Hamas operatives seek to prosecute Israel in the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

Overview

• Al-Jazeera TV reported Israel was being sued in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for a giant suit of $250 billion by a group of European lawyers. They represent eight members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in the Gaza Strip who initiated the suit for damages resulting from the alleged “crimes” Israel committed against the residents of Gaza beginning in 2007, especially the damages caused by the “siege” they claim is imposed by Israel. The amount of the claim is based on a document issued by the UN several years ago claiming the damages to the Gaza Strip between 2008 and 2018 totaled $16.7 billion.
• The suit was submitted with the aid of two international organizations: AFD International, a human rights organization with headquarters in Brussels, and One Justice, located in Paris. The lawyers are headed by Gilles Devers, a French citizen who has spent many years submitting suits against Israel in the ICC (AFD International Facebook page, June 21, 2023).
• The Palestinians refer to anti-Israeli lawfare and their many appeals to the ICC as a form of “resistance” and one of the tools in their “struggle” against Israel. They consider that the very fact that the suits are submitted, even if they do not result in judgments, limits Israel’s freedom of action, contributes to weakening its narrative and limits its political and diplomatic activities.
• The PLC members claimed the suit was being submitted on behalf of the Palestinian people, but in reality, it is being submitted on behalf of Hamas, because the PLC ceased to exist after the split between Fatah and Hamas in the Gaza Strip in 2007. Moreover, on December 22, 2018, Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas announced he had dispersed the PLC and called for new elections “within six months” (al-Quds, December 26, 2018). At the time Hamas stated the dispersal was invalid because the constitutional court was a subservient, arbitrary body which had been established by Mahmoud Abbas and could not change the PLC’s sovereign status. In effect, PLC members in the Gaza Strip continue holding meetings, propose laws and supervise the work of the Hamas administration’s ministries.

Case against the “Siege” of the Gaza Strip

• The media information bureau of the PLC in the Gaza Strip reported that several Council members were taking practical steps in preparation for sending a complaint to the ICC regarding the “siege” Israel had imposed on the Gaza Strip for the past 17 years. They claimed the contents of the complaint would be published in the near future and the step was one of the PLC’s diplomatic and legal efforts to prosecute Israel for its alleged “gross violations” against the Palestinians, especially the “crime of the siege” (PLC website, Gaza Strip, June 24, 2023).
• At a press conference held at PLC headquarters, Ahmed Bahar, senior Hamas figure and PLC deputy chairman, said the PLC members had given a French lawyer power of attorney to send a complaint against Israel on their behalf to the ICC’s chief prosecutor, ask for an indictment against Israel and, through a trust fund, force it to pay reparations to all the Palestinians who had “suffered” or whose lives “had been impacted” by the “siege and Israel’s ongoing [alleged] aggression against the Gaza Strip.”
• Bahar called on the ICC to deal with the complaint immediately, indict Israel for its various crimes (which he claimed were “war crimes and crimes against humanity”), formulate practical apparatuses which would demand accountability from the Israeli leadership for the “crimes of the siege,” impose the ICC’s most severe punishments and provide fitting reparations to the Palestinian victims, estimated by “experts” as no less that $250 billion. The number, he claimed, was based on a report issued by the Committee of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (CNUCED), according to which the direct economic losses caused by the “siege” between 2007 and 2018 were $16.7 billion (PLC website, Gaza Strip, June 25, 2023).

   
Ahmed Bahar at the press conference (PLC website, Gaza Strip, June 25, 2023).

• The PLC initiative was first reported by AFD International on June 21, 2023, in a joint announcement with an organization called One Justice (see Appendix) (Quds Press, June 21, 2023). According to the announcement, the two organizations were convinced the Israeli “siege” of the Gaza Strip had reached a level of “war crimes and crimes against humanity” according to the standards of the Rome Convention,^[1] in light of the number of casualties caused by the [alleged] denial of health services and “the anti-Palestinian discrimination, which was apartheid and an international racist crime.” The announcement added that after many consultations, the group of PLC members decided to submit a suit to the ICC chief prosecutor, claiming Israel carried out “war crimes and crimes against humanity” as part of the “siege,” and ask for reparations to be deposited in the Court’s trust fund, which according to regulations called for reparations to be paid collectively to victims, that is, all the residents of the Gaza Strip. The PLC claimed preference would be given to children, the ill, people who special needs and the aged (AFD International Facebook page, June 21, 2023).
• Abd al-Majid Marari, director of the AFD International’s Near East and North Africa Department, confirmed the appeal to the Court on the organization’s Facebook page on June 26, 2023, along with a demand that the “siege” be lifted. He said the power of attorney had been signed by eight PLC members, headed by Ahmed Bahar, senior Hamas figure and PLC deputy chairman (AFD International Facebook page, June 28, 2023).
• The PLC members are represented by a French lawyer named Gilles Divers (see Appendix), and Khaled Shouli, a member of the Jordanian bar association, Muhammad al-Najar, a member of the Gaza bar association, and Abd al-Majid Marari, a member of the Moroccan bar association. They claim the suit deals with instances of first-degree murder resulting from the “siege” of the Gaza Strip, as well as the crime of apartheid resulting from Israel’s discrimination against Gaza residents. The PLC members accuse Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity, claiming that since 2020 the UN has classified the Gaza Strip as unfit for human habitation (al-Jazeera TV website, June 27, 2023).

   
The lawyers who submitted the suit interviewed in front of the ICC. Left: (from right to left) Khaled al-Shouli, head of One Justice; the badge on his robe reads “Jordanian Bar Association), Gilles Devers and Abd al-Majid Marari. Left: Gilles Devers and Abd al-Majid Marari (AFD International Facebook page, June 28, 2023).

• Khaled al-Shouli said the appeal to the ICC was a form of “resistance” to the “occupation,” despite the fact that Israel did not obey the decisions of international courts. The objective of the claim, he stated, was to bring justice to the Palestinians, and such decisions justified all forms of the Palestinian “resistance.” He said appealing to courts and demanding Israeli “criminals” be prosecuted had to continue. He said he hoped arrest warrants would be issued for Israelis, especially for what he called the “overt crimes,” which he claimed did not have to be documented, the “crimes of settlement and apartheid” (Quds Press, June 26, 2023).
• Hada Na’im, chairman of the PLC’s human rights committee, said they were engaged in a comprehensive battle against Israel which included all the fronts and domains, and the legal “struggle” was one of their most important tools because Israel’s survival depended on its military force and international support. He added that even if they did not successfully prove Israel guilty, the fact they had submitted suits against it limited its freedom of action, weakened of its narrative and limited its political and diplomatic activity. She added that because of suits and legal persecution, it had often happened that Israeli political, security and military leaders had not been able to participate in international events or visit a number of Western countries (Quds Press, June 26, 2023).
• According to Musa Abu Marzouq, a member of the Hamas political bureau and head of its foreign relations ministry, the complaints sent to the ICC and the Palestinians’ request for reparations were necessary to make the international community take responsibility. He claimed additional legal procedures were necessary to end the “siege,” adding that the complaints sent to courts and legal authorities by parliamentary bodies and Palestinian human rights organizations could bring justice to the Palestinians suffering from the denial of their elementary human rights and from the “siege,” injustice, persecution and starvation, the result of gross violations of international conventions (Hamas website, June 26, 2023).

Appendix

Gilles Devers

• Gilles Devers is a French lawyer, blogger, researcher and lecturer born in 1956. He has been a member of the Lyons bar association since 1985, has a PhD in jurisprudence and both teaches and is authorized to conduct research in the Lyons University law department. He is the editor in chief of a periodical called Droit, Déontologie et Care. For the past 30 years he has divided his time between the sectors of health, social affairs and the defense of minorities in France and abroad, including “Palestine,” Western Sahara, Egypt, the Comoro Islands and Guadeloupe. His law office specializes in health and welfare, the defense of liberty, and international law (devers-avocats.fr).
• He is a spokesman for a group of 350 northern Gaza Strip represented by 40 lawyers responsible for dealing with appeals to the ICC regarding war crimes. He represented the PA regarding Operation Cast Lead (2008-2009) before the Court after having been given the mandate to send a claim on its behalf. In July 2014 he sent another claim against Israel on behalf of the PA minister of justice regarding the events of Operation Protective Edge (Wikipedia).

AFD International

• AFD International is an NGO headquartered in Brussels and dealing with the defense of human rights. It was founded in 2006 and It also deals with the issue of “Palestine” (AFD International website). Abd al-Majid Marari heads its Near East and North Africa department.

One Justice

• One Justice is an NGO headquartered in Paris; its objective is to promote human rights around the globe, especially in confrontation areas, through legal deterrence and constructing legal capabilities. Its director is Khaled Shouli, an expert in international criminal law.

^[1] The convention establishing the ICC is called the Rome Convention. It was signed on July 17, 1998. ↑

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