A Dutch court will hear an appeal next week against Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz for his alleged role in the murder of a family during Israel’s 2014 military offensive on the Gaza Strip, Middle East Monitor reported on Saturday.
The Israeli air force bombed Ismail Ziada’s family home in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on July 20, 2014.
The Dutch court swept aside its own legal reasoning and inexplicably granted two Israeli commanders, including current defense minister @gantzbe, a shield of impunity https://t.co/y396z5xpDg
— Electronic Intifada (@intifada) September 16, 2021
Ziada’s 70-year-old mother, three of his brothers, the wife of one of his brothers, his 12-year-old nephew, and a visitor who happened to be at the house at the time of the attack were killed. Gantz was chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces at that time.
Dutch-Palestinian Ziada sued the Israelis for more than $600,000 in damages plus court costs. A court in the Netherlands dismissed the case last year because the alleged crimes were committed while Gantz acted in an official capacity.
"The Palestinian-Dutch citizen Ismail Ziada has been suing Gantz and Eshel, for the decision to bomb his family’s home during Israel’s 2014 aggrrssion on Gaza Strip."
Article from @QudsNenhttps://t.co/3K75uZ2Nzo
— Palestine Deep Dive (@PDeepdive) September 17, 2021
It also argued that it did not have jurisdiction in this case, despite the fact that, under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, universal jurisdiction allows domestic courts to prosecute individuals for serious crimes that did not take place on their territory or were committed by their nationals.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
