Palestinian rights lobbying group demands end to 'Israeli genocide' against Palestine

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - A Palestinian rights lobbying group rurged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring to trial for "war crimes the responsible Israeli political and military leaders" on Friday as it defined Israeli policies against Palestinians as "genocide."

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) said genocide is often not a single event but a series of deliberate events and processes over time.

It said the first three elements of Article 2 of the Genocide Convention, clearly reflect “Israeli policies and actions towards the Palestinian people since initiating its process of systematic genocide in 1947."

"By itself the ongoing destruction of Gaza and its people is a war crime, far too disproportionate to qualify as mere retaliation for the Hamas attack on Israeli civilians, far too costly in civilian life and property to justify the scale of Israel’s militarily action against Hamas," it said.

ICAHD said the indiscriminate bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp, attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank and "statements of genocidal intent" by top Israeli officials have prompted its demand for "urgent international action to end Israeli genocide" against the Palestinian people.

"The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) calls on the international community – the UN, governments and peoples – to hold Israel accountable for its decades of genocidal colonization," said the group.

The statement "most urgently" also called for isolating and sanctioning Israel until its destruction of Gaza and its people ends.

"We call on the International Criminal Court to bring to trial for war crimes the responsible Israeli political and military leaders. We call on the United Nations to enforce Article 3(e) of the Geneva Convention punishing for “complicity in genocide” the United States, Canada, Europe and other countries contributing to Israeli genocide," it added.