I don't consider flaunting someone's authority by hijacking nationals from other countries an attack per se? If that's the case the conflict began as soon as Jordan allowed PLO to stage attacks on Israel after the annexation.
Breaking Satellite Images Show 30% of Gaza Destroyed
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We could always just save time and combine the Current Events forum and the Thunderdome.
@canadaguy would have a field day.
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The last couple of days have been... well. An entire ass thing, obviously.
Some highlights:
Which plays, in part, into the ongoing fuckery of the IDF as outlined here:
www.bellingcat.com
And received this response:
And then this happened today:
Some highlights:
Article: Israel tells U.S. it will punish Palestinian Authority if ICC issues warrants
The Israeli government warned the Biden administration that if the International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, it will take retaliatory steps against the Palestinian Authority that could lead to its collapse, two Israeli and U.S. officials said.
Article: Scoop: Senators meet with ICC over concerns about possible Israel arrest warrants
A bipartisan group of senators held a virtual meeting on Wednesday with senior officials at the International Criminal Court to express their concern about possible arrest warrants being issued for Israeli leaders over the war in Gaza, according to three sources who were in the meeting or briefed about it.
Which plays, in part, into the ongoing fuckery of the IDF as outlined here:
“We’ve Become Addicted to Explosions” The IDF Unit Responsible for Demolishing Homes Across Gaza - bellingcat
Bellingcat investigates the demolitions carried out by the IDF in Gaza.
www.bellingcat.com
And received this response:
And then this happened today:
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Don't forget that the Hamas government accepted a cease fire proposal but Israel has declared they won't accept a cease fire if one of the terms is ending the war.
Option 1: return the hostages or Israel invades
Option 2: return the hostages and Israel invades
Oh right, it's not about the hostages.
Option 1: return the hostages or Israel invades
Option 2: return the hostages and Israel invades
Oh right, it's not about the hostages.
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Yeah. Trying to work out how to split this up since posts can only display 5 embeds and, like... there's so much.
Netanyahu vows to invade Rafah 'with or without a deal' as cease-fire talks with Hamas continue
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to launch an incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering.
apnews.com
Article: Israel to push on with Rafah operation while continuing hostage talks
JERUSALEM, May 6 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that his war cabinet approved continuing an operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah in order to pressure Hamas to release Israeli hostages and achieve the country's other war goals.
"The war cabinet unanimously decided that Israel continue the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas in order to advance the release of our hostages and the other goals of the war," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
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I think that may be one of those default settings that we never changed. We might be able to bump that up some without running into any issues with loading.
Edit - Took it up to 10. Let’s see how that goes.
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Oh it's fine, posting multiple times in a row is the kind of unga bunga workaround I'm a fan of.
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Oh it's fine, posting multiple times in a row is the kind of unga bunga workaround I'm a fan of.
You *just* missed my edit.
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When people talk about "Moderate" or sensible Republicans, particularly within the Senate, Mitt Romney is usually at the forefront of their mind. This is Mitt Romney:
This is that same playbook:
Israel getting called out by more countries.
And just a reminder of the human toll at the center of it all.
This is that same playbook:
Israel getting called out by more countries.
And just a reminder of the human toll at the center of it all.
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Funny thing is he's not wrong about TikTok. It has unquestionably made it much harder for Israel to hide it's actions and intentions as translated videos of the absolutely insane shit said on Israel's programming makes its way to the western public in large part thru a platform like TikTok.
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Absolutely. The fact that so many IDF soldiers, themselves, use the damn platform to show their own brutality is just... I think we all bitch and moan about social media, ultimately. And about how slow government response has been to this new information age, particularly when it comes to shoring up laws and provisions for stalking, bullying and the issuing of death threats.
But there's a certain amount of catharsis in that slowness and failure to adapt biting their propaganda machines in the ass and leaving it bare for all to see. Even if TikTok gets banned, even with Twitter in shambles - there's no hiding anymore, for better or worse. People will MacGyver it or something else will crop up.
what the fuck is wrong with us lib papers
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Literally everything.
But to be fair - and balanced, I guess - Op-Eds are basically universally dogshit.
Article: Kessler has worked for about 20 years as a research analyst, investment banker, venture capitalist, and hedge fund manager.[2]
...
Among his many other writings, in an April 26, 2007 guest column in The New York Times, entitled "Trust Me", Kessler wrote in part: "There are plenty of things I don’t trust – like Wikipedia. I’ve watched my 15-year-old son and his friends take turns editing the page for the animated film 'Land Before Time,' flipping the gender of the character Littlefoot from he to she and back."[6]
In March 2023, he suggested in the Wall Street Journal that the Silicon Valley Bank “may have been distracted by diversity demands” in the lead up to its collapse.[7][8][9]
Very smart man. Definitely somebody we should 1) take seriously and 2) continue to give a platform to in our very serious, very respectable papers. Mmhm.
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Article: Gaza is 'choked off' from aid since crossings shut, UN agencies say
GENEVA, May 7 (Reuters) - U.N. agencies said on Tuesday the two main crossings into the southern Gaza Strip remained shut, virtually cutting off the Palestinian enclave from outside aid with few stocks positioned inside.
The global agency's humanitarian office spokesperson Jens Laerke told journalists Israel had shut both the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings for aid and people as part of its military operation in Rafah, where around 1 million uprooted people are sheltering.
The Israeli military said a limited operation in Rafah was meant to kill fighters and dismantle infrastructure used by Hamas, which governs the besieged Palestinian territory.
"The two main arteries for getting aid into Gaza are currently choked off," Laerke said, adding U.N. agencies had very low stocks inside the Gaza Strip since humanitarian supplies were consumed immediately. The enclave has just a one-day buffer of fuel stocks, he said.
"If no fuel comes in for a prolonged period of time it would be a very effective way of putting the humanitarian operation in its grave," he said.
A World Health Organization spokesperson said in response to a journalist's question that no exceptions were being made for sick and injured patients.
Israel War on Gaza | Live updates | Today's latest from Al Jazeera
Captive-exchange talks continue as Israel ups the ante after surrounding Rafah with tanks and troops.
Meanwhile, in the country directly and wholeheartedly supporting this...
Article: US report on Israel’s wartime conduct in Gaza delayed, aides say
The State Department was expected to issue a report on Wednesday.
The Biden administration’s report on whether Israel has violated U.S. and international humanitarian law during the war in Gaza has been delayed and will no longer be released Wednesday as planned, three Senate aides and a House aide told POLITICO.
The State Department has been working for months on the report, which will issue a determination on whether Israel has violated international humanitarian law since the war in Gaza began. If so, the U.S. would be expected to stop sending Israel military assistance.
But the report won’t be finished by an initial Wednesday deadline, said the aides, granted anonymity to discuss internal communications. In an email, the Biden administration notified the Hill that it will miss the date — without providing a clear reason why.
Middle East Crisis: U.S. Criticizes Israel for Failure to Protect Civilians in Gaza Conflict
In a report, the State Department avoids sweeping conclusions, but raises the prospect that Israel may have violated humanitarian laws.
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Help my eyes won't stop rollingMiddle East Crisis: U.S. Criticizes Israel for Failure to Protect Civilians in Gaza Conflict
In a report, the State Department avoids sweeping conclusions, but raises the prospect that Israel may have violated humanitarian laws.www.nytimes.com
Guess that’s part of why they “temporarily paused” bomb deliveries. Made them wait for ground shipping instead of Prime’ing it to them. Every day the media here is talking about “Washington doesn’t approve” or “Biden wants to see a plan”, and it would be laughable if so many lives weren’t at stake.
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"Rolling your eyes is antisemitic."Help my eyes won't stop rollingMiddle East Crisis: U.S. Criticizes Israel for Failure to Protect Civilians in Gaza Conflict
In a report, the State Department avoids sweeping conclusions, but raises the prospect that Israel may have violated humanitarian laws.
-Joe Biden (probably)
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Did you know that some nazis have been known to roll their eyes?
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Did you know that Alu rolls Nazis?
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They never paused, Biden just says that to distract people. It came out soon after that they would in fact continue shipments but only if they pinky promised not to use certain weapons in certain locations which I'm sure will be both adhered to and thoroughly checked
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Even if they do agree to those terms, it frees up non-American weapons for those areas
VashTheStampede
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You could afford healthcare if your political parties worked together to give it to you. America spends more on healthcare per capita than all other nations, and by almost 2x the second-highest nation.
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The sycophantic cheering and clapping is probably the worst part. Just Genocide Joe doing his thing and making it clear where he stands on everything - again.
Fun fact: The ICC isn't alleging genocide (yet). It is, and Biden knows it is, but that's just deflection from him.
Fun fact: The ICC isn't alleging genocide (yet). It is, and Biden knows it is, but that's just deflection from him.
Article: On the basis of evidence collected and examined by my Office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that Benjamin NETANYAHU, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav GALLANT, the Minister of Defence of Israel, bear criminal responsibility for the following war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 8 October 2023:
- Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Statute;
- Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health contrary to article 8(2)(a)(iii), or cruel treatment as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
- Wilful killing contrary to article 8(2)(a)(i), or Murder as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
- Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime contrary to articles 8(2)(b)(i), or 8(2)(e)(i);
- Extermination and/or murder contrary to articles 7(1)(b) and 7(1)(a), including in the context of deaths caused by starvation, as a crime against humanity;
- Persecution as a crime against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(h);
- Other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(k).
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The sad reality is, that even if our Democratic president were to suddenly speak out against Israel and stop supporting them, it would just mean he loses the election and we have an even shittier person who also would keep supporting Israel replace him. Because that's just how the American public is. It's disgusting.
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Mmhm. There's zero chance Trump would stop supporting Israel, if not actually seek to further escalate things. On top of all the other shit Trump and his cronies would do, domestic and foreign.
Still... Biden's already done everything he can do lose the youth vote, the brutality on display at college campuses was insane. His margins in 2020 were slim enough that unless it gets hammered home what all is at stake - women's bodily autonomy chief amongst them - I am not particularly hopeful.
Pertinent to this thread: Symbolic though it may be, the ICC should probably file an order for Biden while they're at it. He's inexorably linked to the Palestinian genocide and he and his administration will not curb or stop it in any way.
Still... Biden's already done everything he can do lose the youth vote, the brutality on display at college campuses was insane. His margins in 2020 were slim enough that unless it gets hammered home what all is at stake - women's bodily autonomy chief amongst them - I am not particularly hopeful.
Pertinent to this thread: Symbolic though it may be, the ICC should probably file an order for Biden while they're at it. He's inexorably linked to the Palestinian genocide and he and his administration will not curb or stop it in any way.
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All the more reason to stop, then. But Israel knows Biden has no spine and won't stand up to them; the story about the Associated Press having their equipment confiscated and removed from northern Gaza is like the absolute bare minimum and still fails to address the IDF continuously killing journalists for months.
The Biden administration has been going to bat for Israel on every possible front: Threatening the ICC, vetoing full Palestinian membership at the UN, whitewashing the fuck out of their own report so they could "justify" continuing to arm Israel, calling peaceful American protests on American soil antisemitic whilst the ACAB run roughshod on teenagers and female professors. Or while the ACAB sit on their thumbs and do fuck all while domestic terrorists attack said peaceful protestors.
Biden doesn't need to do a fraction of what he's been doing - he's doing it because he wants to. Because he's a religious zealot, because he's evil.
He doesn't see genocide because he doesn't want to see genocide. He's so certain that young people, Black people, women of all stripes and the various queer communities will still come out and vote for him en masse because Trump and the GOP want to enslave/kill/erase us all, and uses that self-assurance to be as brazenly callous and hateful here as strikes his fancy. Ultimately, he's probably going to be wrong on that - and we're all going to pay the price for it.
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You could also for for the guy who literally had brain worms that died.
Who probably is also pro genocide.
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Reason # 1 billion the US Election can't do anything positive for the Palestinians:
In the blue corner we have the genocider in chief, who technically says he doesn't want the Palestinians to be genocided but is actually perfectly fine with it. In the red corner we have a dude who says, to a group of local Arab leaders, that he wants to clear the Palestinians away from valuable beachfront properties...as if that's supposed to be something that would make them happy.
Do not count on anything good for Palestine to come from the US.
In the blue corner we have the genocider in chief, who technically says he doesn't want the Palestinians to be genocided but is actually perfectly fine with it. In the red corner we have a dude who says, to a group of local Arab leaders, that he wants to clear the Palestinians away from valuable beachfront properties...as if that's supposed to be something that would make them happy.
Do not count on anything good for Palestine to come from the US.
Israel minister: Build a new settlement for every country that recognises Palestine
Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich today announced punitive measures against Palestinian Authority and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take steps against the Palestinian Authority (PA) after Ireland,...
www.middleeastmonitor.com
Don't Trump and Netanyahu hate eachother? I can see Trump helping Israel but fucking Bibi over in the prettiest way, like making them accept Jared as governor.
The responses by cops and uni admin are just the liberal order reacting as expected, Biden couldn't really have done much about it.
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Allegedly, yes. But Trump's true believers are all aboard the Israel shit - of the Rapture variety, no doubt, but still - and minimally continuing to sell weapons is good for business, so...
Some sort of tit-for-tat would probably invariably come into play though, regardless of whether Netanyahu stays in power or not.
Aye, but:
1) Anything that happens under the president's watch is the president's fault. This was true for Trump and beyond, and it's true for Biden. It is especially true for Biden because he loves to dredge up the memory of George Floyd every year and do some wishy-washy bullshit dance about advocating for "police reform." Here we are four years later with the police still being a glorified gang with near-complete impunity, and Biden - alongside the overwhelming majority of Democrats/Liberals and all Conservatives - are somewhere between looking the other way and actively cheering it on.
Biden is also the fucking dumbass that said (paraphrasing) that it's not that cops shooting people is bad, it's that cops should just aim for the leg or something instead. Also:
FACT SHEET: 80% of House Republicans Propose Defunding COPS as President Biden Insists on Funding the Police | The White House
President Biden has stood with law enforcement his entire career, and worked to ensure law enforcement serves all communities his entire career. And he has the results to show for it. The President inherited a violent crime rate that surged under the prior administration. After taking office...
2) Biden doesn't necessarily need to comment on the situation at all, or if he does he can simply Both Sides™ it. So it was very, very telling when shit like this is what actually came out (on top of the when and the how):
Article: Biden decries antisemitism, protests that forget ‘terror’ of Oct. 7
President Biden on Tuesday called on Americans who are “ignoring” the events of the Holocaust and the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel to stop, issuing additional criticism of the protests on college campuses across the United States.
The president delivered the keynote address for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Annual Days of Remembrance ceremony and acknowledged that on college campuses, Jewish students are “blocked, harassed, attacked while walking to class.”
“Antisemitism, antisemitic posters, slogans, calling for the annihilation of Israel, the world’s only Jewish state,” he said in remarks at the U.S. Capitol. “Too many people denying, downplaying, rationalizing, ignoring the horrors of the holocaust and Oct. 7, including Hamas’s appalling use of sexual violence to torture and terrorize Jews. It’s absolutely despicable and it must stop.”
See also
That's not remotely Both Sides. That's specifically labeling all of the protests as antisemitic and setting the stage for cracking their skulls open. It is, simply, a play also found in Trump's book.
Biden has always been a tremendous Zionist and all in on the empire, he's obviously not going to do anything substantive, but putting the blame on him ignores the entire apparatus of the west being similarly ghoulish. The cops were always gonna handle it in the worst possible way, as would the people overseeing the education of the next cohort of people letting the machine keep turning.
What's interesting is how this very harsh response is going to affect the political leanings of protesters, especially if they just lost their academic credentials, and if that will change the turning of the machine. But that's for the coming decades to show.
What's interesting is how this very harsh response is going to affect the political leanings of protesters, especially if they just lost their academic credentials, and if that will change the turning of the machine. But that's for the coming decades to show.
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Biden is indeed a product of the system that got Israel to where it is today. Other people are in that as well, and the cops certainly are. They also just love to beat the shit out of protesters and this country has a pretty heinous record with protesters on college campuses specifically as well.
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Just a reminder that Biden has been a prominent member of Congress for 50 years. I'm not disagreeing, but also, I'm not sure if it's so much that Biden is a product of the system so much as the system is the inevitable consequence of having him and several of his colleagues pulling the levers and blocking progress for so long.
This would be in contrast to, say, the likes of Trump who went from being ostensibly a normal privileged elite to being an unhinged, barely coherent wackadoo thanks to Fox News and similar right-wing propagandist initiatives spinning up in the 90's.
pro-Israel fascist dickbag.
So... yeah, maybe? If it's going to end up the same way for them maybe that was the better option, and ain't that a fucked up thing to consider.
This would be in contrast to, say, the likes of Trump who went from being ostensibly a normal privileged elite to being an unhinged, barely coherent wackadoo thanks to Fox News and similar right-wing propagandist initiatives spinning up in the 90's.
I have seen the protests very unironically be referred to as riots by idiots, and some of the arrested students were initially being considered for felony charges by prosecutors of a particular ilk. They even arrested and handcuffed to the hospital bed a girl that was hit by/run over with a car by a
So... yeah, maybe? If it's going to end up the same way for them maybe that was the better option, and ain't that a fucked up thing to consider.
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I'm just so tired of the double standard, especially when it comes to how they view protests. Another example:
Black man murdered by cop: "they should have just complied."
Extremely mild gun law gets talked about, storm your state capital building with the biggest firearms you have and scream in the faces of cops "WE WILL NOT COMPLY!!!!!"
Black man murdered by cop: "they should have just complied."
Extremely mild gun law gets talked about, storm your state capital building with the biggest firearms you have and scream in the faces of cops "WE WILL NOT COMPLY!!!!!"
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If the 60s and the Vietnam protests and crackdowns are any indication, they'll turn into arch-conservatives.
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Not really anything substantive to say, just continued "developments" as they go through the motions.
Article: Top UN court orders Israel to halt military offensive in Rafah, though Israel is unlikely to comply
The top United Nations court has ordered Israel to halt its military operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Israel insists it has the right to defend itself from Hamas militants and is unlikely to comply with the ruling.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations’ top court ordered Israel on Friday to immediately halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, but stopped short of ordering a cease-fire for the enclave. Although Israel is unlikely to comply with the order, it will ratchet up the pressure on the increasingly isolated country.
Criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza has been growing, particularly since it turned its focus to Rafah. This week alone, three European countries announced they would recognize a Palestinian state, and the chief prosecutor for another international court requested arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, along with Hamas officials.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also under some pressure at home to end the war, which was triggered when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people, most civilians, and taking roughly 250 hostage. Thousands of Israelis have joined weekly demonstrations calling on the government to reach a deal to bring the hostages home, fearing time is running out.
“The charges of genocide brought by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice in the Hague are false, outrageous and morally repugnant,” Netanyahu’s government said in response to the ruling, maintaining its position that the military hasn’t and won’t target civilians.
South Africa was able to bring its case because it and Israel are signatories to the U.N.'s Genocide Convention, which includes a clause allowing the court to settle disputes over it.
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well they would know, they've been spying on the ICC for a decade:
www.theguardian.com
some choice quotes:
[...]
Israeli intelligence captured the communications of numerous ICC officials, including Khan and his predecessor as prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, intercepting phone calls, messages, emails and documents.
The surveillance was ongoing in recent months, providing Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, with advance knowledge of the prosecutor's intentions. A recent intercepted communication suggested that Khan wanted to issue arrest warrants against Israelis but was under "tremendous pressure from the United States", according to a source familiar with its contents.
[...]
Five sources familiar with Israel's intelligence activities said it routinely spied on the phone calls made by Bensouda and her staff with Palestinians. Blocked by Israel from accessing Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the ICC was forced to conduct much of its research by telephone, which made it more susceptible to surveillance.
Thanks to their comprehensive access to Palestinian telecoms infrastructure, the sources said, intelligence operatives could capture the calls without installing spyware on the ICC official's devices.
"If Fatou Bensouda spoke to any person in the West Bank or Gaza, then that phone call would enter [intercept] systems," one source said. Another said there was no hesitation internally over spying on the prosecutor, adding: "With Bensouda, she's black and African, so who cares?"
[...]
They also sought to convince the prosecutor that, despite the Israeli military's highly questionable record of investigating wrongdoing in its ranks, it had robust procedures for holding its armed forces to account. This was a critical issue for Israel. A core ICC principle, known as complementarity, prevents the prosecutor from investigating or trying individuals if they are the subject of credible state-level investigations or criminal proceedings. Israeli surveillance operatives were asked to find out which specific incidents might form part of a future ICC prosecution, multiple sources said, in order to enable Israeli investigative bodies to "open investigations retroactively" in the same cases.
[...]
Multiple Israeli sources said the leadership of the IDF wanted military intelligence to join the effort, which was being led by other spy agencies, to ensure senior officers could be protected from charges. "We were told that senior officers are afraid to accept positions in the West Bank because they are afraid of being prosecuted in The Hague," one source recalled.
Spying, hacking and intimidation: Israel’s nine-year ‘war’ on the ICC exposed
Exclusive: Investigation reveals how intelligence agencies tried to derail war crimes prosecution, with Netanyahu ‘obsessed’ with intercepts
www.theguardian.com
[...]
Israeli intelligence captured the communications of numerous ICC officials, including Khan and his predecessor as prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, intercepting phone calls, messages, emails and documents.
The surveillance was ongoing in recent months, providing Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, with advance knowledge of the prosecutor's intentions. A recent intercepted communication suggested that Khan wanted to issue arrest warrants against Israelis but was under "tremendous pressure from the United States", according to a source familiar with its contents.
[...]
Five sources familiar with Israel's intelligence activities said it routinely spied on the phone calls made by Bensouda and her staff with Palestinians. Blocked by Israel from accessing Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the ICC was forced to conduct much of its research by telephone, which made it more susceptible to surveillance.
Thanks to their comprehensive access to Palestinian telecoms infrastructure, the sources said, intelligence operatives could capture the calls without installing spyware on the ICC official's devices.
"If Fatou Bensouda spoke to any person in the West Bank or Gaza, then that phone call would enter [intercept] systems," one source said. Another said there was no hesitation internally over spying on the prosecutor, adding: "With Bensouda, she's black and African, so who cares?"
[...]
They also sought to convince the prosecutor that, despite the Israeli military's highly questionable record of investigating wrongdoing in its ranks, it had robust procedures for holding its armed forces to account. This was a critical issue for Israel. A core ICC principle, known as complementarity, prevents the prosecutor from investigating or trying individuals if they are the subject of credible state-level investigations or criminal proceedings. Israeli surveillance operatives were asked to find out which specific incidents might form part of a future ICC prosecution, multiple sources said, in order to enable Israeli investigative bodies to "open investigations retroactively" in the same cases.
[...]
Multiple Israeli sources said the leadership of the IDF wanted military intelligence to join the effort, which was being led by other spy agencies, to ensure senior officers could be protected from charges. "We were told that senior officers are afraid to accept positions in the West Bank because they are afraid of being prosecuted in The Hague," one source recalled.
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