No Longer Turning a Blind Eye to International Atrocities: Reframing Foreign Officials’ Functional Immunity as a Breach of States' International Legal Obligations to Effectively Prohibit Derogations from Peremptory Norms

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-101
Author(s):  
Ariel Rawls
Keyword(s):  
Gaza Strip ◽  
District Court ◽  
Entire Family ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
Israeli Government ◽  
Civil Suit ◽  
Functional Immunity ◽  
Civil Proceeding ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
Peremptory Norms

On January 29, 2020, an Israeli air strike proved fatal, taking the lives of an entire family, a twelve-year-old child the youngest among them. The airstrike was carried out as part of Israel's military operation, Operation Protective Edge, in the Gaza Strip, and despite the deaths of numerous civilians, the State of Israel alleged that the strike was committed in pursuance of official duties. Ismail Zeyada, whose mother, brothers, sister-in-law, and nephew all perished in the airstrike, initiated a civil suit in the Netherlands against the two former Israeli military officials involved. In a devastating blow to the victims and their families, the District Court of the Hague dismissed the civil proceeding brought against the former Israeli officers. The Court cited the doctrine of functional immunity as the basis for this decision. The functional immunity, or immunity ratione materiae, of these officials bars the prosecution of them in any state besides Israel, absent a waiver by the Israeli government. As such, the victims of the airstrike, an act that might amount to a war crime, is not one for which victims are being offered redress. Although domestic prosecution of the case before Israeli courts is theoretically possible and is not precluded by the District Court of the Hague's dismissal, domestic prosecution is neither likely to occur nor likely to result in fair redress for the victims of this atrocity. This is not the justice these victims deserve. And it is not the justice that international law assures them.

Accounting for Those in the Hands of the Belligerent: Security Detainees, the Missing and the Dead in the Israeli–Hamas Conflict

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alon Margalit
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Next Of Kin ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
Israeli Government ◽  
Law Of Armed Conflict ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
Israeli Supreme Court

Abstract Five Israeli nationals, two soldiers and three civilians, have gone missing since the 2014 Israeli–Hamas violent escalation, and they are currently held incommunicado by Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip. In response, the Israeli Government revoked some entitlements from Hamas security detainees held in Israel. It also withholds bodies of Palestinian militants, killed while carrying out attacks against Israelis, refusing to hand them over to the families. The bodies are to be buried in Israel until Israeli nationals, or their remains, are repatriated by Hamas. In several instances where the authorities returned the remains to the next of kin, they imposed various restrictions on the funeral arrangements. The Israeli Supreme Court recently examined the Government’s practices, with some judges finding them unlawful. These developments call for the analysis of the matter under the law of armed conflict (LOAC), taking into account that other States involved in armed conflict encounter similar challenges. This article accordingly discusses some of the legal obligations arising when persons, or their remains, are believed to be in the hands of the belligerent party. It also considers the legality of certain measures taken to promote their repatriation.

scholarly journals Israel and the bantustanization of Palestine

2002 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 408-426
Author(s):  
Ivan Ivekovic
Keyword(s):  
Political Violence ◽  
West Bank ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
The West ◽  
State Terror ◽  
Economic Segregation ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Israeli Government ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
Industrial State

Contrary to repeated statements that Israel is a 'democratic state,' the author argues that it is an ethnocratic state. From its inception it has established a system of legal, political, residential and economic segregation of its Palestinian citizens. Since Israel has occupied the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in 1967, these were subjected to a systematic Jewish colonization and Judaization, which were met with Palestinian resistance. Both created a spiral of political violence. Israel's 'industrial' state terror is now confronted with 'artisan's'' terror of frustrated Palestinian groups. The author is of the opinion that a highly defective 'peace' deal offered by the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon would have transformed the Palestinian state entity in a Bantustan-like cluster of would-be 'autonomous areas'.

Tightening the Noose

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 6-23
Author(s):  
Trude Strand
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Israeli Government ◽  
Process And Outcome ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
Primary Materials

This article outlines and analyzes Israel's Gaza policy during the period from 2005 to 2010. Based on primary materials, including the testimony of Israeli officials before the Turkel Commission investigating the Mavi Marmara incident, classified documents that have come to light through Wikileaks, and Israeli government documentation, the article argues that in the wake of Israel's evacuation of the territory under its 2005 Disengagement Plan, the Gaza Strip became the object of a deliberate and sustained policy of institutionalized impoverishment. Looking at Israeli policy-making as both process and outcome, the article highlights how measures ostensibly implemented to “punish” Hamas—from the incremental tightening of restrictions to the imposition of a full blockade, in addition to periodic military assaults—have pauperized a large proportion of Gaza's more than 1.5 million inhabitants.

Urban Development Strategies of City Centers: The Case of Rafah City, Palestinian Territories

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
Omar S. Asfour ◽  
Samar Abu Ghali
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Development Strategies ◽  
Functional Requirements ◽  
City Center ◽  
Palestinian Territories ◽  
The Gaza Strip ◽  
The City ◽  
Commercial Center

City centers worldwide are perceived as essential parts of the city, where city memories are preserved and its identity is expressed. They are planned to satisfy the functional requirements and pleasurable qualities of the city. Under the accelerating urbanization of the modern city, several challenges face these centers including demographic, economic, and environmental challenges. This requires a continuous and incremental urban development process based on clear strategy and action plans. Thus, this study focuses on urban development strategies of city centers, with a focus on Rafah city located in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories. The geographic location of this city near the Palestinian-Egyptian borders makes it a promising commercial city at local and regional levels. Thus, the current situation of Rafah city center has been analyzed, and several development strategies have been proposed. This has been done through a field survey based on observation and a questionnaire directed to city center users. It has been found that there is a great potential of Rafah city center to be developed as a commercial center. In this regard, several strategies and required actions have been proposed in the fields of transportation, environmental quality, shopping activities, investment opportunities, and visual perception.

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