Palestinian children compelled to participate in a Hamas military parade. Photo: Twitter.
The decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s Pre-Trial Chamber on February 5, stating that the court has jurisdiction to investigate suspected war crimes in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, represents a milestone in the politicization of international law.
It is also a milestone in the international campaign to delegitimize the State of Israel by placing it on the same level as terrorist armies such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
As Col. (ret.) Eli Bar-On, former IDF Deputy Military Advocate General (2012-2015) recently wrote at the MirYam Institute:
While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, suspicion fell immediately on Israel, where its media nearly uniformly reported a cyberattack orchestrated by the country.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin declared the U.S.'s "enduring and ironclad" commitment to Israel on Sunday.The Associated Press reports that Austin made the remarks after meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz in Tel Aviv, the first visit to Israel by a member of President Biden's cabinet."Our commitment to Israel is enduring and ironclad," Austin said following his meeting with Gantz.The comments come as tensions in Israel have been.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the first Biden administration official to visit Israel, said the U.S.-Israel relationship was "enduring and ironclad," amid growing Israeli concern at the American efforts to revive the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal.
Happier times: King Abdullah (left) laughing with Prince Hamzah earlier this year, shortly before the Jordanian monarch embarked on a tour of the United States. AP
A pledge by Prince Hamzah to put himself “at the disposal” of King Abdullah II, his half-brother, appears to have resolved the feud within the Jordanian royal family that erupted at the end of last week. But the kingdom’s most serious crisis in decades was a salutary reminder of both the importance and the precariousness of Jordan’s stabilising role in the Middle East.
The events of the weekend remain murky and may never be fully disclosed. The kingdom has banned the publication of “anything related to the investigations, ” which suggests the palace is keen to draw a line under the affair.