Implications and Analysis of the Crime of Aggression against Gaza: Breach of International Criminal Law amid the Israel-Hamas Conflict
Published
2024-02-15
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Implications and Analysis of the Crime of Aggression against Gaza: Breach of International Criminal Law amid the Israel-Hamas Conflict
Muhammad Derfish Ilyas
Keywords: International Criminal Law, Israel, Hamas, Palestine, Gaza, Conflict
Abstract
The stimulus to carry out this research is to analyze the breach of International Criminal Law by the Israeli military and political establishments amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has led to allegations of war crimes and breaches of International Criminal Law. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction over potential war crimes carried out by Israeli militants in the Gaza Strip. The ICC's Office of the Prosecutor has an ongoing investigation with jurisdiction over Israel that goes back to 2014 and any crimes committed on the territory of Palestine. Human Rights Watch and other rights organizations have also found that Israeli authorities are committing crimes against humanity, apartheid, and persecution against millions of Palestinians (Human Rights Watch, 2023). The international community, including Israel's allies, has been called upon to take concrete measures to protect Gaza's civilian population from unlawful attacks and to refrain from any statement or action that would legitimize Israel's crimes and violations in Gaza. This study used two methods: literature review and discourse analysis to evaluate the breach of International Criminal Laws by the Israeli authorities during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The discourse analysis study used ATLAS software, which is qualitative analysis software. The research analyzed 155 published documents, including research papers, reports, thesis, media reports, and other publishable material using the ATLAS tool. Auto coding is done using the auto coding option. Themes emerged from ATLAS, which are exhibited in the results. Findings indicate that violations of the Geneva Conventions, Rome statutes, and violations of humanitarian laws are three major themes that emerged from discourse analysis. The study also reflects Israel's attacks on healthcare facilities in terms of International Criminal Law. By analyzing clauses of International Criminal Law and conflict-related stressors, this study emphasizes the crucial need for global engagement to refrain Israel from mitigating these violations of International Criminal Law. The findings of this study can assist social policymakers and international community leaders in highlighting this issue and calling for targeted strategies to abstain Israeli authorities from breaching International Criminal Law.
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