has also been interesting to notice that so far Germany has been the only Israel’s ally which has been formally accused of facilitating the commission of genocide in Gaza. Veteran British journalist Peter Oborne wrote that Britain has been involved, way or the other, in many other genocides – for example, in Indonesia 1965-1966, in Rwanda 1994, in Bosnia 1995 and in the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar that started in 2016 – but Britain has felt able to act with impunity, “to act regardless of consequences when it comes to breaches of international law”. (27)
When French President Macron marked the 30th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, at the beginning of this month, he said in his video message that France could have stopped the Rwanda genocide with its Western and African allies but they “lacked the will to do so” (28). Unfortunately the same could be said about some Western powers and the genocide in Gaza.
References:
(1) “US, UK, others ‘complicit’ in what amounts to ‘genocide’ in Gaza — MSF” TRT World 5.4.2024
(2) “‘Man-made famine’ charge against Israel is backed by mounting body of evidence” The Guardian 20.3.2024
(3) “Who were the World Central Kitchen workers killed in Israel’s strike in Gaza?” CNN 4.4.2024
(4) “Biden presses Netanyahu for steps to protect civilians in Gaza: White House” Al Jazeera 4.4.2024
(5) “Israel to ‘temporarily’ reopen north Gaza crossing for aid after Biden call” Al Jazeera 5.4.2024
(6) “U.N. official says Israel systematically impeding Gaza aid distribution” CBS News 18.4.2024
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-hamas-war-un-gaza-aid-distribution/
(7) “Israel gave no evidence UNRWA staff linked to ‘terrorism’: Colonna report” Al Jazeera 22.4.2024
(8) “US vetoes UN resolution for Palestinian statehood in favour of never-ending negotiations” Middle East Monitor 19.4.2024
(9) “US does not believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza: Defence chief” Middle East Monitor 9.4.2024
(10) “House okays $17 billion in military aid for Israel under major spending package” The Times of Israel 20.4.2024
(11) “US House approves aid package worth billions for Ukraine, Israel” Al Jazeera 20.4.2024
(12) “Sunak urged to publish legal advice over claims government lawyers think Israel is breaking international law” The Independent 31.3.2024
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/sunak-legal-advice-israel-gaza-law-b2521282.html
(13) “UK will not suspend arms exports to Israel, David Cameron says” The Guardian 9.4.2024
(14) “Former supreme court judges say UK arming Israel breaches international law” The Guardian 3.4.2024
(15) “UK Judges’ and Lawyers’ Open Letter Concerning Gaza” 3.4.2024
(16) “UK civil servants overseeing arms sales to Israel demand to ‘cease work immediately'” Middle East Eye 5.4.2024
(17) “‘None of our closest allies have stopped’: Rishi Sunak defends decision not to suspend arms sales to Israel” LBC 10.4.2024
https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/rishi-sunak-suspend-arms-israel/
(18) “Nicaragua to ICJ: End Germany’s support of Israeli ‘genocide’ in Gaza” Al Jazeera 8.4.2024
(19) “Germany responds to Nicaragua’s accusation that it encouraged Israel to commit Gaza genocide” Middle East Monitor 6.4.2024
(20) “German civil servants demand ‘immediate’ end to Israeli arms supplies” Al Jazeera 7.4.2024
(21) “Macron’s rift with diplomats deepens after missteps on Israel-Hamas war” Politico 22.11.2023
https://www.politico.eu/article/in-wake-of-setbacks-on-israel-hamas-war-macron-seeks-second-wind/
(22) “French Foreign Minister Rebuked for Suggesting Israel Is Immune From Genocide Charges” Common Dreams 18.1.2024
https://www.commondreams.org/news/france-israel-genocide
(23) “France under pressure to suspend military sales to Israel as war in Gaza grinds on” France 24 22.2.2024
(24) “French, German arms sales to Israel hit by legal action” Politico 12.4.2024
https://www.politico.eu/article/11-ngos-take-france-to-court-over-arms-sales-to-israel/
(25) “France to prosecute French-Israeli soldiers committing war crimes in Gaza” The New Arab 30.3.2024
https://www.newarab.com/news/france-charge-french-israelis-committing-crimes-gaza
(26) “Netanyahu’s office hosts emergency talks on feared ICC warrants for PM, ministers” The Times of Israel 19.4.2024
(27) “War on Gaza: History tells Sunak and Cameron they can safely ignore the ICJ” Middle East Eye 10.4.2024
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/war-gaza-history-sunak-cameron-ignore-icj
(28) “President Macron says France and its allies ‘could have stopped’ the 1994 Rwanda genocide” AP News 4.4.2024
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