Khaldon Azhari

DOHA, Qatar: International lawyer Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh, speaking at the Doha Forum, says countries can do a lot more to ensure that Israel and other states are held to account for their conduct in conflicts.

“The critical problem that is facing not just the international institutions, but also the international legal order at present is the failure by states to comply with rulings and the failure by the international community to ensure that they are upheld,” she said, speaking about the International Criminal Court’s rulings against Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“They haven’t achieved what they are intended to do, which is justice. They have been mocked, they have been ignored, the courts themselves are not recognized by all the world powers.”

Ghrálaigh calls it a “failure by the international community to seek to hold Israel accountable for what it is doing in Gaza” and says much more can be done to achieve justice.

“Now is the moment for states, for international lawyers, for civil society to push back, to try and ensure that the international legal order, the international rule of law is not trampled upon, but comes out stronger. Because the future, any alternative future, is where what is happening in Gaza is normalized, is frankly too contentious.”

She said that the International Criminal Court faces “coercive measures, threats and sabotage” that presents an existential threat to the court.

In response, she says, states need to redouble their commitment to international law. “They can bring forward further advisory opinions,” she explains. “Norway is indeed spearheading an initiative at the United Nations General Assembly in relation to the unprecedented attacks on UNRWA. Lawyers in domestic jurisdictions can bring cases. I am involved in a case in the United Kingdom challenging the UK’s continuing exports of parts for fighter jets to Israel.”

“The advisory opinions are clear that states need to re-evaluate their dealings with Israel – whether they mean cultural, military, political, economic – to ensure that they are not in their dealings upholding illegality.”

Action should also include third countries that may be assisting an offending country, she adds. The ICC has stated the obligations on third states to uphold the Geneva Convention, even in conflicts where a state is not itself a party.

“The court saw it particularly important to remind states of their obligation relating to the transfer of arms to states involved in a conflict where there is a risk of violation of the Geneva Convention or the genocide conventions, and the court made clear that they apply in the context of Israel’s attacks on Gaza.”