Amnesty Urges ICC Probe Of Possible Gaza War Crimes

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Facts

  • On Tuesday, Amnesty International called for an International Criminal Court (ICC) probe into possible war crimes committed by both Israeli forces and Palestinian militants during deadly three-day fighting in Gaza in August.
  • This comes as the organization presented a new report focusing on three specific attacks that it says killed 13 Palestinian civilians amid what it detailed as Israel's "pre-emptive" military offensive against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in Gaza, starting on Aug. 5.
  • According to the London-based global rights group, the 13 casualties included five Palestinian children killed at a cemetery in an attack "likely to have been carried out by an Israeli guided missile fired by a drone," and another Palestinian civilian killed after an Israeli tank fired at a house in Khan Yunis.
  • The NGO has also claimed that among the 13 deaths, seven Palestinian civilians were killed in an attack on the Jabalia refugee camp on Aug. 6, which it says was the result of a misfired rocket launched by Palestinian armed groups.
  • Amnesty has reportedly based its findings on photographs of weapons fragments, satellite imagery, and testimonies that allegedly amount to evidence of war crimes in these three separate attacks.
  • The ICC has already opened an investigation into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to focus on possible war crimes committed during the 2014 conflict in Gaza. While the Palestinian Authority supports this probe, Israel isn't an ICC member and disputes its jurisdiction.

Sources: France24, Amnesty, Alarabiya, Jewish, Middle East Eye, and Al-monitor.

Narratives

  • Pro-Palestine, as provided by Al Jazeera. These unlawful attacks come as a consequence of continuous Israeli violence and oppression against the population of Gaza, which has been besieged for years. However, the ICC must investigate not only war crimes in Gaza but also the crime against humanity of apartheid occurring in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in general.
  • Pro-Israel, as provided by Jerusalem Post. While Amnesty International has finally deemed an attack by a Palestinian terror group a war crime, accusing Israel at an unparalleled level reveals that the organization isn't acting impartially. Aside from its fixation with Israel, Amnesty also seems to have double standards; it seriously criticizes Ukraine for failing to protect its citizens but virtually ignores Palestine for the same violations.

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