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The UN Security Council, the Palestinian Authority and Israel must do everything within their power to enable the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring to justice those responsible for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the current and past Israeli-Palestinian conflicts.

Since July 8, more than 1,450 Palestinians have been killed in the on-going hostilities. According to the UN, the majority of those killed have been Palestinian civilians, including more than 250 children. Three civilians in Israel have been killed by indiscriminate rockets or mortars fired from Gaza, and 61 Israeli soldiers have also been killed. There is mounting evidence that war crimes have been committed by all parties.

Over several decades, we have collected compelling evidence of war crimes and other crimes under international law committed by Israel, Hamas and Palestinian armed groups, but perpetrators on both sides continue to do so with impunity.

“On-going injustice for victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity is a shame that hangs heavy on the world. Once again the international community has done little more than wring its hands over the latest hostilities,” said Salil Shetty, our secretary general.

“An International Criminal Court investigation is crucial to end the pervasive culture of impunity. All sides must push for the Court to investigate such crimes in order to halt the vicious cycle of violations and injustice once and for all.”

In an open letter to the UN Security Council, we urge its members to take immediate steps to refer the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to the prosecutor of the ICC, among other actions, including imposing a comprehensive arms embargo, to address the crisis.

The UN Security Council has repeatedly failed to take effective action to respond to violations in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories or hold perpetrators accountable, in large part because of opposition from the US, which has repeatedly vetoed resolutions critical of Israel. On some occasions the US has been the sole voice against all other members of the council.

“The UN Security Council must not stand by yet again and bear witness to mounting atrocities. It must seize this moment to act decisively for justice,” said Mr Shetty.

We also call on both the Palestinian and Israeli authorities to support a Security Council referral, and take other measures that would allow the ICC to step in and ensure their co-operation with the Court. 

In particular, we call on the Palestinian Authority to submit a declaration accepting the ICC’s jurisdiction over crimes under international law committed since July 1, 2002, when the Court was established. We also call on the Palestinian Authority to become a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.

In recent days senior Palestinian officials have announced an intention to join the ICC.

The Palestinian Authority has been consistently pressured by the US, Israel, Canada, the UK and other EU member states not to take steps to grant the ICC jurisdiction; such pressure has included threats to withdraw financial assistance on which the Palestinian Authority depends.

All states should be encouraging Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to become a party to the Rome Statute.

We are also urging Israel to accede to the Rome Statute and issue a declaration accepting ICC jurisdiction over crimes committed since July 2002 to ensure justice for Israeli victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel participated in the negotiations leading to the ICC’s establishment but in 2002 stated that it would not ratify its Statute.

Amnesty International,
By email.
 

The Nobel Women’s Initiative is calling for an immediate ceasefire to stop the violence in Gaza.

The ‘cycles of violence’ approach does not work and will never lead to sustainable peace. Deliberate targeting of civilian areas by anyone is a violation of international law. Israel’s continuing collective punishment of the Palestinian people because of its on-going war of attrition against Hamas is a war crime.

Instead of supplying weapons and other support to fuel the violence, the international community must work to end it and to create conditions to lead to sustainable peace. These conditions must include enforcing the various UN resolutions against Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land. As Nelson Mandela rightly said in 1985, “Only a free man can negotiate: a prisoner cannot enter into contracts.”

Ending the current conflict is critical, but it is not true ‘peace’. That will not happen as long as Israel continues to receive open and tacit support for its policies of oppression against the people of Palestine. Supporting policies of occupation means supporting the violation of the basic human rights, human dignity and lack of freedom of the people of Palestine. Under such conditions, devastating violence will continue and sustainable peace for both Palestinians and Israelis will remain a ‘utopian dream’.

Nobel Women’s Initiative,
By email.

Editor’s note: The Nobel Women’s Initiative comprises a group of former Nobel Peace Prize winners including Mairead Maguire (Ireland, 1976); Jody Williams (USA, 1997); Shirin Ebadi (Iran, 2003); Rigoberta Menchú Tum (Guatemala, 1992); Leymah Gbowee Liperia (Guatemala, 2011); Tawakkol Karman (Yemen, 2011).