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Itay Epshtain

@EpshtainItay

Jul 9

1/5 The Assembly of States Parties to the @IntlCrimCourt concludes its special session on the crime of aggression today. Over the past three days, it has considered amendments to the exercise of the Court’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression. The #US, not a State party, was present, on the behest of #Israel, in order to intimidate and coerce others from pursuing criminal justice for the supreme international crime.

2/5 The proposed amendment, under debate, seeks to ensure that all States Parties are equally subject to the Court’s jurisdiction over aggression, allowing the Court to exercise its jurisdiction over the crime of aggression even when committed by nationals of a State that is not a party to the Statute or when committed on its territory and established a jurisdictional framework that applies uniformly to all core crime.

3/4 US State Department Legal Advisor Reed Rubinstein – who vowed during his March 2025 nomination hearing to serve “national interests above all else” – intervened and threatened the Court and the State parties with “diplomatic, political, and legal instruments to block @IntlCrimCourt overreach.” Coercion was clear: the #US expects “all ICC actions against the United States and our ally #Israel-that is, all investigations and all arrest warrants-to be terminated. If not, all options remain on the table.”

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Itay Epshtain

@EpshtainItay

Jul 8

The parallels are uncanny...

Together with a copy of the @DonaldTrump nomination letter handed over by @netanyahu is a petition from his party, @Likud_Party, to seek endorsement of the October 23' Ministry of Intelligence plan (at the time, headed by Gila Gamliel) for mass deportation from #Gaza.

The criminal endeavour, now referred to as the 'Gamliel-Trump Plan,' outlines the four stages: 1. A call on #Palestinian civilians to vacate north #Gaza and allow for land operations; 2. Sequential land operations from north to south, Gaza; 3. Leaving routes open across Rafah; 4. Establishing "tent cities" in northern Sinai and the construction of cities to resettle Palestinians in #Egypt.

Read 5 tweets

Itay Epshtain

@EpshtainItay

Jun 3

First, there was the #Gaza pier, which floated away before delivering any meaningful aid, then there were the airdrops, which landed in the Mediterranean, when they didn't kill or injure Palestinians. Now, there are the sham humanitarians - brandishing assault rifles - of the "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" setting up death traps for Gazans starved by #Israel.

It is all an attempt to obfuscate the intentional use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and territorial conquest. A distraction from the grave breaches and serious violations of interntional law. A ruse leading to the death of thousands.

The answer has always been clear. Israel must adhere to its duty, as the occupying power, to facilitate independent and impartial humanitarian relief, free from any military, political, or economic interference, offered by impartial humanitarian organizations, across the
occupied Palestinian territory, including Gaza. Lifting the near-total siege and blockade on Gaza, and taking action to prevent further forcible transfer and starvation, is the absolute minimum. What we see now is diametrically opposed, and criminal.

Read 9 tweets

Itay Epshtain

@EpshtainItay

May 21

The @EUCouncil's 'qualified majority' decision to review #Israel's adherence to Article 2 of the Association Agreement raises an unresolved EU procedural law matter. A thread for those interested in the more technical aspects (which could have major legal and political implications):

1/3 Article 218 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU, the founding treaty of the EU, signed in 1957 and revised in 2007) regulates agreements between the Union and third countries, such as Israel. There are three stages to it:
- The @EUCouncil authorises the opening of negotiations and adopts negotiating directives
- The @EU_Commission and the @eu_eeas HR/VP submit recommendations to the Council
- After consulting the European Parliament @Europarl_EN, the Council must reach unanimity of member states to adopt a decision concluding the association agreement

2/3 Article 218(9) then provides that on recommendation from the HR/VP @kajakallas - pending said review - the Council may decide, again, unanimously, to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Therein lies the problem. The review will likely confirm that #Israel's actions in occupied #Palestinian territory amount to a grave breach of peremptory norms of international law (jus cogens), including, inter alia, the prohibition of aggression, the prohibition of genocide, the prohibition of crimes against humanity, the basic rules of international humanitarian law (and corollary war crimes), and the suppression of the right to self-determination.

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Itay Epshtain

@EpshtainItay

May 21

Ensuring respect for peremptory norms of international law, including the basic rules of IHL, is a legal duty under Common Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions and the rules on State Responsibility for Internationally Wrongful Acts. I'm encouraged by @FCDOGovUK @UKintlaw's recognition of that core legal tenet.

In 2020, the @ICRC Commentary on the Geneva Conventions confirmed the possible measures, some of which the UK has instituted, while others should be immediately considered in response to atrocity crimes:
– exerting diplomatic pressure by means of confidential protests or public denunciations
– applying measures of retorsion, such as the halting of ongoing negotiations or refusing to ratify agreements already signed, the non-renewal of trade privileges, and the reduction or suspension of voluntary public aid
– adopting lawful countermeasures such as arms embargoes, trade and financial restrictions, flight bans, and the reduction or suspension of aid and cooperation agreements
– resorting to penal measures to repress violations of humanitarian law and supporting international efforts, including by the @IntlCrimCourt, to bring suspected perpetrators of serious violations of IHL to justice

Yesterday, the @EUCouncil - led by @eucopresident and @eu_eeas Chief @kajakallast - decided to review #Israel's compliance with the EU Association Agreement, 'based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy.' What might that look like:

Read 6 tweets

Itay Epshtain

@EpshtainItay

May 12

ALERT: Yesterday, #Israel's War Cabinet approved the wholesale 'title registration' of West Bank land, completing its annexation, and entrenching Israel's unlawful presence. This unprecedented decision will deny millions of #Palestinians their housing, land, and property rights.

A two-prong legal analysis applies to this decision: 1/2 Up until July 2024, it was in breach of the rules of usufruct—under Article 43 and 55 of the Hague Regulations—according to which Israel, as the Occupying Power, is only a temporary administrator of occupied territory.

2/2 From July 2024, the @CIJ_ICJ advisory opinion maintains that Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful, and this "entails that the Occupying Power bears the duty to administer public property for the benefit of the local population or, exceptionally, to meet the needs of the army of occupation. In the present case, however, the public property confiscated or requisitioned for the development of Israeli settlements benefits the civilian population of settlers, to the detriment of the local Palestinian population." The Court concludes that to "seek to acquire sovereignty over an occupied territory, as shown by the policies and practices adopted by Israel in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, is contrary to the prohibition of the use of force in international
relations and its corollary principle of the non-acquisition of territory by force."

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