British Arab Lawyers’ Association

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) appears to be taking a serious interest in allegations of war crimes committed in the Gaza war from 27 December 2008 to 19 January 2009. At the same time, the testimonies of Israeli soldiers are adding weight to the evidence of war crimes. In fact, it is unlikely that the ICC can have jurisdiction over the situation. Nonetheless, the idea of considering what has happened in terms of individual criminal responsibility rather than state responsibility may open the way to a more fertile debate in Israel and beyond.

An unauthorised settlement in the West Bank, illegal even under Israeli law, appears to be benefiting from state funding, the BBC has uncovered.

A road is being built from the established settlement of Eli, near the Palestinian city of Nablus, leading east to the illegal outpost at Hayovel.

Settlement expansion is a major barrier to an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

Israel was last night confronting a major challenge over the conduct of its 22-day military offensive in Gaza after testimonies by its own soldiers revealed that troops were allowed and, in some cases, even ordered to shoot unarmed Palestinian civilians.

An Israeli human rights group has filed a petition at the High Court demanding an immediate halt to Israeli mining operations in the West Bank.

The group, Yesh Din, accuses Israel of breaking international law by exploiting the occupied territory’s resources for its own gain.

It says Israel has never conducted a thorough review of the practice. But Israel says the procedures are in line with both international law and agreements with the Palestinians.

A Palestinian family is suing Ehud Olmert, Israel’s outgoing prime minister, and other government officials over the deaths of their relatives during the recent assault on Gaza.

The al-Samouni family, which saw 29 of its members killed in the conflict, filed the case in Jerusalem on Tuesday, seeking $200m in damages for “criminal negligence”.

According to the European Union, Israel is trying to take over east Jerusalem. A confidential EU report, described Saturday morning by the British paper the Guardian, declares that the Israeli government is “actively pursuing the illegal annexation” of the eastern part of the city.

In 1966 a thin, bespectacled youth, far from his home in Jerusalem, discovered Speaker’s Corner, a patch of London’s Hyde Park where anyone with something to say can harangue a crowd. He was captivated by the orators – some with years of experience, others having a go for the first time. The next Sunday he returned, found a couple of plastic milk crates to stand on, and began to speak about Palestine. In an instant his shyness disappeared; he found that the hecklers only gave him strength and clarified his thoughts. Soon the largest crowd in Speaker’s Corner was gathered around the gangly Palestinian.

• Court looks at whether Palestinians can bring case
• International pressure grows over conflict

The international criminal court is considering whether the Palestinian Authority is “enough like a state” for it to bring a case alleging that Israeli troops committed war crimes in the recent assault on Gaza.

The deliberations would potentially open the way to putting Israeli military commanders in the dock at The Hague over the campaign, which claimed more than 1,300 lives, and set an important precedent for the court over what cases it can hear.

As part of the process the court’s head of jurisdictions, part of the office of the prosecutor, is examining every international agreement signed by the PA to decide whether it behaves - and is regarded by others - as operating like a state.

GAZA LIES in ruins. After 22 days of ruthless Israeli aerial bombardment and ground assault, a survey of the carnage is as enraging as it is numbing: at least 1,285 Palestinians have been killed; 895 were civilians, including 280 children and 111 women. Another 167 of the dead were civil police officers, mostly killed on the first day of the bombing as they were graduating from a training course. Twenty-four hundred houses were completely destroyed, and 20,000 partially. Other infrastructure destroyed includes 28 public civilian facilities (ministries, municipalities, governorates, fishing harbors, and Palestinian Legislative Council buildings), 29 educational institutions (including Gaza’s Islamic University and American High School), 30 mosques, 10 charitable societies, 60 police stations and 121 industrial, and commercial workshops. There are reliable reports that Israel used the banned chemical weapon white phosphorus, which on contact with skin burns all the way to the bone.

…I asked a representative of the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) what the status was of the PA’s (not a signatory to the Statute of Rome) request that Israel (also not a member of the ICC) be investigated for crimes. The response was that the OTP first had to determine whether or not the PA was a “State”, which is what the Palestinian Justice Minister was claiming. After all, it was argued, the PA had “diplomatic” relations with approximately 60 countries, it was increasingly recognized as a State by the UN and its organs, and the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbou, was described and treated as a President and Head of State whenever he visited other countries….