‘Misrepresented, misleading’: Research group debunks Israel’s visual evidence at ICJ

By Emre Basaran

ISTANBUL (AA) – Multidisciplinary research group Forensic Architecture has released an assessment paper debunking the visual material Israel presented as evidence in its defense in South Africa’s genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The group, which is based at Goldsmiths, University of London, reviewed the visual material according to the following criteria: authenticity, annotation and interpretation.

“We found eight instances where the Israeli legal team misrepresented the visual evidence they cited, through a combination of incorrect annotations and labelling, and misleading verbal descriptions,” Forensic Architecture said in the report published this week.

It said the Israeli legal team “presented single instances of alleged Palestinian military use of civilian infrastructure as blanket justifications for the systematic and widespread attacks on civilians, shelters, schools, and hospitals.”

Forensic Architecture said its researchers “verified the source, time, and location based on information collected from publicly available material,” adding that they “conducted additional analysis using open-source research and satellite images sourced from Planet,” referring to Planet Labs PBC, a US-based Earth imaging company.

“When the Israeli team presented a video still, we located the source video and examined it in its entirety. We also investigated any claims made by Israeli government or military sources when the video in question was originally published,” the report said.

The group also used 3D modeling to “reconstruct key physical sites relevant to the claims, and calculated distances, shadows, positions of figures and other elements, and trajectories of projectiles seen in the video where applicable.”

“We cross-checked the available material against cartographic information about the known location of the Israeli military at the time of each incident and evacuation orders given by them,” the report added.

- Alleged ‘rocket launch site’ a crater caused by Israeli bombing

In the first examination, which focuses on “proof of a rocket launch site close to a water desalination facility,” the group found that the highlighted area presented as a rocket launch site is “more likely a crater caused by an air drop munition from an Israeli strike.”

“The crater measures approximately seven meters in diameter and, according to our shadow analysis, two meters in depth. The dimensions of the crater are consistent with the impacts of a bomb between 500 pounds (226 kilograms) and 1,000 pounds (453 kilograms). We compared its dimensions and shape to those of other craters visible throughout Gaza and found them to be consistent with one another,” the report said.

“We found that the Israeli legal team incorrectly labelled and annotated the image presented at the ICJ hearing, labelling a crater – a trace of Israeli-inflicted destruction – as a Palestinian rocket launch site.”

- No projectile fired from Al-Quds Hospital

In the second examination, the group assessed Israel’s claim that Gaza’s Al-Quds Hospital was used as a base for Hamas operations and that a projectile was fired from there.

“We found no evidence of the presence of Palestinian armed operations inside the hospital,” the group said, also negating Israel’s claim that a projectile was fired from the medical facility.

“We found that the claim, made in a November 13 press release, that a projectile was fired from inside Al-Quds hospital, to be false,” it said.

- ‘Israel did bomb hospitals’

In the next part, Forensic Architecture said Israel’s claim that it “never bombed hospitals” is not true.

“Despite Israel claiming that ‘hospitals have not been bombed,’ our research documents 11 times Al-Shifa (Hospital) has been directly attacked by the Israeli army, starting on November 3 and as recently as February 8,” the group said, referring to the hospital in Gaza’s north.

“We found the Israeli legal team’s claim that ‘hospitals have not been bombed’ to be false, considering the 11 direct strikes on Al-Shifa alone. We found none of the strikes align spatially with where the Israeli military claimed the tunnel to be. There has been no evidence provided to justify these specific strikes by the Israeli military.”

The report said Israel has directly attacked at least 13 hospitals in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7.

“Our research indicates that 13 hospitals have been directly attacked by Israeli forces since October 7, 2023, and at least 18 hospitals in the northern region of the Gaza strip were rendered inoperable, irrespective of whether any military justifications were provided by the Israeli military,” the report said.

- Israel’s not-so-legitimate targets

Forensic Architecture also pointed out that the Israeli legal team used the argument that some shelters and schools they hit had “lost their protected status.”

“Just as they did for hospitals, the Israeli legal team used singular cases, themselves unproven and questionable, to deflect responsibility for all targeting of schools and shelters in Gaza,” the report said.

The paper also referenced a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

“According to OCHA, by Feb. 16, 2024, ‘45% of school buildings that have been used by IDPs as shelters, have been either directly hit or damaged,’” the report said.

Touching upon Israel’s strike on the Beit Hanoun School run by United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the report said it was “unlikely” the building was used as a shelter by Hamas.

“In their statement, the Israeli legal team implied that Palestinian fighters jeopardized the school’s civilian status and hence civilian life. We examined the visual materials, the timing, and the applicability of this claim to this and other schools being used as shelters,” the report said.

“The level of destruction around the school three weeks before the video was taken indicates a high level of Israeli military activity, making it unlikely that the building was being used as either a school or a shelter during that time.”

- Israel’s attacks on residential buildings

The report said Israel “has not provided evidence to justify the destruction of civilian property or death of civilians.”

“Indeed, on many occasions Israel has struck residential buildings reported to be in active use by civilians. On Nov. 21, 2023, the Israeli army struck the residential home of Dima Abdullatif Al-Haj, killing over 50 members of her family and wider community sheltering within the property,” the paper added.

The assessment report also emphasized that “Israel has likely damaged or destroyed between 50% and 62% of buildings in the Gaza Strip.”

Underlining that the Israeli army “has been repeatedly documented occupying civilian homes in Gaza and the West Bank and using them for military purposes even as civilians are still inside,” the report also said that Israeli soldiers “have also been documented forcing civilians to stay put while they carry out attacks from their homes.”​​​​​​​