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Top EU diplomat announces plan to enforce UN court ruling against Israeli operation in Rafah – LifeSite

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(LifeSiteNews) — As Israel intensifies its assault on Rafah in defiance of the order of the International Criminal Court, the chief diplomat of the EU is moving towards intervention in the escalating humanitarian crisis.

The growing crisis in Israel is fracturing the U.S.-led Western world, as the brinkmanship of escalation threatens the outbreak of a third world war.

Now the chief of foreign affairs at the EU, Josep Borrell, is reported to be considering sending an “EU mission” to enforce the decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to protect the Palestinians from genocide.

Borrell told reporters May 27:

The ruling of the court in The Hague last week must be implemented, Israel continues the military operation it was asked to stop. The EU countries will discuss how to deal with the ruling. Today, we can have a political decision and then, it will have to be implemented technically.

READ: International Criminal Court seeks arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Hamas leaders over ‘war crimes’

Borrell was set to meet with Arab leaders late on May 27 to discuss the “relaunch our civilian border assistance mission EUBAM Rafah.”

In his statement he rejected the framing of the judgments of two international courts against Israel and its leadership as “antisemitic.”

The Prosecutor and the Court have been strongly intimidated and accused of antisemitism – as always when anybody, anyone does something that Netanyahu’s government does not like.

I think that the accusations of antisemitism against the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court are completely not acceptable.

The word ‘antisemitic’ is too heavy. It is too important, in order to use it in these occasions.  

The meeting will also discuss moves towards the creation of a Palestinian state, Borrell said, as he noted that Hamas’ rocket attacks were also in breach of the ICJ orders.

On Sunday night, the Saudi Arabian foreign minister – who will join delegates from other Arab states at the meeting – said, “Israel doesn’t get to decide whether or not the Palestinians have a right to self-determination.”

Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud restated the position of the Arab League that “all hostages should be released as soon as possible.”

Israel has condemned recent moves by Ireland, Spain, Norway, and the EU to recognize a Palestinian state.

Israel has also responded furiously to last Friday’s demand by the International Court of Justice that it “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate.”

Israel responds with intensified attacks

Israel’s response was to intensify its bombing of Rafah, as Politico reported on May 25, the day after the order to cease the operation:

Israel intensified attacks on Rafah on Saturday in defiance of an International Court of Justice ruling ordering an end to the assault on the city in the south of the Gaza Strip.

The attacks include the bombing of U.N. “safe zone” tent camps for displaced civilians. Reports say Israel has bombed Rafah between 50 and 60 times since the ICJ ordered it to halt its assault on Friday.

The U.S. and U.K. governments joined Israel in condemning the ICJ order, reversing their former opposition to the assault on Rafah.

Al-Jazeera, recently barred from broadcasting within Israel, carried reports of people “burned alive” in the attacks.

Harrowing video footage of the aftermath of the strikes has emerged on Twitter.

French President Emmanuel Macron responded with “outrage” at the attacks, calling for an immediate ceasefire and the “full respect of international law.”

Israel committing suicide?

Yet the bloodshed and international condemnation is, according to Israeli sources, not only in vain, but it is driving the destruction of Israel itself.

A Jerusalem Post report has the former head of the Israeli Army Colleges saying “Netanyahu has gone off the rails,” with Israel threatened with destruction as a result. Retired Major General Yitzhak Brik said “if Bibi [Netanyahu], [Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant, [IDF Chief of Staff] Herzi Halevi, and their outgrowths remain in power – the State of Israel will deteriorate to its end. They will take us down to Sheol (the underworld) in grief.”

Brik said the assault on Rafah sees “Our soldiers… being killed for no purpose. This whole process blows us up in front of the world.”

Brik believes that Israel is facing collapse as a result of the extremist Zionist regime of Netanyahu.

“There has been a collapse of the economy, global boycotts that are now beginning at an accelerated pace, a collapse of society, a collapse of the army, and a collapse of all international relations.”

He warned of the dangers of escalation.

“We are in a war that has no purpose; we cannot defeat Hamas, and they are running to prepare themselves for the great war,” added Brik.

Brik’s remarks echo the earlier verdict in the Israeli press that Israel has suffered “a total defeat.”

Israeli foreign minister: recognition of Palestine ‘shameful’

The Israeli minister of strategic affairs on May 24 dismissed the International Criminal Court for its recognition of the state of Palestine, invoking the Holocaust to condemn those nations which had done so. In a tweet related to an interview with ABC News, Ron Dermer said:

The decision this week by Spain, Ireland and Norway to recognize a Palestinian state is both shameful and dangerous. It rewards the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust and effectively turns October 7th into Palestinian Independence Day. What a disgrace!

Biden admin admits Israel likely violated international law

The rebuke from the Israeli government comes months after a U.S. National Security memorandum found that Israel had indeed likely violated international law governing the protection of civilians.

NSM-20, as the document is known, was published on February 8, 2024, weeks after the initial ICJ ruling of January 26 which read:

The Court considers that Israel must, in accordance with its obligations under the Genocide Convention, in relation to Palestinians in Gaza, take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all [such] acts.

The ICJ has returned last Friday with an order to the Israeli government to end its assault on Rafah and open the besieged city to the provision of aid.

In a statement released on May 26, Borrell stressed that “all member states of the U.N. and EU are bound to the decisions of the International Court of Justice.”

His statement clearly outlines the many decisions of the court which have been ignored by Israel, beside the order to “immediately halt its offensive.” These include the restriction of access to Gaza of aid, media and investigative bodies, and the refusal to report on the order to take measures to prevent genocide.

Deepening isolation

The Washington Post said on May 24 that Friday’s court order “deepens Israel’s isolation as it fights on in Rafah,” whilst noting that the “world court ruling [of the ICJ] will be difficult to enforce without the backing of the United States.”

With U.S. and U.K. backing, the Israeli Foreign Ministry described the ruling as “false, outrageous and morally repugnant” in a statement given on the same day.

The statement flatly denies that Israel is acting to restrict aid into Rafah, and argues it is acting within the bounds of international law.

One issue with both the ICJ, which has ordered Israel to avoid genocide, and also the ICC, which has moved to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his government for war crimes, is that they have no power to enforce their decisions.

A ‘toothless’ court no more?

“The court does not have ‘teeth,’” Israeli diplomat Alan Baker told The Media Line on May 26. “It cannot send forces, but the U.N. Security Council can. The Palestinians can submit a request to act against Israel there, but the U.S. will likely veto such a move.”

If Borrell’s move to intervene materializes, then a bite may soon accompany the bark of international law.

The move by the EU’s chief diplomat to send a humanitarian task force to Rafah obviates the U.N. Security Council, whose actions are subject to U.S. veto.

It signals a deepening rift in the U.S. empire, as both France and Germany have pressed Israel to open humanitarian access to Gaza – appeals which have been ignored. Even the Biden administration is showing impatience with Israel over its refusal to present any solution beyond escalation to the crisis.

The rift is growing within the U.S. itself. The Washington Post reported on May 26 that “Netanyahu’s split with Biden and the Democrats was years in the making,” and has “shattered” the “American consensus behind Israel.” Losing its influence over the United States would prove terminal to the Zionist regime.

Meanwhile, Euronews reported on Borrell’s framing of a “difficult choice” for the EU – to support Israel and its genocide, or to uphold international law.

“We will have to choose between our support to the international institutions and the rule of law, or our support to Israel, and both things is (sic) going to be quite difficult to make compatible,” he added.

Borrell also condemned the move by Israel to label recognition of the state of Palestine as “antisemitic.”

It is clear that the EU has chosen the law over Israel.

In the same report, Borrell vociferously rejected Israeli attempts to brand the recognition of Palestine as support for terrorism.

Reacting to the scathing Israeli criticism of Spain, Ireland and Norway’s May 22 decision to recognize the state of Palestine, Borrell firmly rebuked foreign minister Israel Katz’s accusation that the move would send a message that “terrorism pays.”

“For me one thing is clear, recognition is not supporting Hamas,” Borrell said. “And on that, I have to really contest the positions expressed by the Israeli government saying that recognition is a gift to Hamas, or supporting terrorism. Just on the contrary.”

Once again, he dismissed the strategy of labelling anything opposed to Netanyahu’s Zionism as “antisemitic.”

“It’s unfounded, completely unfounded and unacceptable to say that recognition – be or not counter-productive – is a matter of giving gifts to Hamas or expressing anti-Semitism, nothing of that.”

Now the EU is moving beyond the toothless talk of the ICJ and ICC to action, it will see European troops deployed in an operation which defies the will of the Israelis and the governments whose foreign policies it directs – those of the U.S. and U.K.

‘Threats’ to judges condemned

The direct intervention to secure food, water, and medical supplies to the Palestinians is one aspect of this action. An irreparable breach in the Western system is another. Borrell’s initiative comes after strong condemnation of the “threats” directed at the judges of the ICC, reported by the Jerusalem Post on May 24.

European Union Foreign Minister Joseph Borrell said that Israel and several European countries were trying to threaten the judges of the International Criminal Court in The Hague after Prosecutor Karim Khan requested the issuance of arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Ynet reported on Friday.

Borrell said that threatening the judges must stop: “I ask everyone – starting with the government of Israel and several European governments – not to threaten the judges. Do not threaten them, and do not try to influence their decision.”

Another lost war at tremendous human cost

Israeli sources have claimed for weeks that Israel has lost the war in Gaza. Haaretz initially reported on Israel’s “defeat – total defeat” in on April 11.

Chaim Levinson stated “What Can’t Be Said: Israel Has Been Defeated – a Total Defeat”

He claimed that the “war’s aims won’t be achieved, the hostages won’t be returned through military pressure, security won’t be restored and Israel’s international ostracism won’t end.”

The war is out of control

Over a month later, Haaretz returns with news, published May 26, that the IDF has lost control of its own units, whose soldiers “record themselves destroying Palestinian property and civilian infrastructure.”

Haaretz says these freelance war crimes are a fraction of the total number, being only the ones captured so far on camera.

“The vast majority of offenses are committed beyond the range of cameras, and in the vast majority of these cases, the army responds weakly if at all. Some of the incidents are serving ICJ prosecutors as proof of the allegations against Israel.”

On May 24, Bennett released a video in which he condemned the International Court of Justice’s ruling against Israel’s genocide as giving permission to kill and get away with it

“The ICJ just gave a green light to every terrorist organization on earth to go ahead and murder, burn, rape people, and then hide behind innocent civilians,” Bennett argued.

“So basically, the ICJ just gave a new method of terror where you can kill and get away with it. This is wrong.”

In his framing, it is obviously justifed when Israel does the same. Bennett is accusing the International Criminal Court of the crimes he himself is supporting.

This war is raging out of control. It is destroying the lives of Palestinians. It is threatening the existence of the state of Israel. In so doing, it may drag the United States into a war with a very low nuclear threshold from which the world we know will not survive.

It is time for the dog to bite, as well as bark. This madness must stop before it kills us all.

Help Christians who escaped Gaza: LifeFunder

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