Latest news with #MohammedDeif
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
As a judge, I'm sounding the alarm: the out-of-control White House is dismantling justice
For 18 years, I have been a criminal trial judge. I believe in the rule of law and independent and impartial justice in both domestic and international criminal law. The present US administration does not hold to those principles, and is now doing all it can to undermine them. In the case of international criminal law, the International Criminal Court derives from the legacy of Nuremberg where, in 1945, an International Military Tribunal established by the allied forces, tried 22 leading German officials for war crimes. Controversial though it was, the International Military Tribunal demonstrated that justice beyond borders in the form of international criminal law could be real and effective in dealing with the most horrific war crimes, and perhaps be a means of preventing them thereafter. The Nuremberg experience testified to the truth of what many, including Dr Martin Luther King Jr. had said, that 'there can be no peace without justice, and there can be no justice without peace'. In 1998, the signing of the Rome Statute for the establishment of the ICC reaffirmed the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. It meant that all UN member states would refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the UN. These are uncontroversial and necessary international principles. And so, pretty much without fear or favour, in 2002 the ICC went to work. As with all courts, an important foundation of the ICC was judicial independence and the application of the rule of law. Given the gravity of the court's work, it had to be real and impartial justice – no matter who was accused of serious crimes. The judges needed to be able to conduct investigations and trials free from any form of governmental interference. Loading Now, that is no longer guaranteed. Nor is the court's future. The Rome Statute states that 'intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including wilfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions' is a war crime. On 21 November 2024, the pre-trial chamber of the Court issued warrants for the arrest of Hamas commander Mohammed Deif (who was killed in 2024), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. The latter two face allegations of being responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare, and of intentionally directing an attack against a civilian population. Charges also allege that from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, Netanyahu and Gallant were responsible crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts. The process, if it is allowed to be completed, will tell the world whether those allegations are proved beyond reasonable doubt.
The Age
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
As a judge, I'm sounding the alarm: the out-of-control White House is dismantling justice
For 18 years, I have been a criminal trial judge. I believe in the rule of law and independent and impartial justice in both domestic and international criminal law. The present US administration does not hold to those principles, and is now doing all it can to undermine them. In the case of international criminal law, the International Criminal Court derives from the legacy of Nuremberg where, in 1945, an International Military Tribunal established by the allied forces, tried 22 leading German officials for war crimes. Controversial though it was, the International Military Tribunal demonstrated that justice beyond borders in the form of international criminal law could be real and effective in dealing with the most horrific war crimes, and perhaps be a means of preventing them thereafter. The Nuremberg experience testified to the truth of what many, including Dr Martin Luther King Jr. had said, that 'there can be no peace without justice, and there can be no justice without peace'. In 1998, the signing of the Rome Statute for the establishment of the ICC reaffirmed the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. It meant that all UN member states would refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the UN. These are uncontroversial and necessary international principles. And so, pretty much without fear or favour, in 2002 the ICC went to work. As with all courts, an important foundation of the ICC was judicial independence and the application of the rule of law. Given the gravity of the court's work, it had to be real and impartial justice – no matter who was accused of serious crimes. The judges needed to be able to conduct investigations and trials free from any form of governmental interference. Loading Now, that is no longer guaranteed. Nor is the court's future. The Rome Statute states that 'intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including wilfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions' is a war crime. On November 21, 2024, the pre-trial chamber of the Court issued warrants for the arrest of Hamas commander Mohammed Deif (who was killed in 2024), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. The latter two face allegations of being responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare, and of intentionally directing an attack against a civilian population. Charges also allege that from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, Netanyahu and Gallant were responsible crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts. The process, if it is allowed to be completed, will tell the world whether those allegations are proved beyond reasonable doubt.
The National
28-05-2025
- General
- The National
Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli army killed Hamas Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the army had killed Mohammed Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza and the younger brother of the group's late leader Yahya Sinwar. Israeli media had reported that Mr Sinwar was the target of air strikes in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on May 13. The Israeli army said it conducted "a precise strike on Hamas terrorists in a command and control centre located in an underground terrorist infrastructure site beneath the European hospital in Khan Younis". "In 600 days of the War of Revival, we have indeed changed the face of the Middle East," Mr Netanyahu said, confirming the death to the Israeli parliament. "We eliminated Mohammed Deif, [Ismail] Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar." "In the last two days we have been in a dramatic turn towards a complete defeat of Hamas," he said. He added that Israel was also "taking control of food distribution" in Gaza, a reference to the start of operations by a US and Israeli-backed group. Hamas has yet to confirm Mohammed Sinwar's death. He was elevated to the top ranks of the Palestinian militant group last year after Israel killed his older brother in combat in October last year. Yahya Sinwar masterminded the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, now in its 20th month. He was later named the overall leader of the group after Israel assassinated his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, in Iran. Known for clandestine operations, Mohammed Sinwar played a central role in planning and executing the October 2023 attack, Hamas sources said. The attack, in which Hamas and allied militants groups killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage, is considered Israel's worst security failure. He was also widely believed to have been one of the masterminds of the 2006 cross-border attack and abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Hamas held Mr Shalit for five years before he was swapped for more than 1,000 Palestinians jailed by Israel, one of whom was Yahya Sinwar. Following the killing of Hamas's top military commander, Mohammad Deif, in July last year, Mohammed Sinwar took charge of the group's military wing. After his older brother's death, he became the de facto leader of the militant group in the Gaza Strip. Mohammed Sinwar was born in the Khan Younis refugee camp on September 16, 1975. His family had fled from Al Majdal Asqalan (Ashkelon) during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. He joined Hamas in 1991 and was arrested by Israel in the same year for suspected terrorism, spending less than a year in custody. He was also jailed by the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah during the 1990s. In 2005, he became the commander of Hamas's Khan Younis Brigade.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Hamas in weakest position yet, but still holds strategic leverage with tunnels
Hamas's political leadership has suffered blows, but its underground tunnel network remains a significant threat. Six hundred days into the war that erupted on October 7, 2023, Israel has eliminated nearly all of Hamas's senior leadership in Gaza, yet the group continues to wield strategic leverage through its extensive tunnel network and the captivity of 58 hostages. Since the fighting began, the Israel Defense Forces have systematically targeted the military wing of Hamas. Commanders such as Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, Marwan Issa, and Rafa Salama were killed in precision strikes, and Mohammed Sinwar, Yahya Sinwar's brother, was killed in early May. By late May, only Ezz al-Din al-Haddad, commander of the Gaza City brigade, remained at large among senior operatives. Outside the Gaza Strip, Hamas's political leadership has also suffered heavy blows. Ismail Haniyeh was reportedly assassinated in Iran, and Saleh al-Arouri was killed in Lebanon in back-to-back operations that reverberated through the 'axis of resistance.' In their absence, acting Gaza leader Khalil al-Hayya and former politburo chief Khaled Mashal have taken the helm of ceasefire negotiations. Despite these setbacks, Hamas retains what analysts describe as its sole remaining 'strategic weapon' — a sprawling underground network beneath Gaza. Sources told Asharq al-Awsat that the tunnel system still comprises defensive passages, attack routes aimed at IDF positions, command-and-control corridors and holding cells for Israeli captives. Pre-war estimates placed the network at some 1,300 tunnels spanning 500 km, with depths of up to 70 meters. Although the IDF has launched operations across all sectors of the Strip, it has yet to destroy the entire labyrinth. Meanwhile, Israel's military campaign has largely neutralized Hamas's long-range rocket arsenals and eliminated hundreds of operatives at every level. Hamas has recruited fresh fighters amid the fighting and, according to multiple reports, repurposes unexploded Israeli ordnance to manufacture rudimentary munitions. On the diplomatic front, Hamas has shown its first signs of flexibility in hostage-swap talks. The group, which long demanded an absolute end to hostilities, offered a temporary 70-day ceasefire and even floated a conditional proposal to relinquish governance of Gaza if all Palestinian factions agreed to a unified political settlement. Reports from Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen suggest Hamas is willing to accept restrictions on its weapons development so long as it retains its existing arsenal. Hamas's regional allies have likewise been weakened. Hezbollah in Lebanon has seen its influence curtailed by a new government and president demanding state control over arms. In Syria, Bashar al-Assad's regime faces internal collapse, while in the West Bank, Jenin has become a more permissive arena for IDF operations. Iraqi militias—once a vocal threat—have held fire amid U.S. pressure. Only Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis remain actively engaged, launching missiles and disrupting Red Sea shipping. On the ground in Gaza, growing reports of hunger and hardship have eroded public support for Hamas. In some districts the group still enforces order by force, but in others Palestinians openly call for an end to the fighting. Israel has responded by piloting a new direct humanitarian-aid distribution model designed to bypass Hamas's traditional role as arbiter of relief. Hamas, the organization behind the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, has been grievously weakened, as has the broader 'axis of evil' to which it belongs. Yet Israelis remain painfully aware that 58 fellow citizens are still held underground by Hamas—some for 600 days now. Until every hostage is returned, whether to rehabilitation or to burial, the nation's heart will remain incomplete.
Arab News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Israel urges ICC to drop arrest warrants against PM
THE HAGUE: Israel has asked the International Criminal Court to dismiss its arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant while ICC judges reconsider complex jurisdictional a 14-page document dated May 9 but posted on the ICC website on Monday, Israel argued the warrants issued in November were null and void while judges weigh a previous Israeli challenge to the ICC's jurisdiction in the a ruling that made headlines around the world, the ICC found 'reasonable grounds' to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore 'criminal responsibility' for war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in court also issued a war crimes warrant against top Hamas commander Mohammed Deif over the October 7 attacks that sparked the conflict. The case against Deif was dropped in February after his not one of the ICC's 125 members, challenged the court's jurisdiction but judges on the ICC's 'Pre-Trial Chamber' dismissed the bid and issued the arrest last month, the ICC's Appeals Chamber ruled the Pre-Trial Chamber was wrong to dismiss the challenge and ordered it to look again in detail at Israel's says now that the arrest warrants should not stay in place while this complex and lengthy process is ongoing.'Unless and until the Pre-Trial Chamber has ruled on the substance of the jurisdiction challenge... the prerequisite jurisdictional finding does not exist,' Israel argued.'It follows that the arrest warrants issued on 21 November 2024 must be withdrawn or vacated pending the Pre-Trial Chamber's determination of Israel's jurisdictional challenge.'Israel and its allies reacted furiously to the warrants issued on November 21, Netanyahu describing it as an 'anti-Semitic decision' and then US president Joe Biden slamming it as 'outrageous.'Technically, any member of the ICC is required to arrest Netanyahu if he travels there, although the court has no independent power to enforce argued in its submission that Netanyahu could theoretically be arrested while the court was still weighing whether it had jurisdiction in the case.'Depriving persons of their liberty on the basis of an arrest warrant issued in the absence of the necessary legal pre-conditions is an egregious violation of fundamental human rights and of the rule of law,' Israel the warrants to stay in place during the deliberations 'is unlawful and undermines the legitimacy of the court,' said Israel.
