The Attorney General and the State Attorney announced Tuesday evening that calls for deliberate harm to non-involved civilians in the fighting in the Gaza Strip are being investigated. The Justice Ministry's announcement comes on the eve of a hearing at the International Court of Justice on a complaint filed by South Africa against Israel alleging that it is committing "genocide" in the Gaza Strip.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara (archive), photo: Oren Ben Hakon
"The State of Israel, including the security bodies, are obligated to act in accordance with the principles of international law and the laws of war," the statement said, "statements that may call, inter alia, for deliberate harm to non-involved civilians, contradict the prevailing policy and may constitute criminal offenses, including offenses of incitement. A number of cases are currently under investigation by law enforcement officials."
The announcement itself did not specify the statements regarding which the examination is being conducted. Since the fighting began, a number of statements by elected officials and public figures have caused a storm in Israel and around the world. An example of this is the statement of Minister Amichai Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit) in which he did not rule out dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza, or the statement of MK Moshe Saada (Likud) that "today everyone understands that the Gazans must be destroyed." Statements in this vein constitute a significant chapter in the lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
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