ICC arrest warrants ‘makes a difference to world opinion’
Michael Mansfield, an international human rights lawyer, says Israel is an “unjust state that has never respected the rule of law”. Israel is trying to “deflect responsibility” and its objective has been to destroy Gaza and make it “uninhabitable”, Mansfield told Al Jazeera.
Netanyahu will not end the war in Gaza, he said, until this objective is met. “If he ends the war, he is in trouble. He’s in trouble if he leaves the country … and if he stays in Israel … he’s awaiting prosecution there,” Mansfield said.
The issuing of the ICC warrants “makes a difference to world opinion, because I don’t think that the regime in Israel have recognised the extent in which they are being isolated – morally isolated”, he said.
Israel’s actions in the region ‘a very serious situation’
Francis Boyle, a professor of international law at the University of Illinois, calls the ICC’s latest move a “very important precedent”.
“In my opinion, if the ICC had prosecuted Israeli leaders after Operation Cast Lead … maybe all of this could have been avoided, if prosecutions were initiated 15 years ago,” Boyle told Al Jazeera.
Boyle said the Biden administration is guilty of “aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, and outright genocide against the Palestinians”.
He said this is a “far more serious genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza than was inflicted on the Bosnians,” referring to the timeframes of each genocide in comparison with the number of people killed.
Israel is now “extending this to Lebanon, and it does appear the [occupied] West Bank is next in its sights,” Boyle said. “It’s a very serious situation.”
