| Topic: | Accusation by ICJ prosecutor Khan | |
| Posted by: | John Hawkes | |
| Date/Time: | 22/05/24 15:10:00 |
| Mr Ixer Do you think Mr Khan KC is up to the job ? Below is a detailed rebuttal of his accusation by Jonathan Turner, Chief Executive of UK Lawyers for Israel to be found in the Spectator. (Yes, Turner is Jewish but Khan is a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community). 15-all ! 'The Prosecutor’s public statement was not just insulting; its inaccuracy was embarrassing. He claimed: ‘The siege [of Gaza] also included cutting off cross-border water pipelines from Israel to Gaza – Gazans’ principal source of clean water – for a prolonged period beginning 9 October 2023.’ The entirety of this statement is untrue. Prior to Hamas’s devastating attack on 7 October 2023, Israel was supplying less than 10 per cent of the clean water used in the Gaza Strip. In the course of the Hamas attack, two of the three pipelines were damaged, according to the IDF. Israel resumed the supply of clean water through the undamaged pipeline within six days of stopping it and through another pipeline when it was mended shortly afterwards. Khan also accused Israel of ‘cutting off and hindering electricity supplies from at least 8 October 2023 until today’. Nine out of the ten power lines from Israel to Gaza were damaged in the Hamas attack on 7 October. Electricity is used by Hamas to light and ventilate its terror tunnels and to launch its rockets aimed at Israeli civilians. Much of the electricity in Gaza is produced by individual generators and Israel has allowed in enough fuel to generate electricity for essential services, despite the risk that this fuel is taken by Hamas. The Prosecutor referred to ‘the imposition of a total siege over Gaza that involved completely closing the three border crossing points, Rafah, Kerem Shalom and Erez, from 8 October 2023 for extended periods’. Did he forget that the Rafah crossing, which he visited at the end of October 2023, is between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, not Israel (whoops !) – and that it was reopened for humanitarian supplies on 21 October? Did he not realise that the Kerem Shalom crossing was damaged in the Hamas onslaught on 7 October, but was reopened following repairs on 17 December? And is he not aware that the Erez crossing is not equipped for cargo transfers? These egregious inaccuracies raise further questions as to the approach of the ‘Panel of Experts in International Law’ who agreed with the Prosecutor. (The fragrant Mrs Clooney et al). Did they examine only what they were given by the Prosecutor or did they check this information by carrying out their own research? False information about Israel is so pervasive that no one should take what they are told for granted without carrying out independent checks'. |