Human Lives Human Rights: The Israeli regime declared on Friday, October 13th, that residents of Gaza would be secure from Israeli army attacks if they relocated from the northern to the southern part of the region. Despite this assurance, on the same day, specifically Friday night, the Israeli army targeted displaced individuals migrating from the north to the south of Gaza, resulting in the death of seventy people. It is crucial to note that Israel is compelling the people of Gaza to move southward, a tactic indicative of forced migration, constituting a form of ethnic cleansing and, consequently, a crime against humanity.
Crimes against humanity refer to deliberate acts committed by a state or on its behalf as part of a systematic or widespread policy, typically targeting civilians during times of war or peace. These actions are executed in alignment with the policies of a government or organization.
Article 7 of the Statute of the Hague International Criminal Court delineates crimes against humanity, defining them as specific acts carried out in the context of an attack on a civilian population, either in a widespread or targeted manner. These acts include:
A) Murder
B) Extermination
C) Enslavement
D) Deportation or forced transfer of the population
E) Imprisonment or other forms of severe deprivation of physical freedom that violate basic provisions of international law
F) Torture
G) Rape, sexual enslavement, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity
H) Persecution or harassment of a specific group or population for political, racial, national, ethnic reasons
All the actions carried out by the Israeli army against the civilian population of Gaza in the past week constitute crimes against humanity. Firstly, these actions are orchestrated by the Israeli regime, and secondly, they align closely with the provisions outlined in Article 7 of the Statute of the Hague Tribunal.
Instances like the use of prohibited weapons such as white phosphorus bombs and cluster bombs, the killing of civilians, and the disruption of essential services like water, electricity, food, fuel, and medical supplies all constitute examples of crimes against humanity.
However, these actions represent just one facet of the policy of forced migration as a form of ethnic cleansing, which the Israeli regime employs to justify its crimes against humanity. Despite ongoing support from Western countries, Tel Aviv, much like in the past eight decades, remains indifferent to the observance of human rights and persists in its commission of crimes.
