An important read. It’s personally & collectively terrifying to cognitively confront what we all know—that with each reinfection more of us become vulnerable & fewer of us are meaningfully supported. For each of the past 3 years I’ve been infected twice=6 total known infections🧵

https://twitter.com/globeandmail/status/1827274417069814127

Like @Flannsplainer my longterm symptoms related to covid set in after the first few infections. I’m also quadruple vaxxed. Last year I was also “regularly overcome by a sensation that I can only describe as a full-body panic attack, marked by a racing heart and rapid breathing”.

The ICJ was clear—Israel's responsibilities to the population in Gaza under the law of occupation are commensurate with its level of authority. In this context vaccinating IDF soldiers for polio while failing to ensure Palestinians are vaccinated is evidence of genocidal intent🧵

https://twitter.com/haaretzcom/status/1815001278327795810

Yesterday I tweeted this. The genocide & war-crimes denial crowd got upset over the phrase “refusing to vaccinate.” They claim Israel is providing vaccines to Palestinians in Gaza. There is limited evidence supporting this claim, which in any event entirely misses the point…

The @CIJ_ICJ will be delivering its advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory in just a few minutes. This is a Very Big Deal. My thoughts and reactions 🧵

You can watch live here: webtv.un.org/en/asset/k13/k…
@CIJ_ICJ The UN General Assembly requested this opinion in Dec 2022. Several states—including Canada—submitted that the ICJ should decline to exercise its jurisdiction to render the opinion. The Court rejects these arguments, finding there are no compelling reasons for it to so decline.

~1,000 Palestinians are detained at Sde Teiman, which can only be described as an Israeli state torture camp. Prisoners are bound in iron cuffs, continually blindfolded, starved, beaten and publicly raped with sticks. We can’t say we didn’t know. We know.🧵972mag.com/sde-teiman-pri… One whistleblower—a guard—said many “detainees had infected wounds that were not being properly treated… The floor is very dirty & it smells so bad that we were forced to wear face masks. You could hear sometimes the sound of beating and them screaming”: theguardian.com/world/article/…

The @IntlCrimCourt has authorized the UK to submit amicus observations on whether the Oslo Accords bar ICC jurisdiction over Israelis. *This* is why it was a mistake to water down the @NDP @HMcPhersonMP motion on Palestinian state recognition. 🧵 #cdnpoli icc-cpi.int/sites/default/… @IntlCrimCourt @NDP @HMcPhersonMP The UK appears to be taking the position Israel took in 2019, namely, that Palestine cannot delegate criminal jurisdiction to the ICC because (a) it is not a state & (b) under the Oslo Accords Palestine has no criminal jurisdiction over Israelis or Area C. icc-cpi.int/sites/default/…

The man tied lengthwise to the hood of a military jeep in the West Bank by Israeli forces has been with me for days. His name is Mujahed Abadi. This potentially constitutes the war crime of using human shields *but also* a number of other war crimes. 🧵 The war crime of using human shields under Rome Statute art 8(2)(b)(xxiii) requires intent "to shield a military objectives from attack". It's not obvious this intent was present here -- the cruelty looks to me simply gratuitous, rather than part of a discernible military tactic.

Thus far, 50 @YorkUniversity professors have signed this Open Letter to @YorkUPresident & the York Board of Governors denouncing the decision to enlist police to raid the @PYU4P Gaza solidarity encampment on June 6. 🧵The letter is open for signature here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI… Within ~24 hours of establishing the encampment, the students were issued a trespass notice by the university. Only minutes later, dozens of police in riot gear assembled in a line formation and proceeded to forcibly clear the encampment.

Two days after the ICJ ordered Israel to halt its offensive on Rafah, Israel has attacked a ‘humanitarian area’ in western Rafah, killing 27 Palestinians and injuring dozens. This is not where rockets were fired from. There are no hospitals with ICU units to manage the injuries.

https://twitter.com/hind_gaza/status/1794817252086227317

30 are now confirmed dead and that number is expected to rise significantly

Strap in here we go! The ICJ is now issuing its decision on South Africa's request for additional provisional measures, including an end to Israeli hostilities & withdrawal from Gaza. (SA had requested withdrawal from Rafah but modified the request as the offensive intensified)🧵 watch live:

The Court must first determine whether the situation has changed since the delivery of its earlier order indicating provisional measures. If so, it must decide whether a modification is appropriate under the circumstances.icj-cij.org/multimedia-liv…

We can expect a lot of disinformation as the world takes in the ICC Prosecutor's request for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant (+ Hamas leaders). Key is the claim that the ICC 'doesn't have jurisdiction' over Israeli leaders. This is not true. Short 🧵 Palestine became a state party to the Rome Statute in 2015 & the Prosecutor has been investigating the situation for years. The ICC has jurisdiction when the “conduct in question” was committed on the territory of a state party or by a national of a state party (art 12(2) RS).

Today will go down in the history of international law. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has applied for arrest warrants against Netanyahu & Gallant and Sinwar, Deif & Haniyeh. It's a game changer in global politics & the Israel-Palestine conflict.🧵 icc-cpi.int/news/statement… The Prosecutor says that "notwithstanding any military goals they may have, the means Israel chose to achieve them in Gaza – namely, intentionally causing death, starvation, great suffering, and serious injury to body or health of the civilian population – are criminal."

Today, the ICJ heard Israel's response to South Africa's request for additional provisional measures in its genocide case in light of Israel's attack on Rafah, including an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal from Gaza. 🧵

youtube.com/live/XkVQFbUng… Israel's opens by saying that the very idea of a genocide case against it 'suggests an inversion of reality'. Fascinatingly, this is the exact language used by Irwin Cotler in his criticism of South Africa's case: nationalpost.com/opinion/south-…

Today the ICJ is hearing South Africa's submissions on its request for additional provisional measures. "The very manner in which Israel is pursuing its military operations in Rafah, and elsewhere in Gaza," South Africa argues, "is itself genocidal. It must be ordered to stop."🧵

https://twitter.com/CIJ_ICJ/status/1791092420991385849

South Africa is requesting that Israel cease its offensive in Rafah & facilitate the immediate & unimpeded access of humanitarian aid, UN officials, investigators and journalists to Gaza.

You can find South Africa's written application from May 10 here: icj-cij.org/sites/default/…

Here we go! Nicaragua 🇳🇮 v Germany 🇩🇪

The Court has decided, 15-1, that the circumstances are not such as to indicate provisional measures against Germany at this time. It has also decided not to remove the case from court's list, as there is no manifest lack of jurisdiction.

https://twitter.com/CIJ_ICJ/status/1784966134795505728

To recap the claims: Nicaragua claims that by providing weapons to Israel & suspending funding for UNRWA, Germany has failed to comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and customary international law.

Former ICJ President Donoghue engages in the ethical error of obtuseness (thx @emilykiddwhite) when she attempts hairsplitting between plausible "rights" and "claims."

TL;DR the Court decided there was, at minimum, a serious risk of genocide or related acts in Gaza. 🧵

https://twitter.com/Mr_Andrew_Fox/status/1783621258032136550

She was asked whether it was correct that the ICJ ruled there was a plausible case of genocide that should be decided by the Court.

Her answer to this question is technical and correct: The Court did not decide whether there was a plausible "claim" or "case" of genocide.

Today the United States vetoed a Security Council resolution recommending Palestine for membership in the United Nations. 12 Council members voted in favour, with 2 abstaining (UK & Switzerland). Some 140 states already recognize the State of Palestine. A few notes 🧵 The UN law around admitting new members is rooted in Art 4 of the UN Charter. Once an application for membership is made, the Council must refer it to the Committee on the Admission of New Members. That Committee then assesses whether the conditions of Art 4 are met.

Today, the @CIJ_ICJ heard Germany's defence against Nicaragua's case alleging it has failed to prevent - and is complicit in - genocide in Gaza and serious violations of peremptory norms of international law.🧵

(My account of Nicaragua's case yesterday )

https://x.com/Heidi__Matthews/status/1777290384525111405

Germany says Nicaragua "has rushed to bring its case on the flimsiest of evidence". It says the ICJ doesn't have jurisdiction because of the absence of a dispute and the fact of Israel's non-consent to judicial resolution.

Today, the @CIJ_ICJ heard oral arguments from Nicaragua, which has brought a case against Germany alleging that in providing political, financial & military support to Israel, Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide & has failed in its obligation to prevent genocide.🧵 Nicaragua also alleges Germany is facilitating Israel's serious breaches of IHL & other peremptory norms of general international law in Gaza, including Palestinians' right to self-determination and right to not be subjected to a regime of apartheid.

Today the ICJ decided that the deterioration of the "catastrophic living conditions" in Gaza since January 26, esp starvation, created a further real & imminent risk of genocide justifying the indication of additional provisional measures against Israel.🧵 icj-cij.org/sites/default/… The Court found that Palestinians in Gaza had "been subjected" to "prolonged and widespread deprivation of food and other basic necessities" and that "famine is setting in." It characterized these developments as "exceptionally grave."

The U.S. is unilaterally claiming that Security Council resolution 2728 is non-binding and therefore has no impact on its policy or the legality of Israel’s continued war. This is not so obvious… 🧵 First, interpreting UN Security Council resolutions is not straightforward. But basically, resolutions are meant to be expressions of the collective will of the council (n.b. since the U.S. abstained, it may not be best placed to unilaterally comment on it).

Finally, the Maldives 🇲🇻

The Maldives is contextualizing its submissions in the context of water resources. It notes that water is the most vital resource in the occupied Palestinian territory. "A tidal wave of suffering has been unleashed by Israeli policies and practices with respect to water resources, which are characterized by deprivation, denial, discrimination and destruction."