6 dec 2019
The Israeli occupation authorities on Friday handed over the body of the Palestinian detainee Sami Abu Diyak to Jordan, according to the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission.
Head of the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission, Qadri Abu Baker, said that the Israeli authorities returned Abu Diyak's body, upon the request of his family, through Allenby Bridge.
Abu Baker noted that his commission had asked the Israeli authorities to hand them over Abu Diyak's body but the latter rejected.
Abu Diyak, 36, died while in Israeli custody on 26 November, following 17 years of detention, due to cancer and other serious health problems as well as deliberate medical negligence by the Israel Prison Service.
Abu Diyak was the fifth Palestinian detainee to die in Israeli jails as a result of torture or medical neglect in 2019.
Head of the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission, Qadri Abu Baker, said that the Israeli authorities returned Abu Diyak's body, upon the request of his family, through Allenby Bridge.
Abu Baker noted that his commission had asked the Israeli authorities to hand them over Abu Diyak's body but the latter rejected.
Abu Diyak, 36, died while in Israeli custody on 26 November, following 17 years of detention, due to cancer and other serious health problems as well as deliberate medical negligence by the Israel Prison Service.
Abu Diyak was the fifth Palestinian detainee to die in Israeli jails as a result of torture or medical neglect in 2019.
5 dec 2019
Bensouda also probes ‘pay for slay’ as possible war crime.
International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said on Thursday that she is concerned about potential Israeli moves to annex the Jordan Valley. Bensouda made the comment in a key section of her annual report reviewing a range of conflict areas around the world that she is probing.
Her final decision could have a massive impact on Israel legally, diplomatically, and in terms of the country’s international image.
Like her 2018 annual report, Bensouda once again said that she was close to a broader decision on whether to delve deeper into the war crimes debate relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Bensouda’s term expires in mid-2021, which means that the fall 2020 report will be her last major chance to issue a decision on the conflict.
Though Bensouda’s 2018 report hinted that a decision might come down by mid-2019, her decision may have been pushed off by analyzing the ongoing Gaza border conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Some have suggested that the ICC slowed its push on the Israel-Palestine file due to threats against it by the Trump administration.
But that would seem to be belied by the ICC Prosecution being adamant this week to pursue a case against the US for alleged torture of detainees in Afghanistan, even after an ICC Pretrial Chamber tried to get Bensouda to drop the case.
In any event, the ICC Prosecution was not willing to reveal more signs about whether the final decision will come out in the coming weeks or around 18 months from now.
The three main issues Bensouda is probing are alleged war crimes related to the 2014 Gaza War, the settlement enterprise, and the March 2018-present Gaza border conflict.
In a new section of the report, Bensouda also probes the Palestinian Authority for torturing its own civilians and for so-called pay-for-slay payments.
Regarding the 2014 Gaza war, Bensouda wrote, “With respect to crimes allegedly committed by members of the IDF, the Office has collected information on and evaluated relevant investigative activities at the national level within the IDF military justice system.
“With respect to crimes allegedly committed” by Palestinian fighters in Gaza, “the Office has been unable to identify any relevant national proceedings,” said the ICC Prosecutor.
She also noted that reviewing whether “any of the identified potential cases meet the gravity” requirement for the ICC, which states that the prosecutor only looks into large scale war crimes.
These statements do not mean that the IDF is off the hook for alleged war crimes relating to 2,100 killed Palestinians (between 50% and 80% civilians) from that war.
The ICC could decide the IDF probes were insufficient, or that they did not probe senior commanders and only looked at junior soldiers.
But the statement continues a trend from the 2018 report suggesting the ICC may give Israel a broad pass on the 2014 war by deciding to recognize the IDF probes as precluding an ICC probe.
If so, it would be a stunning turnaround from a 2015 UN Human Rights Council report that condemned the IDF as having systematically perpetrated war crimes.
The report also continued a trend from the 2018 report suggesting that the ICC views Hamas as having failed to probe war crimes committed by its fighters.Such a criminal investigation against Hamas would be a first.
Regarding the settlement enterprise, the report had fewer statistics and updates than in previous reports, yet it had a key line appearing to threaten Israel, stating that “The Office has also followed with concern proposals advanced during the recent electoral process, to be tabled to the Knesset, for Israel to annex the Jordan Valley in the West Bank.
”This line followed a trend of sending deterrent messages to Israel regarding certain changes on the ground in disputed areas, including a previous statement from the ICC that got Israel to back-off from a change of the status quo in the E-1 area between Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Besides that statement and noting the number of Israeli settlements and outposts in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, Bensouda did not tip her hand, neutrally summarizing the Israeli-Palestinian dispute over certain areas.
Past reports explicitly attacked the settlements as violating international law and seemed to dismiss the Israeli High Court of Justice by saying that it had declined to rule on whether the settlements policy is a judicial issue.
While recognizing that the High Court has ruled on a range of specific settlements, past reports appeared to set up a scenario where the ICC could declare the settlement enterprise a war crime, and then only drop certain settlements from the probe if the High Court happened to deal with them.
Another major issue the report focused on was the Gaza border conflict since March 2018.
Though overall Bensouda adopted the Palestinian narrative that most Palestinians near the border fence have been nonviolent, she acknowledged that some were violent and had used fire kites and balloons to attack Israel.
In addition, the report noted allegations that Gaza fighters “made use of civilians as shields and of child soldiers during the demonstrations.
”One significant new point was that the ICC report mentioned the May 2018 Israeli Supreme Court decision probing and endorsing the IDF’s rules of engagement regarding the demonstrations.
It was unclear if mentioning the Israeli Supreme Court decision – after the 2018 report ignored that decision – meant a greater acknowledgment of the Israeli justice system, or was merely a technical addition.
Bensouda’s report also mentioned IDF probes of the deaths of 11 demonstrators and the October 28, 2019, conviction of an IDF soldier “in relation to the killing of a teenager who took part in the demonstrations.
”For the first time, Bensouda went into detail about her analyzing whether the PA has violated war crimes by torturing its own civilians, and through financial incentives to some of its people to perpetrate violence against Israel.
“The Office has also received allegations that: (i) Palestinian security and intelligence services in the West Bank have committed the crime against humanity of torture and related acts against civilians…and (ii) the PA have encouraged and provided financial incentives for the commission of violence through their provision of payments to the families of Palestinians…involved…in carrying out attacks against Israeli citizens.
“The payment of such stipends may give rise to Rome Statute crimes,” the report said.
International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said on Thursday that she is concerned about potential Israeli moves to annex the Jordan Valley. Bensouda made the comment in a key section of her annual report reviewing a range of conflict areas around the world that she is probing.
Her final decision could have a massive impact on Israel legally, diplomatically, and in terms of the country’s international image.
Like her 2018 annual report, Bensouda once again said that she was close to a broader decision on whether to delve deeper into the war crimes debate relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Bensouda’s term expires in mid-2021, which means that the fall 2020 report will be her last major chance to issue a decision on the conflict.
Though Bensouda’s 2018 report hinted that a decision might come down by mid-2019, her decision may have been pushed off by analyzing the ongoing Gaza border conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Some have suggested that the ICC slowed its push on the Israel-Palestine file due to threats against it by the Trump administration.
But that would seem to be belied by the ICC Prosecution being adamant this week to pursue a case against the US for alleged torture of detainees in Afghanistan, even after an ICC Pretrial Chamber tried to get Bensouda to drop the case.
In any event, the ICC Prosecution was not willing to reveal more signs about whether the final decision will come out in the coming weeks or around 18 months from now.
The three main issues Bensouda is probing are alleged war crimes related to the 2014 Gaza War, the settlement enterprise, and the March 2018-present Gaza border conflict.
In a new section of the report, Bensouda also probes the Palestinian Authority for torturing its own civilians and for so-called pay-for-slay payments.
Regarding the 2014 Gaza war, Bensouda wrote, “With respect to crimes allegedly committed by members of the IDF, the Office has collected information on and evaluated relevant investigative activities at the national level within the IDF military justice system.
“With respect to crimes allegedly committed” by Palestinian fighters in Gaza, “the Office has been unable to identify any relevant national proceedings,” said the ICC Prosecutor.
She also noted that reviewing whether “any of the identified potential cases meet the gravity” requirement for the ICC, which states that the prosecutor only looks into large scale war crimes.
These statements do not mean that the IDF is off the hook for alleged war crimes relating to 2,100 killed Palestinians (between 50% and 80% civilians) from that war.
The ICC could decide the IDF probes were insufficient, or that they did not probe senior commanders and only looked at junior soldiers.
But the statement continues a trend from the 2018 report suggesting the ICC may give Israel a broad pass on the 2014 war by deciding to recognize the IDF probes as precluding an ICC probe.
If so, it would be a stunning turnaround from a 2015 UN Human Rights Council report that condemned the IDF as having systematically perpetrated war crimes.
The report also continued a trend from the 2018 report suggesting that the ICC views Hamas as having failed to probe war crimes committed by its fighters.Such a criminal investigation against Hamas would be a first.
Regarding the settlement enterprise, the report had fewer statistics and updates than in previous reports, yet it had a key line appearing to threaten Israel, stating that “The Office has also followed with concern proposals advanced during the recent electoral process, to be tabled to the Knesset, for Israel to annex the Jordan Valley in the West Bank.
”This line followed a trend of sending deterrent messages to Israel regarding certain changes on the ground in disputed areas, including a previous statement from the ICC that got Israel to back-off from a change of the status quo in the E-1 area between Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Besides that statement and noting the number of Israeli settlements and outposts in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, Bensouda did not tip her hand, neutrally summarizing the Israeli-Palestinian dispute over certain areas.
Past reports explicitly attacked the settlements as violating international law and seemed to dismiss the Israeli High Court of Justice by saying that it had declined to rule on whether the settlements policy is a judicial issue.
While recognizing that the High Court has ruled on a range of specific settlements, past reports appeared to set up a scenario where the ICC could declare the settlement enterprise a war crime, and then only drop certain settlements from the probe if the High Court happened to deal with them.
Another major issue the report focused on was the Gaza border conflict since March 2018.
Though overall Bensouda adopted the Palestinian narrative that most Palestinians near the border fence have been nonviolent, she acknowledged that some were violent and had used fire kites and balloons to attack Israel.
In addition, the report noted allegations that Gaza fighters “made use of civilians as shields and of child soldiers during the demonstrations.
”One significant new point was that the ICC report mentioned the May 2018 Israeli Supreme Court decision probing and endorsing the IDF’s rules of engagement regarding the demonstrations.
It was unclear if mentioning the Israeli Supreme Court decision – after the 2018 report ignored that decision – meant a greater acknowledgment of the Israeli justice system, or was merely a technical addition.
Bensouda’s report also mentioned IDF probes of the deaths of 11 demonstrators and the October 28, 2019, conviction of an IDF soldier “in relation to the killing of a teenager who took part in the demonstrations.
”For the first time, Bensouda went into detail about her analyzing whether the PA has violated war crimes by torturing its own civilians, and through financial incentives to some of its people to perpetrate violence against Israel.
“The Office has also received allegations that: (i) Palestinian security and intelligence services in the West Bank have committed the crime against humanity of torture and related acts against civilians…and (ii) the PA have encouraged and provided financial incentives for the commission of violence through their provision of payments to the families of Palestinians…involved…in carrying out attacks against Israeli citizens.
“The payment of such stipends may give rise to Rome Statute crimes,” the report said.
Secretary of State Pompeo and Prime Minister Netanyahu
Netanyahu adds that during his meeting with Secretary of State Pompeo in Lisbon, the two agreed to move forward with plans for a joint defense treaty; PM also denies reports of him agreeing to serve only 6 months as premier as part of the rotation agreement with Blue and White
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country has the "full right" to annex the Jordan Valley.
Netanyahu said his proposal to annex the strategic part of the West Bank was discussed during a late-night meeting in Lisbon, Portugal with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
In a report Thursday, the ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said her office was following "with concern" the Israeli proposal. But Netanyahu told reporters it was Israel's "full right to do so, if we choose so."
Netanyahu also said they agreed to move forward with plans for a joint defense treaty.
Israeli defense officials, including Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, have expressed concern that such a pact could limit Israel's freedom to operate militarily. Netanyahu said he was aware of the reservations but assured that it was a "historic opportunity" and Israel would not be limited to act against archenemy Iran.
The Trump administration has already delivered a number of landmark victories to Netanyahu, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and recognizing Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights.
Netanyahu, beleaguered by a corruption indictment and political instability at home, is promoting the two initiatives as a rationale for his staying in office.
When asked about reports that he'd agreed to serve only six months as premier in a unity government as part of a rotation deal with the Blue and White party, Netanyahu said, "I don't want six months, I want two years."
Israel’s leader then addressed a possible long-term ceasefire arrangement with Hamas, saying Gaza’s rulers have been “seeking the agreement for a long time."
"There is a possibility to promote the arrangement,” he said. “It doesn’t mean they would recognize us, and we would recognize them, but I think it is possible to reach the deal. We are working on it at this very moment.
Netanyahu adds that during his meeting with Secretary of State Pompeo in Lisbon, the two agreed to move forward with plans for a joint defense treaty; PM also denies reports of him agreeing to serve only 6 months as premier as part of the rotation agreement with Blue and White
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country has the "full right" to annex the Jordan Valley.
Netanyahu said his proposal to annex the strategic part of the West Bank was discussed during a late-night meeting in Lisbon, Portugal with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
In a report Thursday, the ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said her office was following "with concern" the Israeli proposal. But Netanyahu told reporters it was Israel's "full right to do so, if we choose so."
Netanyahu also said they agreed to move forward with plans for a joint defense treaty.
Israeli defense officials, including Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, have expressed concern that such a pact could limit Israel's freedom to operate militarily. Netanyahu said he was aware of the reservations but assured that it was a "historic opportunity" and Israel would not be limited to act against archenemy Iran.
The Trump administration has already delivered a number of landmark victories to Netanyahu, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and recognizing Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights.
Netanyahu, beleaguered by a corruption indictment and political instability at home, is promoting the two initiatives as a rationale for his staying in office.
When asked about reports that he'd agreed to serve only six months as premier in a unity government as part of a rotation deal with the Blue and White party, Netanyahu said, "I don't want six months, I want two years."
Israel’s leader then addressed a possible long-term ceasefire arrangement with Hamas, saying Gaza’s rulers have been “seeking the agreement for a long time."
"There is a possibility to promote the arrangement,” he said. “It doesn’t mean they would recognize us, and we would recognize them, but I think it is possible to reach the deal. We are working on it at this very moment.
4 dec 2019
Malaysia has opened an “Embassy to Palestine” in Jordan, after Israeli authorities purportedly refused to grant officials from the Southeast Asian country access to the seat of the Palestinian Authority, in the central occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
Israeli English-language broadsheet newspaper, The Jerusalem Post, reported that the Israeli foreign ministry took the measure in response to what it described as various “anti-Semitic” and anti-Israel statements made by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
As a result, Malaysia opened an “Embassy to Palestine” in the Jordanian capital city of Amman, the report asserted.
This is while Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah had earlier stated that his country plans to open an embassy accredited to Palestine in Jordan because it has no diplomatic ties between Kuala Lumpur and Tel Aviv.
That is the main reason why we cannot open our office in Ramallah, in West Bank. If our embassy is opened in Ramallah, Malaysia will need to officially engage with Israel for logistics, administrative and immigration matters,” he said on October 31.
Saifuddin said the Malaysian government was taking the necessary steps in order to realize the opening of the embassy as soon as possible.
“Our ministry is in the midst of gathering information to implement this decision and getting feedback and experiences from parties that had opened diplomatic missions or embassies in Palestine,” he said then.
Al Ray further reports that, on October 25, Mahathir announced that Malaysia will open an embassy accredited to Palestine, to enable it to extend aid to Palestinians more easily.
On September 8 last year, Malaysia launched a national fundraising campaign to support Palestine refugees, through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The campaign sought to mobilize resources for the UNRWA at a time when the UN body faces a financial crisis after the United States, one of its leading supporters, announced its decision to no longer fund the agency.
Palestine currently has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and the diplomatic mission is headed by Ambassador Anwar al-Agha.
Malaysian Ambassador to Egypt, Mohd Haniff Abd Rahman, is accredited to Palestine.
Israeli English-language broadsheet newspaper, The Jerusalem Post, reported that the Israeli foreign ministry took the measure in response to what it described as various “anti-Semitic” and anti-Israel statements made by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
As a result, Malaysia opened an “Embassy to Palestine” in the Jordanian capital city of Amman, the report asserted.
This is while Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah had earlier stated that his country plans to open an embassy accredited to Palestine in Jordan because it has no diplomatic ties between Kuala Lumpur and Tel Aviv.
That is the main reason why we cannot open our office in Ramallah, in West Bank. If our embassy is opened in Ramallah, Malaysia will need to officially engage with Israel for logistics, administrative and immigration matters,” he said on October 31.
Saifuddin said the Malaysian government was taking the necessary steps in order to realize the opening of the embassy as soon as possible.
“Our ministry is in the midst of gathering information to implement this decision and getting feedback and experiences from parties that had opened diplomatic missions or embassies in Palestine,” he said then.
Al Ray further reports that, on October 25, Mahathir announced that Malaysia will open an embassy accredited to Palestine, to enable it to extend aid to Palestinians more easily.
On September 8 last year, Malaysia launched a national fundraising campaign to support Palestine refugees, through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The campaign sought to mobilize resources for the UNRWA at a time when the UN body faces a financial crisis after the United States, one of its leading supporters, announced its decision to no longer fund the agency.
Palestine currently has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and the diplomatic mission is headed by Ambassador Anwar al-Agha.
Malaysian Ambassador to Egypt, Mohd Haniff Abd Rahman, is accredited to Palestine.
