Will legal challenges be the answer to end the war on Gaza?
3 Min Read
Reed Brody, an experienced war crimes prosecutor, believes the initiatives of the ICJ and ICC are effective and mark a"historic turning point in the use of the law to hold the Israeli government and its leaders accountable."
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Civil defense teams and Palestinian residents conducting a search-and-rescue operation after Israeli forces attacked Gaza on October 2, 2024 (Anadolu Agency)
Diala Shamas, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), has been working to leverage international and US law to halt the war on Gaza. She is part of a group of lawyers active in courthouses from California to The Hague, addressing the legal implications of the war on Gaza, which has killed over 42,000 Palestinians.
Significant developments have occurred in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which identified a “plausible risk” of genocide in Gaza. Additionally, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor has recommended arrest warrants for the leaders of both the Palestinian Resistance and "Israel".
Meanwhile, legal actions regarding the supply of weapons to "Israel" are progressing in various countries.
"We've seen more action and more direct engagement with international law in this last year than I think I can remember," Shamas told The Guardian.
Shamas and her colleagues have sought accountability in American courts regarding what they see as Biden's complicity, though their efforts have largely been unsuccessful.
In November 2023, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration for contributing to genocide via the provision of weapons to "Israel".
The case was dismissed in January by a federal judge, who deemed it a “political question” beyond the court's jurisdiction, a decision upheld by an appeals court. Despite the unfavorable rulings, Palestinian plaintiffs provided poignant testimonies, some from Gaza, recounting the impacts of the Nakba. Shamas highlighted the significance of using the word "Nakba" in federal court, noting that it was crucial for Palestinians to be “taking the stand while they're not on the defense.”
Diala Shamas expressed her disagreement with the judge's conclusions, stating, “That is just the ultimate declaration of helplessness of the judicial system.
Raised in al-Quds, she witnessed the evolving nature of the Israeli occupation and despite not being lawyers, her family recognized the significance and limitations of the law in safeguarding Palestinian rights.
She has spent the past seven years at the Center for Constitutional Rights, defending clients affected by Trump’s Muslim ban and collaborating with Palestine Legal to support Palestinians in America facing discrimination.
The center's lawsuit to halt Biden's arms transfers to "Israel" is part of several landmark cases related to the ongoing war.
Shamas emphasizes the urgent need for judicial action due to the rapid and severe harm occurring, stating, “We don’t have time for the normal pace here of legal cases to proceed.”
Reed Brody, an experienced war crimes prosecutor, is confident about the effectiveness of the initiatives of the ICJ and ICC, citing that despite being a devastating year for Gaza, it has been a "historic turning point in the use of the law in efforts to hold the Israeli government and its leaders accountable."
Other countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, have limited certain arms shipments to "Israel" during the last year. "Lawyers are going domestic and saying, 'You can't do this, because you are becoming complicit in genocide or crimes against humanity," Brody told The Guardian.
"I think we're going to see that everywhere," he maintained.
