South Korean lawmakers seek ban on arms shipments to 'Israel'
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Legal decisions denouncing the Israeli occupation and genocide by the ICC and ICJ appear to be motivating authorities in nations throughout the world and prompting charges of complicity.
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Palestinians mourn their relatives, including a child seen in the photo, martyred in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, on October 29, 2024. (AP)
As the Israeli genocide in Gaza continues, legislators in South Korea's National Assembly raised concerns over the supply of arms to "Israel".
Researchers detailed the participation of various countries, including the United States.
According to Lee Young-Ah from the People Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, the US provided the largest amount of arms to the occupation, giving it more than 50,000 tons of weapons since the war on Gaza began.
Young-Ah emphasized that "Germany, the UK, Canada, France, Italy, Australia, South Korea, and other countries, are also supporting the massacre by arming Israel with bombs, bullets, jets and fuel."
Over the last year, Seoul has witnessed weekly pro-Palestine demonstrations. Despite this, the country has not ended its weapons transfers worth millions of dollars.
Im Jae-Sung, a lawyer, proposed the possibility that individual nations taking measures in their own countries may increase pressure on the US.
According to Jae-Sung, "That's why we're filing criminal charges against Israeli war criminals in South Korea. And even though South Korea isn't doing much, there are still declarations to stop exporting weapons to Israel."
Legal decisions denouncing the Israeli occupation and genocide by the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice appear to be motivating legal authorities in nations throughout the world and prompting charges of complicity.
Last month, a panel of UN experts warned that countries that allow "Israel's unlawful occupation" of the Palestinian territories and support it despite warnings of war crimes and possibly "genocide" in Gaza should be considered "complicit".
HRW urges halting weapons sales, transfers used in Israeli war crimes
The head of Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated on Friday that governments that sell weapons to "Israel" as it continues its aggression in Gaza and Lebanon are enabling belligerents abroad, Reuters reported.
HRW's Executive Director, Tirana Hassan, stated that nations such as the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom may curb "Israel's" behavior by halting military shipments.
"If there continues to be military support to the IDF and they (Western governments) know that these weapons are being used in the commission of war crimes, then that should be enough for weapons sales and transfers to stop," Hassan said during a Reuters interview.
Hassan detailed how a lack of any consequences for their abuses allowed Israelis to feel empowered to continue their aggression, asserting that governments that continue to provide the occupation with weapons undermine their credibility as defenders of international law, not to mention the integrity of the international system.
According to Hassan, this sends a message that "rules apply differently to us and our allies as they do to others, and that has really serious consequences."
She recalled how Western countries demanded Russian accountability for the war in Ukraine, pointing to obvious double standards.
Hassan talked to Reuters as the United Nations Human Rights Office revealed that roughly 70% of confirmed deaths in Gaza were women and children, stating that this should "motivate the world into action" and that "there is no justification for the killing of children."
