'Status quo policy': Global powers giving Israel free reign: Legal expert

By Efe Ozkan

ISTANBUL (AA) — As the barrage of Israeli guns, tanks, and rockets exacerbate the suffering of Palestinians across the pummeled expanse of Gaza, a legal battle is playing out in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Israeli soldiers have posted boisterous footage of themselves on social media as they destroy huge swathes of Gaza. Many of the recordings feature variations of a common phrase as buildings are reduced to rubble and ash: "Flatten everything."

Amid the destruction, the ICJ is evaluating Israel’s actions in a genocide case brought by South Africa. The court’s deliberations are expected to take years to conclude.

But what has brought the situation to this point?

Ihsan Adel, founder and chair of non-profit rights group Law for Palestine, noted that Israel's actions and disregard for human rights stem not only from internal factors but also from the international community's permissive attitude towards Israel.

"It's not only about states directly involved in the persecution of the Palestinian people and the support of Israel, but also other states, those with trembling hands, allowed this situation to happen through aligning themselves with what I call the status quo policy, rooted in the long-standing policy of the states towards Israel," he said.

- Status quo policy

Speaking to Anadolu, Adel pointed out the lack of meaningful effort by other countries to make Israel comply with international law.

"No concrete measures were taken by states to, as the ICJ said, put Israel under pressure to comply with the international law rules. And this is what we have seen, like, when we compare the situation in Israel-Palestine with the situation in, for example, Russia-Ukraine, then we can see how states act when an international law violation happens by a state," said Adel.

These double standards evident in the application of international law have granted Israel freedom to perpetrate violations and attacks, he said adding that this is no matter of obscurity. "Now, there is no possibility for any state in the world to say, oh, wait, we didn't know that Israel is committing genocide."

Adel asserted that it is these countries that make Israel’s genocide in Gaza possible with their support and international backing despite being aware of Tel Aviv’s "genocidal intent."

"We have states who, through providing support, through financial aid, trade agreements, normalization, and political and diplomatic backing of Israel, including the (UN Security Council) veto. Through this support of Israel, these states are considering international law as supportive of the Israeli genocide, because they created the conditions that made the genocide possible, provided material support to the perpetrators of the genocide, and at the same time having knowledge of the genocidal intent of Israel," he said.

"On the contrary, these measures are completely consistent with this rules-based international order, preserving and reinforcing it because deviation from this rules-based international order carries and should carry consequences."​​​​​​​

- Persecution on the home front

Jenna Abu Hsana, international advocacy officer at Ramallah-based Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, told Anadolu that Palestinians are deprived of their human rights every day in Israeli military courts in a system "built on unfair trial guarantees and Palestinians."

Abu Hsana explained that while Israeli settlers, residing in the occupied despite international law, should also be tried in military courts, "they, however, are not."

"Only Palestinians are tried in these military courts and the main and most common order that's given against Palestinians is the administrative detention order. And basically, this allows the occupation to hold any Palestinian, no matter age or gender, for an indefinite period of time based on no charges or no evidence whatsoever.

"There's a secret file that the Israeli occupation claims to have in which they are holding evidence against the Palestinian detainee," she said, adding that only the Israeli prosecutor and Israeli judge have access to this file.

"And then, they proceed with the trial of the detainee without giving this information or evidence, neither to the lawyer nor to the detainee."

Israeli military courts are not subject to any oversight as efforts have been made to block scrutiny and accountability, Abu Hsana explained.

"The way that the occupation escapes accountability and persecution is by claiming that they are taking their own steps to an investigation, whether it comes to internal investigation to their own civilians or to their own soldiers or to their own IPS (Israel Prison Service) officers, or whether it comes to having trials for Palestinians, they prohibit the possibility of any Palestinian or any international body interfering in any trial of a Palestinian detainee."

According to Adel, Israel’s aims are clear, adding that it is up to the international community to put an end to the genocide and persecution of Palestinians.

"You don't need to analyze the situation to come up with the conclusion that what we have in Palestine is like a colonization project, it's very clear.

"But what is needed is for the international community to recognize this, and to deal with the situation accordingly," he said.