Amnesty Says ICC Israel Probe Should Include 'Crime Against Humanity of Apartheid'

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https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/10/25/amnesty-says-icc-israel-probe-should-include-crime-against-humanity-apartheid

Amnesty Says ICC Israel Probe Should Include 'Crime Against Humanity of Apartheid'

"Israel's apartheid remains the root cause of Palestinians' suffering," said the group.

JULIA CONLEY
October 25, 2022

Calling for the International Criminal Court to open a new investigation into possible war crimes by Israeli military forces in Gaza in August, Amnesty International on Tuesday said the court must also include Israel's illegal apartheid policies against the Occupied Palestinian Territories in its probe.

"As well as investigating war crimes committed in Gaza, the ICC should consider the crime against humanity of apartheid within its current investigation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories."

The organization's call centered on the three-day offensive launched by Israel between August 5-8 in the Gaza Strip, with advocates saying its research suggests three specific attacks could amount to war crimes.

Seventeen civilians were among the 49 Palestinian people who were killed by Israeli forces during the offensive, while seven were determined to have been killed by Palestinian rockets that were likely misfired. The group could not determine which side was responsible for the deaths of seven other civilians.

Amnesty noted that Israel, which claimed the attacks were "preemptive" and targeted the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization, has set the stage for such deadly assaults on civilians for years by imposing a blockade and other apartheid policies on Gaza.

"These violations were perpetrated in the context of Israel's ongoing illegal blockade on Gaza, which is a key tool of its apartheid regime," said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary general, in a statement. "Palestinians in Gaza are dominated, oppressed, and segregated, trapped in a 15-year nightmare where recurrent unlawful attacks punctuate a worsening humanitarian crisis."

"As well as investigating war crimes committed in Gaza, the ICC should consider the crime against humanity of apartheid within its current investigation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories," Callamard added.

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