In a year in which c 45,000 people have been violently killed in Palestine, Israel and Lebanon, the great majority civilians, is the law of war another casualty?
🧵on 6 specific examples of attempts to reinterpret #IHL against its very purpose Geneva Convention IV (Art 53) prohibits destruction by an occupying power of all public and private property, except in cases of absolute military necessity. This limited exception has been endlessly expanded to become the norm, as Gaza devastation attests.
@coreymaps @JamonVDH

What will the Intl Court of Justice decide in its blockbuster opinion due this Fri on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territory? The ICJ doesn’t always follow precedent, but the best indication of what it will decide is what it decided last time.🧵

https://twitter.com/CIJ_ICJ/status/1811763705194959357

In Namibia case, the #ICJ considered the legal effects of prolonged occupation. In Wall case, it considered Israel’s construction of a ‘separation barrier’ in the West Bank. Both rulings were crushing, on unlawfulness of occupation ⬇️ & practices towards annexation, respectively.

With Israel yesterday submitting its written assurance of compliance with international humanitarian law under the new NSM-20, US officials today begin their assessment of whether it meets the ‘credible’ standard. But according to whose version of IHL? 🧵
whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/… 5 months into the operation, it is clear that continued assertions of the lawfulness of Israel’s conducti in #Gaza rely on a number of highly controversial interpretations of IHL. Non-exclusive list follows:-
(Israel’s statement on key legal aspects here: gov.il/BlobFolder/new…

Coordinated action by the US, UK and other states to suspend UNRWA funding must raise serious questions as to purpose and timing, given the contrast with practice in other conflicts and also the ICJ’s provisional measures ordering urgent humanitarian aid for Gaza
Short🧵 In the Afghanistan war, at least 25 separate attacks (possibly dozens more) were mounted by Taliban insiders in the Afghan National Army, with insiders killing 714 NATO and ANA personnel by 2017. The US/UK response was to increase support for the ANA
militarytimes.com/news/your-mili…

Neither a finding that Israel has committed #genocide nor a dismissal of South Africa’s suit are possible outcomes of this week’s hearing at the International Court of Justice.
So what realistically should you be looking out for? Short🧵on five possible key measures:- The hearing is to decide which, if any, ‘provisional measures’ requested by SA should be ordered. In Gambia v Myanmar the ICJ basically just said abide by obligations under the Genocide Convention. In Ukraine v Russia👇, the ICJ said suspend military operations. And with Israel?

And here is the new joint intervention declaration by the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Netherlands, Denmark and Canada in the #Genocide case before the International Court of Justice.
Just to be clear…. 1/5
icj-cij.org/sites/default/…
This was submitted last month in the ICJ Genocide case against *Myanmar*. The factual context is different from Gaza but the Declarants advance interesting arguments re genocidal intent, treatment of children & forced displacement. 2/5

The IDF statement on the Jabalia refugee camp airstrikes confirms attribution and excludes most forms of mistakes. The resulting IHL analysis has important implications for US/US policy on supporting Israeli operations. Short 🧵
idf.il/144297/
Israel could not have known the exact no. of civilians that would be killed, but given location, intel & choice of munitions, a high level of CIVCAS must have been expected. The eventual toll of 100s of casualties would have been a reasonable expectation.

https://twitter.com/manisha_bot/status/1719824685766943177