The legal case for imposing embargoes on Israel
Palestinians stand next to a massive crater caused by an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, south Gaza Strip, 16 October 2023
Shahd Hammouri writes in Al Jazeera on 3 April 2024:
It has been almost six months since Israel launched its most recent onslaught on Gaza, which has now reached genocidal proportions. The Israeli army has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, injured more than 75,000 and obliterated civilian buildings and infrastructure across the strip.
Israel is currently in violation of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) provisional measures requesting the protection of Palestinian rights, and the UN Security Council’s resolution calling for a ceasefire.
Its atrocities in Gaza are part and parcel of its settler colonialism which infringes on the most basic international legal principles and is a threat to international peace and security. In such a context, all statements of condemnation are empty of meaning if they are not followed by action.
Under international law, when international peace is under threat and genocide is being committed, states and corporations have the duty to act. Among the measures they can resort to are embargoes as a form of economic pressure to stop violations of international law.
In the case of Israel, such measures are necessary to force the country to stop its violations and to protect the Palestinian people against further atrocities.
A threat to international peace and security
When considering the legal case for embargoes against Israel, it is important to understand in what contexts they are applicable. Under international law, member states are required to act when there is a threat to international peace and security – that is, violations are taking place that cross the red line at the core of the UN Charter.
Since Israel’s creation in 1948, which involved the dispossession and ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Palestinian people, armed conflict has not stopped. Israel’s settler colonial project has resulted in constant grievances by the Palestinians and other populations of the region, causing geopolitical tensions and hostilities.
Since the start of the latest Israeli assault on Gaza in October, there have been constant fears of regional spillover. Most recently, the risk of the proliferation of war was heightened by the brazen Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus – a grave violation of international law.
It is, by now, more than clear that the prolongation of the illegalities committed by Israel is a threat to international peace and security.