A Dutch Palestinian who lost six relatives during a 2014 bombing of Gaza sought compensation yesterday from former Israeli armed forces chief and prime ministerial hopeful Benny Gantz.
Ismail Ziada’s complaint was filed against Gantz and former Air Force Commander Amir Eichel, a press release issued by the Palestine Justice Campaign said, invoking “universal jurisdiction” laws.
The #Ziada hearing in The Hague court will start in a few hours. Here is the official #Gantz response, “The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) is the most moral army in the world and I am proud to have served in it for almost 40 years and to have commanded it,” https://t.co/obIIPKeZpa
— Ziada Justice Campaign (@JusticeZiada) September 17, 2019
“I struggle to stand in front of you today to gain justice and accountability,” Reuters reported Ziada telling Dutch judges, referring to the “unspeakable tragedy” that befell his family.
On Sunday, July 20, 2014, the Israeli air force bombed the Ziada family home in Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip resulting in the death of Ziada’s 70-year-old mother, three of his brothers, the wife of one of his brothers, his 12-year-old nephew, and a visitor who happened to be at the house at the time of the attack.
Dutch-Palestinian sues Benny Gantz in Hague for war crimes in 2014 Gaza operation https://t.co/iYMNOUmlY0
— Willemijn Leenhouts (@wleenhouts) September 16, 2019
Thom Dieben, a lawyer on behalf of Gantz and his co-defendant told the court the case should be dismissed because it violated state sovereignty rules and Dutch courts do not have jurisdiction.
The bombing of the Ziadi residence occurred during a seven-week conflict in which, according to Gaza health officials, 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed.
Benny Gantz, who looks increasingly likely to have unseated Netanyahu, once ran campaign ads boasting about "bombing Gaza back to the Stone Age" and killing hundreds of Palestinians, while he is currently on trial at the Hague for war crimes. https://t.co/6LnbuBcdVW
— ISM Palestine (@ISMPalestine) September 18, 2019
Codified under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, universal jurisdiction allows domestic courts to prosecute individuals for serious crimes that did not take place on their territory or were committed by their nationals.
However, prior attempts to prosecute Israeli officials under universal jurisdiction have failed.
Judges then adjourned for deliberations and said a ruling on would be rendered on January 29, 2020.
(Middle East Monitor, PC, Social Media)
