The Palestinian government has urged foreign states with citizens serving in the Israeli military to investigate them for alleged war crimes committed during the current war in Gaza.
Riad al-Malki, the Palestinian foreign minister, wrote to the governments of the UK, US, France, Australia, Canada, South Africa and five Latin American countries on Tuesday, reminding them that all states are obliged under international law to investigate alleged violations, including war crimes, committed by their nationals. Malki said that governments should warn their citizens that they could be liable for investigation and prosecution.
Thousands of soldiers with dual nationality are conscripted into the Israel Defence Forces, while non-Israelis also volunteer under the IDF's Mahal programme, which invites Jews from other countries to serve in combat and support roles for up to 18 months. The IDF did not respond to a request for figures.
Malki's letter, which was also sent to Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, sets out the requirements under international law for governments to investigate alleged violations over which they have jurisdiction, including the actions of their nationals.
It demands that foreign states identify nationals serving in the IDF, notify them of alleged war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza, and investigate allegations that foreign nationals "were involved in the commission and/or the aiding and abetting of war crimes during the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, and prosecuting these individuals where appropriate".
Malki's letter says that Israeli forces have "committed war crimes during the repeated assaults on Gaza in the present, as in the past. They have engaged in indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks. Such actions have caused death and injury to thousands of Palestinian civilians, including children, and massive destruction to civilian properties, in grave breach of international humanitarian and human rights law."
The Israeli military has "deliberately targeted vital civilian infrastructure" and "carried out attacks against clearly marked facilities sheltering displaced civilians, including six [UN] schools", the letter adds.
However, the absence of specific allegations against named individuals will limit the capacity of foreign governments to act. The UN has established an international commission of inquiry into possible war crimes and human rights violations committed by both sides in the current conflict, appointing William Schabas, a Canadian professor of international law, as its head.
The independent team is to investigate "all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law … in the context of the military operations conducted since 13 June 2014," the UN said in a statement. It will report by March next year to the UN human rights council.
Israel dismissed the UN move, and is to establish an internal inquiry into the military and political conduct of the war.
A group of eminent British lawyers wrote to the international criminal court earlier this month urging it to investigate alleged war crimes committed in Gaza. "The international community cannot continue to act simply as witness to such bloodshed and extreme civilian suffering," they said.
Last week, Hamas announced it had backed a Palestinian move to join the ICC, the first step in taking legal action against Israel for alleged war crimes. Israel vehemently opposes Palestinian membership of the ICC, and many international diplomats have warned that such a move could entrench Israel's aversion to resuming the stalled Middle East peace process.
It could also expose Hamas to scrutiny by the ICC. A UN investigation into the last conflict in Gaza, Operation Cast Lead in 2008-09, concluded that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes.
