Itay Epshtain Profile picture
International Lawyer (PIL, LoAC). All views my own unless expressly stated otherwise.
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Apr 2 6 tweets 3 min read
BREAKING: In a joint statement, #Israel's co-ministers of defense @Israel_katz (Likud) and @bezalelsm (Religious Zionism) confirm the government's intention to permanently acquire, colonize, and annex the entirety of the occupied West Bank, at the expense of #Palestinian sovereignty.Image
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1/5 This egregious plan includes the wanton and extensive destruction of Palestinian homes and humanitarian and development assistance - schools, health clinics, livelihoods - provided by @eu_echo, @EU_Commission, @EUCouncil member states, and @NorwayMFA and @FCDOGovUK, under the guise of maintaining public order.
Mar 27 9 tweets 4 min read
Earlier today, in 64 pages of legal perversion, the #Israeli High Court of Justice effectively rejected the @Gisha_Access petition to order the government to agree and facilitate humanitarian relief to the civilian population of #Gaza. A short thread: Image 1/5 At the outset, Israel's constitutional court held that Gaza was not under belligerent occupation, absolving Israel from the duties of an occupant to restore and ensure, as far as possible, public order and life in the occupied territory. Image
Mar 11 6 tweets 2 min read
Minister Amichai Chikli deliberately distorts facts and law. So, let’s correct this perversion once and for all:

1/6 International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) providing humanitarian and development assistance to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza do not seek to operate in #Israel but in #Palestinian territory, which Israel – according to the International Court of Justice - unlawfully occupies.Image 2/6 International Humanitarian Law (#IHL) is crystal clear: for as long as Israel continues to occupy the oPt, it has no latitude to refuse requests for humanitarian relief by the Palestinian people, it is their right to receive aid; nor is Israel allowed to deny impartial humanitarian organizations access to and presence in the occupied Palestinian territory; it is their right to provide aid.
As the occupant, Israel only has nominal control rights. It can, reasonably, satisfy itself that relief consignments and services are addressed to the population in need; and that relief consignments do, in fact, consist of relief supplies and do not contain weapons, munitions, or military equipment.
Mar 9 4 tweets 2 min read
BREAKING: #Israel's Minister of Energy, Eli Cohen, orders the Israel Electrical Company to immediately cease power sale and transmission to Gaza. Image 1/3 In July 2024, the International Court of Justice @CIJ_ICJ determined that "Israel’s withdrawal from the #Gaza Strip has not entirely released it of its obligations under the law of occupation. Israel’s obligations have remained commensurate with the degree of its effective control over the Gaza Strip."Image
Feb 26 4 tweets 2 min read
In February 1988, 37 years ago, #Hamas was formed in #Gaza, encouraged and aided by #Israel as an opponent to the PLO. Many decades later, Israel's government continues to support Hamas, at the expense of the #Palestinians. A short thread: Image 1/3 Since the 2006 Hamas takeover of Gaza, Israel's (current) Minister of Finance and overseer of occupied territory territory, Smotrich @bezalelsm, spoke out against unseating it, naming Hamas an asset and the PLO-led Palestinian Authority a liability.
Feb 11 11 tweets 7 min read
EXCLUSIVE: Within the extensive dossier of files presented to the International Court of Justice @CIJ_ICJ in the pending advisory proceeding oh the presence and activities of UN agencies and humanitarian organizations in occupied Palestinian territory, is one document that tells the story of Israel's prolonged, acquisitive and unlawful occupation. A thread:Image
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The year is 1980, Israel's ambassador to the UN, Dr. Yehuda Blum, accords to @UNDP, set out to commence operations in occupied Palestinian territory, the privileges and immunities of the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. However, 12 years before that, Blum set the course for Israel's attempt to colonize and permanently acquire Palestinian territory, to the absolute detriment of the people UNDP was to serve.Image
Feb 2 5 tweets 3 min read
What "deal" at the expanse of the inalienable rights of Palestinians will #Trump and #Netanyahu discuss on Tuesday? A short thread. Image 1/4 Before any mention of a phased #Gaza ceasefire, the two will - in an attempt to ring fence Netanyahu's radical coalition government - discuss US recognition of Israel's annexation of the West Bank, in whole or in part, evoking Trump's 'Peace to Prosperity' Plan. Image
Jan 8 10 tweets 4 min read
On Monday, the Nagel Commission (chaired by former National Security Advisor Prof. Jacob #Nagel) presented Israeli PM Netanyahu with its report on building Israeli military power, suggesting an overhaul towards a proactive attack posture and increased budget appropriation. A thread on what a more aggressive #Israel is going to look like:Image 1/6 The report assumes two major threats in the next ten years: A nuclear Iran and conflagration in the West Bank, Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, and Jordan (in that order). The Commission notes that threats in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon have been addressed since 7 October, while the West Bank (referred to as 'Judea and Samaria') and Jordan, owing to the presence of settlements, pose a critical threat necessitating an increased Israeli military territorial footprint.Image
Dec 30, 2024 5 tweets 3 min read
ALERT: Next week, the #Israeli parliament will vote on a draft bill (tabled by Moshe Passal, Likud) imposing a 20 percent text on humanitarian relief items destined for Gaza, not specifically designated by the Minister of Defense as 'basic commodities.' The explanatory note reads: "At the onset of the war, Israel declared a total siege on #Gaza, preventing the entry of water, food and humanitarian relief. Following international pressure, Israel permitted the entry of aid [...] however, they include non-basic items, such as cigarettes."Image
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1/3 The draft bill comes after, in October 2024, the Ministry of Economy and Industry exempted from tax international humanitarian aid to Gaza, subject to the approval of the Israeli Civil Administration of Gaza, subordinate to Minster Bezalel Smotrich. The limited exemption led to a political backlash in the form of the proposed tax.Image
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Dec 30, 2024 6 tweets 3 min read
The @washingtonpost and @nytimes report on indiscriminate, disproportionate and reckless patterns of #Israeli attacks on #Gaza, including through the automation of target acquisition, as reported months ago by @972mag @yuval_abraham. My legal reflection follows: 972mag.com/lavender-ai-is… 1/3 In a non-international armed conflict (NIAC), an individual whose continuous function involves the preparation,
execution or command of operations amounting to direct participation in hostilities on behalf of an organized armed group is considered a member of that group.
That person is seen to have "continuous combat function" (CCF) and loses his protection against the dangers arising from military operations for the duration of that membership. Persons cease to be civilians within the meaning of IHL for as long as they hold 'CCF'.
CCF equates members of armed
groups in a non-international armed conflict with members of state armed forces in international armed conflicts. Importantly, it refers exclusively to the armed or military wing of a non-state party, not civilian institutions it may oversee.
However, situations of occupation, such as that characterizing #Israeli control of the West Bank and #Gaza are a particular form of
international armed conflict (IAC), not a NIAC.
The ICTY, established in the Tadic case that ‘an armed conflict exists whenever there is a resort to armed force between States or protracted armed
violence between governmental authorities and organized armed groups or between such groups within a State.’
Dec 27, 2024 6 tweets 3 min read
UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres reports on the implementation of the @CIJ_ICJ Advisory Opinion on #Israeli practices in occupied @Palestinian territory, and #UNGA Resolution ES-10/24. A thread outlining key observations: Image 1/5 Member States have reported legal measures seeking accountability for violations of international law, including supporting the establishment of an “international register of damages” and strengthening legislative frameworks to support Palestinian self-determination. Image
Dec 23, 2024 6 tweets 2 min read
ALERT: The #Israeli think-tank that outlined the war of aggression laid on #Gaza, Misgav (headed by former National Security Advisor and #Netanyahu confidant, Meir Ben-Shabbat), suggests, in a new white paper, a "reboot of Israel's approach to international law,": Image 1/3 A procedural change to Israeli constitutional law that will exempt the Israeli military from judicial oversight around, and in connection, with its actions along Israel's borders (e.g., with #Gaza, #Lebanon or #Syria).
Nov 25, 2024 5 tweets 3 min read
ALERT: Time to call #Israel's bluff on domestic investigation and prosecution of war crimes, and argument of complementarity (alleging inadmissibility before the @IntlCrimCourt, and precluding international criminal justice). A short thread based on today's @Haaretz expose: Image
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1/4 In February this year, the Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi sent a confidential letter to Israeli military commanders in which she writes: "#Israel's use of force, in general, is professional and lawful. However, we have encountered breaches of orders and norms, which include the use of force not justified by military necessity, including against [#Palestinian] detainees; pillage, including seizing private property with no military necessity; and the destruction of civilian property against orders. The instances cross from disciplinary infractions into criminality."Image
Nov 18, 2024 7 tweets 3 min read
What should the UN Security Council #UNSC do to ensure human security and peace in #Palestine before the Trump inauguration, mid-January? A short thread about how the agenda can be shaped for the next four years: Image 1/6 The International Court of Justice @CIJ_ICJ called on the Security Council to "consider what further action is required to put an end to the illegal presence of Israel, taking into account the present Advisory Opinion." Image
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Nov 4, 2024 5 tweets 2 min read
BREAKING: Member of #Israel's parliament Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism, with Smotrich as party leader) tables a draft bill to formalize (circa) 140 settlement outposts across the unlawfully occupied West Bank. A thread: Image
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1/4 The draft bill, tabled this morning, calls for the formalization of settlement outposts - at the vanguard of settler violence and the corrolary forcible transfer of #Palestinians - within two years, doubling the number of Israeli settlements in the oPt to 280.
Nov 1, 2024 4 tweets 2 min read
BREAKING: #Israel's government adopts the 25'-26' State Budget, with an upsurge of military spending indicative of a protracted, high-intensity, armed conflict in #Gaza, the West Bank and beyond. A thread: Image 1/3 In 22', Israel allocated 90 billion ILS (24 billion USD) to military and security-related spending, which includes the cost of its belligerent occupation of #Palestinian territory (determined to be unlawful by the @CIJ_ICJ in July 24'). Image
Oct 12, 2024 11 tweets 5 min read
Meir Ben Shabbat, Netanyahu's former National Security Advisor, outlines - one year after the October 23' hostility broke with Hamas's attack - the #Israeli "end game" in occupied #Palestinian territory:

In #Gaza, permanent Israeli military and civil control, with no Palestinian governance (Hamas or the Palestinian Authority).

In the #WestBank, a defeated Palestinian Authority, expanded Israeli settlements and entrenchment of annexation.Image
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This nightmarish vision is diametrically opposed to the recent International Court of Justice @CIJ_ICJ Advisory Opinion determining the illegality of Israeli presence in occupied Palestinian territory, calling on it to withdraw from the West Bank, including Eats Jerusalem, and Gaza unconditionally and immediate.

This vision of continued Israeli aggression is in contravention of the recent UN General Assembly resolution calling on Israel to withdraw within 12 months, opting for the continuation and exacerbation of international crimes.Image
Oct 3, 2024 4 tweets 3 min read
BREAKING: UK government to complete the decolonization of the Chagos Archipelago and reverse sovereignty to Mauritius. A short thread on how international law, and the International Court of Justice @CIJ_ICJ, in particular, managed the resolution of conflict, and a timely lesson for the decolonization of occupied Palestinian territory.Image 1/3 In February 2019 the #ICJ rendered an Advisory Opinion on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965, asserting that the UK was under an obligation to bring its presence to an end "as rapidly as possible," and that all States are under an obligation to cooperate in accomplishing that. Similar language was used in the July 2024 Advisory on Israeli practices in occupied Palestinian territory, calling for Israel to end its unlawful presence.Image
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Sep 27, 2024 6 tweets 2 min read
There is a cynical political calculus behind #Israeli rejection of ceasefire arrangements in #Gaza and #Lebanon. A short thread on how the adoption of Israel's State Budget and #USElection2024 fate these efforts to deescalate: Image 1/5 Israeli constitutional law provides that a State Budget is tabled by 31 October 24', and approved by 31 March 25', or else the government defaults to general elections. Netanyahu and his coalition partners push for a biannual budget to ensure long-term political survival.
Sep 12, 2024 4 tweets 2 min read
BREAKING: The Government of #Israel submits to the High Court of Justice that after 11 months of - debilitating and atrocious war in #Gaza - it has not accomplished 'effective control' in any part of Gaza, has not displaced any of Hamas's governmental functions, and is therefore not the occupying power (with commensurate obligations under #IHL).Image Facts described are either an admission of a colossal military failure that has cost the lives of tens of thousands of Palestinians and the wanton destruction of Gaza, or entirely false. As the International Court of Justice @CIJ_ICJ ruled in July: before October 23' and even more so since, Israel had effective control of Gaza.Image
Sep 3, 2024 6 tweets 2 min read
Last night #Israel's #Netanyahu showcases a map outlining the annexation of the occupied #WestBank, and a similar fate awaiting #Gaza. The @CIJ_ICJ determined Israel's presence in #Palestinian territory to be unlawful, an act of aggression that must end. Israel must be induced to comply.Image The assertion that #Israel will maintain alien rule over #Palestinians is matched by an inflammatory battle cry on settlers' social media, targeting the few Israelis in solidarity with Palestinians: "On the path to expel or annihilate all enemies, foreign and domestic." Image