The Destruction of Gaza: A Fully Fledged Crime of Ethnic Cleansing and Comprehensive Legal and Criminal Responsibility

The Destruction of Gaza: Comprehensive Legal and Criminal Responsibility

Google has updated its maps of Gaza, revealing a horrifying reality: total destruction stretching from north to south. Entire neighborhoods have been obliterated, and vital civilian infrastructure has been wiped off the map. But the most damning aspect of these images is that they serve as a visual criminal document, bearing witness to a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing.

This immense devastation is not the result of a limited military reaction but a deliberate policy aimed at uprooting the Palestinian people from their environment and stripping them of the conditions necessary for survival and return. This reflects a clear intent to prevent return and resettlement, and it meets one of the main pillars of ethnic cleansing under international law: the forced removal of a population, the destruction of its means of survival, and the imposition of conditions that make life or return impossible.

The primary perpetrator is, of course, the Israeli occupation. But it does not act alone. Equal responsibility lies with those who have financed, armed, and politically shielded its actions namely the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany alongside politicians, government officials, parliamentarians, and media figures who have incited, justified, or remained complicit through silence.

1. Legal Foundations for International Accountability

• Article 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949): Obligates all State Parties to “respect and ensure respect” for the Convention in all circumstances. This includes refraining from providing material or logistical support to a party committing grave breaches.

• Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (ARSIWA):

• Article 16: Holds a state responsible if it aids or assists another state in committing an internationally wrongful act.

• Article 41: Mandates that states not recognize the results of such wrongful acts and work to bring them to an end.

• International Court of Justice (ICJ) Ruling – South Africa v. Israel, January 26, 2024: Called upon all states to cease military and logistical support to Israel and take steps to prevent genocide. Ongoing support violates this ruling and undermines international legal order.

• Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties – Article 27: Prohibits states from invoking internal laws as a justification for failing to perform treaty obligations.

• Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC):

• Articles 25 and 28: Hold individuals not just states criminally liable for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. This includes leaders who authorize arms shipments, fail to prevent crimes, or enable them through rhetoric or policy.

2. Violated Domestic Laws (UK Example)

• UK Export Control Act 2002: Prohibits the export of arms to any party likely to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law. Continued arms exports to Israel despite overwhelming evidence of war crimes is a clear breach of this law.

• EU Common Position 944/2008: Though no longer an EU member, the UK remains morally and politically bound by its principles, which prohibit arms exports to regimes likely to use them for repression or rights abuses.

3. Individual Responsibility: Leaders, Politicians, and Media Figures

Under international criminal law, responsibility extends to:

• Government leaders, ministers, and military officials who approve arms transfers or logistical aid.

• Parliamentarians who vote for military budgets or enable ongoing support despite credible evidence of war crimes.

• Media figures and commentators who incite violence, justify mass killings, or downplay civilian suffering using misleading narratives.

The Rome Statute permits prosecution for:

• Incitement to genocide or ethnic cleansing.

• Providing political or media cover for crimes.

• Criminal negligence in preventing atrocities when in positions of power.

4. Reparations and Legal Avenues for Justice

Documented violations and mounting evidence empower the Palestinian Authority and victims’ families to demand full reparations for:

• The destruction of infrastructure.

• Forced displacement and mass killing.

• Blockade, starvation, and denial of medical access.

Legal action may be pursued through:

• The International Court of Justice (ICJ)

• The International Criminal Court (ICC)

• National courts exercising universal jurisdiction (e.g., in Germany, the UK, and Spain)

• Domestic courts in supporting countries where legal mechanisms allow prosecution of international crimes

Conclusion: Toward a New Hague

The updated satellite imagery does not just show ruins it shows proof. What has unfolded in Gaza is a slow motion holocaust, facilitated by global complicity. This is the moment to demand a “Second Hague”, where perpetrators and enablers alike are held to account.

Many of these supporting countries already have national laws allowing for domestic prosecution of war crimes. All it takes now is a group of committed lawyers to act urgently before justice slips away once again.