The Criminalization of International Law, Part II
By Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Introduction
From the outset on October 7, 2023, “A Tissue of Lies” has served to justify the killings in the Gaza Strip of more than 30,000 civilians, of which 70% are women and children. The atrocities committed against the People of Palestine are beyond description. At the time of writing, at least 13,000 children have been killed:
“That is one Palestinian child killed every 15 minutes… Thousands more are missing under the rubble, most of them are presumed dead.”
Military operations are invariably planned well in advance.
Had Hamas’ “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm” been a “surprise attack” as parroted by the media, Netanyahu’s “State of Readiness For War” could not have been spontaneously carried out (at short notice) on that same day, namely October 7, 2023. The “State of Readiness” etiquette (revealed on October 7) points to a carefully prepared plan.
It is now well established that Israel’s Operation “State of Readiness for War” which consisted in “Wiping Gaza Off the Map” was carefully coordinated with U.S. military and intelligence. It is part of a broader joint Israel-U.S. military agenda.
Washington not only supports the Genocide, it oversees the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Although South Africa’s legal initiative was directed against the State of Israel, the conduct of the genocide is a joint Israel-U.S. project, with U.S. military and intelligence operatives collaborating directly with their Israeli counterparts.
This collaboration is also supported by an extensive flow of military aid.
The Criminalization of International Law
What is at stake is the criminalization of the international judicial process. The ICJ not only refused to propose a “Cease Fire”, which was part of South Africa’s demand, its January 26, 2024 Judgment failed to question the role of the Netanyahu coalition government, which was largely responsible for the planning prior to October 7 of a comprehensive military agenda directed against Palestine, with the support of Washington.
Although the Republic of South Africa’s ICJ accusation was directed against the State of Israel, it is now confirmed, amply documented that the Genocide against the People of Palestine was a joint Israel-U.S. operation.
In this regard, the ICJ President Joan Donoghue — former Legal Advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the Obama administration– is in conflict of interest. The latter indelibly raises the issue of her Recusal. (See: Recusals of Arbitrators and Judges in International Courts and Tribunals, Chiara Giorgetti).
While Article 2 of the ICJ Statute (p.212) “provides that the court should be comprised of independent judges”, the practice of recusal of a judge, specifically with regard to the President of the ICJ is almost impossible. Nonetheless, the issue of “conflict of interest” must be raised. Judge Joan Donoghue takes her instructions from Washington.
“Escalate the Genocide”
The IDC’s January 26, 2024 Judgment has set in motion a new wave of atrocities directed against the People of Palestine.
On that same day (January 26), Netanyahu confirmed that the genocide was ongoing and would continue.
“We will not compromise on anything less than total victory. That means eliminating Hamas, …”
While rhetorical condemnations against Israel prevail, what the peace movement fails to acknowledge is that no legal obstruction or hindrance was formulated by the World Court in its January 26, 2024 Judgment.
The Occupied West Bank, Jewish Settlements in Gaza
In Gaza, IDF commanders have ordered soldiers to “Setting fire to homes belonging to non-combatant civilians, for the mere purpose of punishment”.
Moreover, barely a few days after the January 26, ICJ Judgment, plans were announced to establish a cohesive network of Jewish settlements in Gaza.
Israel’s Plan: Mass Starvation
The Biden administration responding to Netanyahu has ordered to cut funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is indelibly slated to result in famine and the total collapse of social services:
UNRWA provides food, shelter, health care, education … for the 5.7 million UNRWA-registered Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
The curtailment of UNRWA funding is an integral part of the Netanyahu government’s carefully designed project to trigger mass starvation throughout the Gaza Strip.
“Gaza is experiencing mass starvation like no other in recent history. Before the outbreak of fighting in October, food security in Gaza was precarious, but very few children – less than 1% – suffered severe acute malnutrition, the most dangerous kind. Today, almost all Gazans, of any age, anywhere in the territory, are at risk.
There is no instance since the second world war in which an entire population has been reduced to extreme hunger and destitution with such speed. And there’s no case in which the international obligation to stop it has been so clear.”
These facts underpinned South Africa’s recent case against Israel at the international court of justice. The international genocide convention, article 2c, prohibits “deliberately inflicting [on a group] conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”. (Guardian)
Documentation of the Atrocities Committed against the People of Palestine
The atrocities are carefully documented in Sarah Abushaar’s courageous video production entitled
click below to access video (YouTube)
More than 100 Days and 75 Years of Genocide.
Since israel’s establishment through the ethnic cleansing and massacre of Palestinians from Palestine — persisting in its massacre, mass expulsion, abduction, torture and terror of indigenous Palestinians.
The theft of land, life and human rights.
Israel’s unconscionable slaughter of 13,000 children, extermination of 30,000 civilians, destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system as it wounds 60,000 and mass starvation of 2.3 million, part of what it’s been committing on Palestinian life for decades – continuing its ongoing genocide now on hyperdrive.
Palestinians massacred and held hostage in the hundreds of thousands, terrorized in the millions under illegal siege, violent occupation and vicious apartheid. A person’s stance on Palestine says everything about their moral compass.
You are either for or against genocide. For or against ethnic cleansing. For or against violent illegal occupation and vicious apartheid.
For or against systems of supremacy – the persecution of human life.. the denial of millions of people their life, freedom, and fundamental human rights.
There is no middle ground. It’s not complicated. In the same way the Holocaust is not complicated. Slavery or Apartheid are not complicated.
But they persisted because of those who didn’t see.
There’s a horrific persecution and oppression that has lasted for 8 decades.
An oppressor and an oppressed. It’s impossible for human beings of conscience or morals to know the truth on Palestine and to uphold this for human life.
It goes against all law, morality and our very humanity.
What we condemn in history and in every other context, what’s been committed on Palestinian life for decades…
As with all systems built on human persecution and oppression, this will not survive. All the inhumanity in the world in this, Palestine is fighting for all of our humanity and for all the world’s justice.”
“Secret Memorandum” to Commit Genocide
While earlier documents –which might reveal the detailed planning of Israel’s genocidal attack on the Gaza Strip, including those negotiated with the U.S.– remain classified, An official “secret” memorandum authored by Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence was made public on October 13, 2023.
The authenticity and purpose of this report remain to be confirmed. It was released a week after October 7, 2023. It nonetheless confirms the military actions which are currently being implemented against the People of Palestine. Was it intended to be in the public domain?
What the intelligence document recommends is:
“The forcible and permanent transfer of the Gaza Strip’s 2.2 million Palestinian residents to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula”,
The 10-page document, dated Oct. 13, 2023 assesses three options regarding the future of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip …
“It recommends a full population transfer as its preferred course of action. …”
The document has been translated into English in full here.
The Israel’s Intelligence Memorandum
“… assesses three options regarding the future of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip … It recommends a full population transfer as its preferred course of action. …”
Click here to access complete document (10 pages).
Intelligence Memorandum: Selected Excerpts
(emphasis added)
“1. The State of Israel is required to bring about a significant change in the civilian reality in the Gaza Strip in light of the Hamas crimes that led to the “Iron Swords” war, therefore it must decide on a political objective regarding the civilian population in Gaza, which should be pursued concurrently with the overthrow of the Hamas regime.
2. The objective defined by the government requires intensive action to harness the United States and other countries to support this goal.
3. Fundamental guidelines for every policy [A, B, C]:
a. Overthrow of Hamas’ rule.
b. Evacuation of the population outside of the combat zone for the benefit of the citizens of the Gaza Strip.
c. It is necessary to plan for and channel international aid to reach the area in accordance with the chosen policy.
d. In every policy, it is necessary to carry out a deep process of implementing an ideological change (de-Nazification).
e. The selected policy will support the state’s political goal regarding the future of the Gaza Strip and the final picture of the war.
In this document, three possible options [A, B, and C] will be presented as a policy of the political echelon in Israel regarding the future of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
[Option C below is the recommended and chosen Option of the Memorandum which is currently being implemented.]
The Memorandum’s “Option C”: The Evacuation of the Civilian Population from Gaza to Sinai.
“Option C – The option that will yield positive, long-term strategic outcomes for Israel, and is an executable option.
It requires determination from the political echelon in the face of international pressure, with an emphasis on harnessing the support of the United States and additional pro-Israeli countries for the endeavor.
At first glance, this option, involving significant population displacement, may present challenges in terms of international legitimacy.
Operational
1. A call for the evacuation of the non-combatant population from the combat zone of the Hamas attack.
2. In the first stage, operations from the air with a focus on the north of Gaza to allow a ground invasion in an area that is already evacuated and does not require fighting in a densely populated civilian area.
3. In the second stage, a gradual ground invasion of the territory in the north and along the border until the occupation of the entire Strip and cleansing of the underground bunkers of Hamas fighters.
4. The ground invasion stage will be less time-consuming compared to options A and B and therefore will reduce the exposure time to opening the northern front simultaneously with the fighting in Gaza.
5. It is important to leave the travel routes to the south open to enable the evacuation of the civilian population toward Rafah.
International/legal legitimacy
In our assessment, post-evacuation combat is likely to result in fewer casualties among the civilian population compared to the expected casualties if the population remains (as presented in options A and B).
a. This is a defensive war against a terrorist organization that conducted a military invasion into Israel. [false flag justification]
b. The demand for the evacuation of the non-combatant population from the area is a widely accepted method that saves lives, and it was the approach used by the Americans in Iraq in 2003.
c. Egypt has an obligation under international law to allow the passage of the population.
6. Israel must act to promote a broad diplomatic initiative aimed at countries that will support assisting the displaced population and agree to absorb them as refugees.
7. A list of countries that are suitable for this initiative can be found in Appendix A to this document.
8. In the long run, this option will gain broader legitimacy because it involves a population that will be integrated within a state framework with citizenship.” (emphasis added)
Video: “Wiping Gaza Off the Map”
click below to access video:
MICHEL CHOSSUDOVSKY – FALSE FLAG: ERADICATING GAZA FROM THE MAP
This Interview was produced on October 16, 2023
Was It A False Flag Operation?
“As a former intelligence officer, I find it impossible to believe that Israel did not have multiple informants inside Gaza as well as electronic listening devices all along the border wall which would have picked up movements of groups and vehicles.
In other words, the whole thing might be a tissue of lies as is often the case. (Philip Giraldi, October 2023)
U.S. intelligence say they weren’t aware of an impending Hamas attack.
“One would have to be almost hopelessly naïve to buy the corporate state media line that the Hamas invasion was an Israeli “intelligence failure”. Mossad is one of, if not the, most powerful intelligence agencies on the planet.”
Israel’s plan to wage an all out war against Palestine had been envisaged prior to the launching by Hamas of “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm”.
This was not a failure of Israeli Intelligence, as conveyed by the media. Quite the opposite.
Did Netanyahu and his vast military and intelligence apparatus (Mossad et al) have foreknowledge of the Al Aqsa Hamas attack.
Revealed by the New York Times:
“Israeli officials obtained Hamas’s battle plan for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack more than a year before it happened, documents, emails and interviews … The approximately 40-page document, which the Israeli authorities code-named “Jericho Wall,” outlined, point by point, exactly the kind of devastating invasion that led to the deaths of about 1,200 people. (emphasis added)
See also the analysis of Manlio Dinucci
Let us be under no illusions, Israel’s “false flag” operation is a complex military-intelligence undertaking, carefully planned, in liaison and coordination with US intelligence and the Pentagon. Israel is a de facto member of NATO (with a special status) since 2004, involving active military and intelligence coordination as well as consultations pertaining to the occupied territories.
In this section we will provide evidence pertaining to the False Flag Operation waged by the Netanyahu government.
We will focus on the following topics:
- The History of Israeli False Flags
- Corroborating Mea Culpa Statements by Netanyahu
- Testimonies by Members of Israel’s IDF
1. The History of Israeli False Flags
Numerous Israeli False Flags have been carried out in the course of the last 25 years. They are on record: carefully documented. While they are of a criminal nature, resulting in the deaths of innocent Israelis, they have barely been acknowledged by Western governments and the media. The historical record confirms that the intent of these false flags is to trigger Israeli deaths as a means to justify attacks against Palestinians. See below:
“Green Light to Terror”
The late Prof Tanya Reinhart confirmed the formulation in 1997 of a False Flag Agenda entitled “The Green Light to Terror” which consisted in promoting (engineering) suicide attacks against Israeli civilians, citing “the Bloodshed as a Justification” to wage war on Palestine:
“…This is the “green light to terror” theme which the Military Intelligence (Ama”n) has been promoting since 1997, when its anti-Oslo line was consolidated. This theme was since repeated again and again by military circles, and eventually became the mantra of Israeli propaganda”
The 2001 “Justified Vengeance” Operation
Predicated on the implementation of A False Flag.
The blueprint, titled “The Destruction of the Palestinian Authority and Disarmament of All Armed Forces”, was presented to the Israeli government by chief of staff Shaul Mofaz, on July 8 [2001].
The assault would be launched, at the government’s discretion, after a big suicide bomb attack in Israel, causing widespread deaths and injuries, citing the bloodshed as justification.” (Tanya Reinhart, December 22, 2001)
It is worth noting that “Operation Justified Vengeance”: a Secret Plan to Destroy the Palestinian Authority was confirmed by Janes Foreign Report:
“…Israel’s invasion plan — reportedly dubbed Justified Vengeance — would be launched immediately following the next high-casualty suicide bombing, would last about a month and is expected to result in the death of hundreds of Israelis and thousands of Palestinians. (emphasis added)
Israeli False Flags, which consist in deliberately triggering Israeli casualties as a means to justify a broader attack against Palestine areDÉJÀ VU
I should mention that the October 7, 2023 “False Flag” is more sophisticated than those outlined above.
Israeli Casualties
Israel’s False Flag Operation is a criminal endeavor engineered by the Netanyahu government (with the support of its intelligence apparatus)against innocent Israeli men, women and children.
Official Israeli IDF sources confirm 1,200 Israeli deaths of combatants and civilians (including “friendly fire” by the IDF). Approximately 50% of the casualties are Israeli civilians.
In contrast, the number of deaths of Palestinians (at the time of writing) is of the order of 30,000 of which at least 10,000 are children.
For further details and a Historical Review See:
By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, February 07, 2024
2. Corroborating Statements by Netanyahu: “Money to a Faction within Hamas” As Part of an Intelligence Op?
It is worth noting that Netanyahu has acknowledged that Money had been Transferred to a pro-Israeli Intelligence Faction within Hamas:
“Hamas was treated as a partner to the detriment of the Palestinian Authority to prevent Abbas from moving towards creating a Palestinian State. Hamas was promoted from a terrorist group to an organization with which Israel conducted negotiations through Egypt, and which was allowed to receive suitcases containing millions of dollars from Qatar through the Gaza crossings.” (Times of Israel, October 8, 2023 emphasis added)
“Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to Hamas,” he [Netanyahu] told a meeting of his Likud party’s Knesset members in March 2019. “This is part of our strategy – to isolate the Palestinians in Gaza from the Palestinians in the West Bank.”[Netanyahu] (Haaretz, October 9, 2023, emphasis added)
3. Testimonies by Members of Israel’s IDF
click below to access video
3.1 Efrat Fenigson, former IDF intelligence
“I served in the IDF 25 years ago, in the intelligence forces. There’s no way Israel did not know of what’s coming.
A cat moving alongside the fence is triggering all forces. So this??
What happened to the “strongest army in the world”?
How come border crossings were wide open?? Something is VERY WRONG HERE, something is very strange, this chain of events is very unusual and not typical for the Israeli defense system.
To me this suprise attack seems like a planned operation. On all fronts.
If I was a conspiracy theorist I would say that this feels like the work of the Deep State.
It feels like the people of Israel and the people of Palestine have been sold, once again, to the higher powers that be.
(Statement by Efrat Fenigson, former IDF intelligence, October 7, 2023, emphasis added)
3.2 Commander of the Kerem Shalom Battalion
“Something here doesn’t add up to me!!! This is a mystery that I can’t find an answer to.
I happen to know how things work in Gaza and on the border.
I was the commander of the Kerem Shalom sector (Rafih), I was in charge of the Kissuf sector, I know the perimeter fence very well, I know how the army works there. I was in the Shatti refugee camp in Gaza, I was in charge of the Jibaliya refugee camp, I would make ambushes on the fence and deep in the area. I met Gazans, ate and breathed Gaza.
The obstacle is built so that even a fox cannot pass it:
Set alerts according to 3 levels of pressure. She must alert when she is cut. There are 24/7 forces that are responsible for arriving within a few minutes, if not seconds, to the point where there is an alert in the fence.
Every day do at least one penetration practice. Each subdivision has a standby squad whose role is to increase the force in an emergency situation. Observations scattered along the border cover every inch of it. The female observers are champions in identification. They don’t miss. They detect movement even before it even approaches the obstacle – day and night.
At problematic points (dead areas) they place a tank with observation and detection capabilities, and a terrifying firepower. In some cases snipers are deployed in the field.
Every day before dawn there is a “dawn alert” procedure. At this hour all the forces are awake (in this case also the hour when hundreds of terrorists entered Israel). The night shift alternates with the day shift. The commander of each force inspects the axis to make sure there were no infiltrations during the night. Trackers that move on the axis know how to recognize traces. They know who crossed the fence, how much and even when.
So how the hell does a Palestinian tractor move towards the fence without anyone reacting to it?
How did the tractor manage to sabotage the fence for a long hour and open access to Israel without anyone reacting to it?
How did all this happen under our noses? Where did an entire division go? Where did 3 brigades go?
Who swallowed 9 battalions? What happened to 36 companies? Where did an entire regular infantry brigade go that usually outnumbers the elite?
Where were all the reserve battalions that augment the regular army? Where did thousands of soldiers go???
Someone here needs to provide explanations!!”
emphasis added
Statement of General Herzl Halevi, October 2023
Is Egypt Involved? Secret Bilateral Talks
The declared objective is to Wipe Gaza off the Map through mass killings and total destruction thereby creating conditions for the exclusion of Palestinians from their homeland: A ‘Second Nakba”.
The implementation of Netanyahu’s “War of Readiness” requires the support of Egypt with a view to triggering the exodus of Palestinians from Gaza to the Sinai, where the installation of extensive refugee camps is contemplated.
There is evidence of bilateral meetings between Cairo and Tel Aviv to that effect. The C Option Plan drafted by Israeli Intelligence (see above) states that “Egypt has an obligation under international law to allow the passage of the [Palestinian] population”.
What is contemplated by the Israeli Ministry of Intelligence (Option C above) is:
“the forced and permanent relocation of the entire Palestinian population of Gaza to Egypt’s Sinai desert peninsula” with tent refugee camps.” (See Manlio Dinucci)
The Plan includes a list of countries “which agree to absorb [The Palestinians ] as refugees”.
Bilateral Israel-Egypt Intelligence Agreement?
In 2021-22, Egypt and Israel were involved in “secret bilateral talks” regarding “the extraction of natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip”.
The media reports point to “Egyptian Mediation”.
Were these negotiations contingent upon Egypt playing a key role in establishing refugee camps in the Sinai, which would facilitate the mass deportation of Palestinians from Gaza.
It is worth noting that the Palestine Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas was also involved.