Israeli crimes prompt ICJ to consider genocide case/Protests influencing governments’ views/ Global public opinion turning against Israel

Tehran, Qodsna - Binoy Kampmark said in an interview with the Qods News Agency that the two interim orders of the ICJ show the conditions of genocide exist in Gaza.

Asked about international legal reaction to the Zionist genocidal war on Gaza, Kampmark argued: “It is clear on this score that the operation mounted by Israel in Gaza has shocked, appalled and caused such bodies as the International Court of Justice to consider, on application from South Africa, the possibility that the actions are genocidal.  While the threshold of satisfying the conditions of genocide is stringent, the two interim orders of the court point to the genuine possibility that the conditions of genocide either exist or are being brought into being. The last interim order makes it clear that starvation as a tool can be considered as potentially genocidal.  Irrespective of the ICJ finding, however, war crimes and crimes against humanity are taking place, be it the destruction of critical infrastructure (schools, hospitals), the deprivation of necessities, and the mass killing of civilians tolerated in Israel's targeting largely AI-driven strategy.”

As to the world public pressure on governments to force Israel to stop atrocities in Gaza, the lecturer said: “In customary fashion, states can withdraw funding from the Israeli military-industrial complex, which is vast, global and entrenched.  Boycotts can be initiated. Sanctions can be imposed. Indeed, Israel's largest and most avid protector, the United States, is considering sanctions on a special unit in the IDF suspected of human rights abuses. Protests, which are taking place internationally, will also make their mark in influencing the views of governments. The key here is isolating Israel.”

He also pointed to Palestinian resistance fighters’ right to initiate the October 7 operation against the Zionist regime, noting: “The action was murderous and brutal.  But it did not take place in a vacuum.  Whatever is said of Hamas, the operation drew sustenance from a multi-generational grievance: the dispossession of Palestinians when Israel was founded, the withering of the two-state solution, the imposition of conditions regarded, even by various Israeli human rights groups, as apartheid.  Israel's arguments before the UN and the ICJ is that Hamas itself is genocidal in its views and that the IDF's actions are justified on the basis of self-defense. Whatever the platform of Hamas in this regard, they are a political reality that must be reckoned with.”

The Australian academic concluded: “This is probably the best opportunity for the Palestinian people since the Oslo Accords. Global public opinion is turning against Israel. Countries such as Australia are even contemplating recognizing a Palestinian state in advance of Israeli consent. Tragically, the Palestinian people have been caught in a historical vice they cannot control.  What matters here is whether the political authorities representing Palestinians will be wise enough to exploit the situation.”