Corbyn Demands Answers About Who Authorised British Participation in the Gaza Genocide
Israel Psychostate
International Legal Coalition Launched to ‘Pursue Israeli War Crimes Suspects’
Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
“Under international law, states have a duty to investigate and prosecute war crimes, yet these obligations have been systematically neglected,” one of the initiative’s founders lamented.
Lawyers from half a dozen countries on Tuesday launched a coalition dedicated to bringing Israelis and dual nationals accused of war crimes in Palestine to justice.
The U.K.-based International Center of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) hosted a launch event in London for the new initiative, called Global 195. ICJP said lawyers will “pursue Israeli war crimes suspects across the world” via arrest warrant applications and the initiation of legal proceedings including private prosecutions against implicated members and veterans of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), as well as “figures spanning the entire Israeli military and political chain of command, from senior policymakers to operational personnel, who are directly or indirectly responsible for violations of international law.”
Participants include attorneys from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Malaysia, Norway, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, where “advanced preparations have already been made to pursue legal action against British citizens suspected of joining the IDF or committing war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.”
For the past 18 months, ICJP has been collecting evidence as part of its Justice for Gaza campaign, including 135 eyewitness testimonies backed by open-source intelligence. Documented violations of international law include indiscriminate and disproportionate bombing of civilians, attacks on designated “safe zones,”s airstrikes targeting refugee camps, use of starvation as a weapon of war, and forced displacement.
“The obstruction of international legal institutions in pursuing individuals responsible for war crimes in Palestine, coupled with the failure of national police forces to fulfill their obligations under humanitarian law and universal jurisdiction principles, has allowed impunity for Israeli suspected war criminals to persist,” ICJP director Tayab Ali said in a statement.
“Under international law, states have a duty to investigate and prosecute war crimes, yet these obligations have been systematically neglected,” Ali added. “The launch of Global 195 is a necessary legal intervention to remedy this failure. By activating domestic legal mechanisms across multiple jurisdictions, we are ensuring that those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza are subject to legal accountability and no longer have anywhere to hide.”
Huseyin Disli, vice president of the Worldwide Lawyers Association, noted that “no domestic court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli genocide war criminals, exposing the failure of the international legal order” and called the global legal community “incoherent in its goals.”
Israel is currently the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case filed by South Africa, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are fugitives from the International Criminal Court, which last November issued arrest warrants over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. However, key nations including the United States—which has not ratified the Rome Statute upon which the ICC is based—have ignored the warrants, and last month the Trump administration imposed sanctions on the tribunal.
Since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed or wounded more than 175,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including people who are missing and presumed dead and buried beneath rubble, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. On Tuesday, Israel unilaterally abandoned an eight-week cease-fire and resumed its assault on Gaza, killing more than 400 people including at least 174 children in airstrikes that wiped out entire families.
United Nations experts, international jurists, human rights groups, and others have found that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, as well as crimes including indiscriminate and disproportionate killing of civilians, extrajudicial killing, torture, sexual violence including rape, use of starvation as a weapon of war, and forced displacement.
The launch of Global 195 follows the establishment last September of the Hind Rajab Foundation, a Belgium-based legal group that pursues arrest warrants for alleged Israeli war criminals traveling abroad. The organization is named after a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed—along with six relatives—by Israeli forces in January 2024 while trying to flee to safety in a car. Two paramedics who tried to rescue her were also killed.
Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
Greens repeat call for UK to suspend all arms exports to Israel
Reacting to the resumption of attacks by Israeli forces on Gaza, Ellie Chowns, MP for North Herefordshire and Green Party Foreign Affairs spokesperson, said:
“As Israel returns to its bombardment of Gaza, hundreds more lives have been lost. Families, children, entire communities – gone in an instant. This is horrific. Each of these lives mattered. Each of these deaths was preventable.
“The UK cannot remain complicit while bombs rain down on civilians. The government must act now: we must use all diplomatic means necessary to secure an immediate ceasefire and suspend all arms exports to the Israeli military including components of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which evidence suggests have been used in ways that violate international law and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis. There can be no justification for continuing to supply arms while international law is being violated and humanitarian catastrophe unfolds.
“The people of Gaza are not only facing bombardment – they are also being starved. The blockade is preventing essential food, water, and medical aid from reaching those in desperate need. The UK government must demand the full and immediate flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza and apply real diplomatic pressure to make that happen.
“We also repeat our call for the release of the hostages still held in Gaza. The families of those hostages deserve to see their loved ones return home.
“For too long, the UK has failed to take the necessary steps towards justice and peace. We must formally recognise the State of Palestine – a vital step towards a future based on equality, dignity, and the rule of law.
“The cycle of violence will not end without justice. There must be accountability for war crimes, an end to the occupation, and a real commitment to peace. The UK government must make a stronger stand now, before more lives are lost.”