Gaza, 24 January 2024(TDI): In a groundbreaking move, the UK legal charity Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR) released a historic independent legal report prepared by a dominant team of judicial analysts, exposing a crime against humanity in Gaza blockade.
The historic legal report concluded that the blockade of Gaza since 2007, including its expansion since October 7, 2023, constituted a crime against humanity, specifically oppression against Gaza’s Palestinian people, involving more than one million children.
Crime Against Humanity in Gaza
The research explores the factors contributing to this crime against humanity, detailing significant violations of basic human rights and the unfair treatment of a protected population.
Moreover, in the historic Legal Report by LPHR, which exposes crime in Gaza, the crime is characterized by reducing individuals to their association with a protected community and direct attacks on the group itself.
LPHR, in collaboration with the Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights located in Gaza, works hard to assist Palestinian survivors, victims, and their families in holding those responsible for serious violations of international criminal, social, and civil rights law accountable for justice.
In addition, this highly significant activity involves meaningful interaction with key international justice and investigative processes, such as the UN-independent Commission of Inquiry into the Gaza Crisis of 2014 and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Also Read: Palestinian Foreign Ministry asks ICC to proceed with investigations
Analysts assist in legal report study
For this reason, in 2021, LPHR instructed four international criminal and human rights law analysts and practitioners.
Such as Juan Mendez, Megan Hirst, Nikila Kaushik, and Lauren Tipton, to draft a technical legal report determining whether the blockade of Gaza qualifies as a persecution-related offense against humanity.
Furthermore, LPHR requested the judicial report examine all potential reasons for the blockade of Gaza, with the understanding that full reimbursement would be provided regardless of the legal findings.
According to Rohan Talbot, the director of advocacy and campaigns at Medical Aid for Palestinians, “this important legal opinion finds that Israel’s closure of Gaza constitutes a crime against humanity of persecution even “before” it was intensified on October 7.”
Full Legal Report on Blockade
The release includes details from a comprehensive 210-page independent legal report by Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR), divided into two parts: a 159-page document on Gaza’s closure since 2007 and a 51-page update on the intensified blockade since October 2023.
This report by LPHR exposes crime in Gaza and provides critical judicial explanations for lawmakers and policymakers.
This initial 159-page legal opinion attributes the majority of closures to Israel, despite assistance from others.
It applies relevant laws to matters before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and global jurisdiction, ensuring the appropriate level of truth for investigations. The analysis concludes that the closure of the facility could be considered a crime against humanity of persecution.
Ongoing Effort and Addendum Release
At the same time, LPHR has halted the 159-page legal opinion, which it filed confidentially with the Office of the Counsel of the ICC on January 10, 2023, to allow the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC to carefully examine it.
Additionally, the mass crimes committed by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups against Israelis on October 7, 2023.
However, shortly after Israel’s extensive military action, including its imposition of a ‘total siege’ on Gaza on October 9, it encouraged the LPHR to request an additional opinion from independent legal experts focusing on whether the events of and since October 7, 2023, alter their perspective.
The LPHR filed a 51-page “addendum” to the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC, explaining the period from October 7th, 2023, until early January 2024.
Reportedly, the last paragraph concludes that the closure represents the crime against humanity of persecution, particularly its recent expansion, and that no possible argument can make it legal.
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