Every day brings new indictments for Israel. The early accusations of genocide by South Africa are now quickly becoming an accepted legal definition among international bodies and governments alike. The latest indictment came from the United Nations Human Rights Council.

“The Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have had and continue to have the genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” the UNHRC’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) report unambiguously stated. While this may seem obvious to those watching the Israeli genocide unfold in real time, the step is historic nonetheless.

According to Prof. Triestino Mariniello, an international law expert and a member of the legal team representing Gaza victims before the International Criminal Court (ICC), the report is of “historic importance” and “unprecedented.” Though previous UN commissions had repeatedly accused Israel of committing war crimes in Palestine, “they had never gone so far as to say that Israel is also responsible for what represents the most serious crime at the international level: the crime of genocide.”

Desperate to see enough international pressure to force Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist government to end their mass extermination of Palestinians in Gaza, many wonder if such reports are enough to hold Israel to account. Navi Pillay, a South African judge who headed the International Tribunal for the 1994 Rwanda Genocide, admits that justice “is a slow process,” but does not consider it “impossible that there will be arrests and trials” in the future. For those eager to see some measure of justice, the specific references to arrests and trials are of some comfort. The images of thousands of innocent people, mostly women and children, being slaughtered are simply impossible to bear.

The report is particularly important as it ties into the ICC’s ongoing actions against accused Israeli war criminals, Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.

Though the report is not binding on the ICC and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), it provides a strong legal foundation for their investigations. For example, similar reports were taken into account during the war crimes investigation in Sudan. The credibility of the UNHRC, the COI, and its reputable judges is of immense value.

Equally important is that the report is not an isolated conclusion; it is the culmination of two years of extensive research and aligns with the findings of other well-regarded international legal and human rights bodies, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

The latest of such significant statements was the resolution by the world’s leading organization of scholars on genocide, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS). In a resolution that passed by an absolute majority on August 31, the reputable body concluded that Israel’s “policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition” of genocide.

Many hope that all of these conclusions, reports, and resolutions will ultimately push the ICJ to speed up its investigation into Israel’s conduct in Gaza. But even if the ICJ continues to drag its feet under pressure from the US and other European allies of Israel, the report is still of great value. Now, individual governments and civil society organizations can use the findings of the report to take independent action, thus continuing to mount pressure on Israel and its supporters. In fact, this process is already in motion.

A group of lawyers on September 19 filed a criminal complaint against German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and leading officials, including arms trade executives, for “openly and repeatedly boasting about their unconditional and unlimited support” for Israel. “Given the undeniable, genocidal consequences of this support,” they argued, they should be held accountable.

Similar efforts for accountability are underway in Italy. The Italian movement Alleanza Verdi-Sinistra (AVS) has filed a complaint against its government, not in an Italian court but with the ICC—an indication of the globalized nature of the legal struggle against Israel. The group asked the court to investigate possible Italian complicity in the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Within the same time frame, Spain’s attorney general has authorized an official investigation into Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. The investigation is a direct response to a request by the Chief Prosecutor for Human Rights and Democratic Memory, Dolores Delgado.

These are just a few examples of how the label of genocide by UN-linked and independent organizations can propel direct actions by legal experts, national police, and attorneys general across the world.

Though Netanyahu continues to act with the same old arrogant attitude that he, his government, and country are above the law, including international law, it is incumbent on all of us to remind him and other war criminals that no individual, no entity, and no government is immune to accountability when it comes to the blood of the innocent.

This struggle is not solely for the sake of Gaza; it is for the very soul of humanity. Should Netanyahu’s actions succeed in normalizing genocide in the 21st century, this horrific crime could become a sanctioned political strategy for tyrants and regimes worldwide. The world cannot afford to let this happen. The future of global justice hangs in the balance. 

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