Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews has criticised Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, for not addressing allegations of genocide brought against Israel in a prominent UN court. Additionally, Andrews urged other members of the European Union to back Ireland in legally involving themselves in South Africa’s legal proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The expectation is that Ireland will offer intervention to underscore the significance of safeguarding civilians once the main lawsuit is lodged. Andrews, along with a colleague, organised a legal conversation in Brussels related to the case.
Scholars contended that the EU has failed to utilise all potential measures to lessen the rate of deaths and injuries among Palestinians, highlighting the crucial role of third-party countries in enforcing the court’s provisional directives.
The ICJ has enforced two provisional orders, compelling Israel to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza and guarantee the unrestricted supply of food, water, and medical aid into the battle-scarred region.
Israel categorically refutes the accusations of committing genocide and argues that its military operations are a form of self-protection. It may take years for a final verdict in the case to arrive.
During the discussion panel, scholars suggested that the provisional orders issued in the beginning of the year could, at least, invoke responsibilities to prevent genocide. According to Vaios Koutroulis, a professor of public international law, a genocide doesn’t need to be currently happening for these obligations to be invoked.
Adel Atieh, the deputy head of Mission of the State of Palestine to the EU, questioned if Israel’s participation in EU trade programmes aided its military offence and if there was any duty on the EU as a block of countries to curb genocide.
“The European Union holds exclusive competences to develop policies primarily in trade and scientific collaborations, I’m mainly referring to Israel’s involvement in certain scientific programmes and even the Galileo programme,” said Atieh. He suggested that an important question would be to investigate whether Israel uses the telecommunication network to identify Gaza-based targets and potentially use technology to harm civilians.
Dill Janiana, a professor in Global Security and co-director of the Oxford Institute of Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, responded that the actions taken by EU up till now have equated to “very, very little”.
In her address to the officials and esteemed attendees, she fervently entreated them to contemplate on enforcing measures that are both lawful and morally upright. She stated that a military intrusion on the small, war-weary land was not a viable solution. Concurrently, she emphasised that there remains considerable scope for implementing legal, moral, and effective measures to regulate Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip, which have regrettably been neglected until now.
She ardently implored the decision-makers to consider controlling Israel’s behaviour through weapons embargoes, withdrawal of financial and diplomatic aid, and diplomatic pressure. She expressed her belief that a significant gap exists between what is theoretically possible, legal, and ethically correct, and what has genuinely been attempted to date, which is unfortunately minimal.
Mr Andrews highlighted the European Union’s “double standards”, articulating the disparity in its response to the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures for Ukraine and Gaza. He added that the discrepancy in approach towards the Ukraine case, in which the EU demanded compliance with provisional measures, compared to its silence in the Gaza case, is quite vivid.
Mr Andrews expressed his desire to question the benefit of countries like Ireland legally intervening in South Africa’s ICJ case. He also questioned, “how can we compel the EU to take further action”, despite the fact that the EU is not a party to the Genocide Convention.
After the event, Mr Andrews emphasised, “when international law is selectively enforced, it results in hypocrisy and double standards”. He also criticised the EU Commission and Ursula von der Leyen for remaining silent on South Africa’s genocide lawsuit against Israel in the International Court of Justice, despite backing Ukraine in a similar court procedure in 2022. He insisted that international law needs to be upheld universally. He concluded, “Ireland will participate in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel. It is a question of when other EU states will do the same?” – PA