Why Gaza genocide is strongest case before ICJ William Schabas
In this episode of Expert Witness, Professor William Schabas, world leading scholar of international criminal law and genocide, reflects on his decades of experience as an academic lawyer and genocide expert, and the challenges facing international law after Israel's war on Gaza in 2023.
Schabas is the former president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars and the author of more than 20 books on genocide, the International Criminal Court, and international human rights law.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this
form . More about MEE can be found
here .
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Middle East Eye
3 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Armenia and Azerbaijan to ink peace memorandum under Trump mediation
Azerbaijan and Armenia are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding in Washington on Friday, committing to the pursuit of peace, according to regional sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Middle East Eye. The sources said that US President Donald Trump will host Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House for the signing ceremony. Although Armenia and Azerbaijan reached consensus on a draft peace agreement in March, Baku continues to insist on several additional conditions before finalising the deal. Chief among Azerbaijan's demands is that Yerevan amend its constitution to remove references to Azerbaijani territory, a step that would require a national referendum in Armenia. The anticipated White House summit follows a meeting between the two leaders in Abu Dhabi in July. Following the meeting, Aliyev said both countries could finalise the text of the agreement, or at least its main principles, within a few months and then initial them. 'Reaching an agreement on the basic principles, initialing them, and then working on the text can be an option,' Aliyev said, emphasising that such an approach hinges on Armenia amending its constitution. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Sources added that the two leaders are expected to sign a 'letter of intent' rather than a draft peace agreement, providing Trump with a diplomatic achievement he has been seeking in the region since last month. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov called his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on Monday to inform him about the summit, a third regional source told MEE. Turkish foreign ministry sources said that Fidan discussed bilateral and regional issues with Bayramov. MEE has reached out to both Armenian and Azerbaijani governments for comment. Why Trump is trying to put his seal on an Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal Read More » One of the main sticking points remains the so-called Zangezur Corridor, which would link mainland Azerbaijan to its exclave, Nakhchivan, through Armenian territory. Armenia rejects the term Zangezur Corridor, arguing that it carries irredentist implications for its sovereign territory, known as Syunik. Last month, US Ambassador Thomas Barrack officially proposed that an American company could lease and operate the corridor for 100 years, aiming to address the concerns of both sides over security and reliability of the transport route. However, Armenia rejected the proposal, stating it would not lease its sovereign territory to any third country. A regional source familiar with the negotiations told MEE that Turkey initially suggested the idea of a private company, approved by both Armenia and Azerbaijan, managing the corridor. 'However, the Armenian side demanded that the company also operate on the Nakhchivan side of the corridor, which was unacceptable to Baku,' the source explained. The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan dates back to the 1993 Nagorno-Karabakh war, when Armenian forces seized the disputed enclave - recognised by the United Nations as Azerbaijani territory, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. After a bloody six-week war in late 2020, Azerbaijan launched a military operation in September 2023 to retake Nagorno-Karabakh, resulting in a ceasefire agreement. Most ethnic Armenians fled, and the breakaway region was officially dissolved on 1 January 2024.
Middle East Eye
7 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
'Eli Cohens inside Iran': How Israel's war exposed deep infiltration and intelligence gaps
When Israel launched a surprise 12-day assault on Iran in June, Tehran and the world were caught off guard. Few anticipated such a move, particularly while Iran was engaged in sensitive nuclear negotiations with the United States. Sources told Middle East Eye that a handful of countries had warned Iranian authorities about suspicious Israeli movements. Yet despite heightened alert levels, Tehran was ultimately blindsided when the attack materialised. The nature of the attack and the ease with which it was executed sent shockwaves through Iran's political and security establishment. Behind the scenes, covert Mossad agents, paid informants, and a network of operatives - many allegedly embedded among Afghan migrants - are believed to have facilitated the strikes. An Iranian source in the conservatives' camp told MEE that Israel had long stationed agents inside Iran, observing the movements of officials. The source added that a series of cyber intrusions into Iranian banks and government institutions may have compromised personal data - including phone numbers and addresses of high-level figures and their families - paving the way for deeper penetration. "There have been some Eli Cohens inside the Islamic Republic too," the source remarked, referencing the infamous Israeli spy executed in Syria. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The Cohens In 2021, former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad publicly revealed that the head of the Israeli desk at Iran's Ministry of Intelligence had, in fact, been a Mossad agent - and was later arrested. 'How could the top official responsible for tracking Israeli spies turn out to be one himself?' Ahmadinejad asked at the time. 'Is it even conceivable that a single person was solely running Israeli operations inside Iran, without any oversight or team?' Just four days into the war, on 17 June, Israel killed Iran's highest-ranking military officer, Ali Shadmani, who was leading the Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters - effectively the country's war command centre. Iranians backed the state against Israel. Will it now reward them? Read More » Shadmani's daughter told Iranian media: 'My father was martyred in a direct confrontation with the Zionist regime.' 'Many assume he died in a random air strike, but he was assassinated in a targeted operation.' She added that after his death, Hebrew-language media celebrated the killing of the Islamic Republic's 'war commander' and 'closest military figure to the Supreme Leader.' Further revelations came from Fayaz Zahed, a member of the Government Media Council, during a televised interview. Zahed cited three separate incidents to highlight what he described as deep Israeli infiltration into Iran's security establishment. In the first, he said IRGC commander Hossein Salami warned the head of Iran's state broadcaster, Peyman Jebelli, at 1:30 am on 13 June, the first day of the war, that Israel was planning an attack that night. Salami was killed in an Israeli strike just 90 minutes later, suggesting that senior Iranian officials may have been aware of the impending attack but were unable - or failed - to prevent it. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi mourns next to the coffin of IRGC commander Hossein Salami, during a state funeral procession at Enghelab (Revolution) Square in Tehran on 28 June 2025 (AFP) In another case, Zahed questioned who had directed IRGC intelligence chief Mohammad Kazemi to the building that was struck by Israel two days later, implying that Mossad agents had deliberately led him into the trap. Zahed also referred to a third incident, in which nine Revolutionary Guard generals were reportedly gathered at the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He said Israel appeared to have known about the meeting in advance and waited until a tenth general arrived before launching the strike. 'The claim that nine people were gathered in a meeting at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and that the operation began only after one person's delayed arrival, is no trivial matter,' he said. 'The Ministry of Intelligence and IRGC intelligence must conduct a serious and thorough investigation. Without addressing the root of the problem, there's no guarantee it won't happen again. The culprits may still be in place, ready to finish what they started.' After ceasefire, Iran is preparing for the long war with Israel Read More » A key vulnerability, according to insiders, has been the influx of undocumented Afghan migrants into Iran. 'Afghans in Iran are not Israeli spies,' one source in government said, 'but the large number of undocumented individuals who crossed illegally, particularly after the Taliban took power, created a major opportunity for Israeli intelligence.' Former president Ebrahim Raisi's decision to open Iran's borders at the time is now being viewed in retrospect as a major security miscalculation. The source added that some Afghan migrants were unknowingly paid by Israeli operatives to assemble parts later used in drone attacks from within Iranian territory. 'They didn't know who they were working for - they were just following instructions,' he said. Infiltration from within One former security official described to MEE how Israel began penetrating Iran's intelligence infrastructure nearly two decades ago by exploiting 'ideological vulnerabilities' within the system. He pointed to the election of Ahmadinejad in 2005 as a turning point. 'That period saw a rupture in the intelligence apparatus. Many of the seasoned experts who had gained experience during the 1980s were pushed aside. A new generation - lacking field experience - took over. That significantly weakened us,' he said. He added that the early 2000s also saw the expansion of Israeli intelligence bases in neighbouring countries. Following the 2009 Green Movement protests - labelled 'sedition' by hardliners - many individuals advanced rapidly through the security ranks by demonstrating loyalty to the supreme leader and hostility toward the protests. 'That environment likely allowed foreign assets to rise through the system unnoticed,' the source said. He also criticised the ideological shift in Iran's security focus: 'The more ideological the system became, the more it prioritised cracking down on unveiled women and dissidents instead of foreign spies.' The source noted that, "The emergence of overlapping and competing security bodies further fragmented the intelligence landscape, leading to internal confusion and jurisdictional conflicts." Fallout and suspicion In the weeks following the war, the Ministry of Intelligence issued a statement declaring that it had thwarted assassination plots against 23 senior officials and arrested 20 Mossad agents. Meanwhile, one name has surfaced in the public's mind: Ali Shamkhani, the former head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and an adviser to the supreme leader, who was initially thought to have been killed in an Israeli strike. He later appeared on state television unharmed, claiming he had been trapped under rubble for hours - a statement that fuelled rumours and suspicion. 'The more ideological the system became, the more it prioritised cracking down on unveiled women and dissidents instead of foreign spies' - Former security official 'I looked closely at his face on TV,' said former MP Gholamali Jafarzadeh Imenabadi. 'There was no sign that he'd been trapped under rubble for three hours.' MP Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani further fuelled speculation, saying: 'There are serious ambiguities about Mr. Shamkhani's case. Some claim his son warned him to leave the building before the attack even began.' Notably, two of Shamkhani's aides have been arrested in the past decade on charges of spying for Israel. As the dust settles from Israel's most controversial operation in years, Iran's intelligence and political leaders face growing pressure to account for what many now believe was a deep and long-running infiltration - one that may not yet be over.
Filipino Times
9 hours ago
- Filipino Times
Kaufman Denies Blocking Honeylet's Visit to Duterte, Says ICC Controls Access
Nicholas Kaufman, lead counsel for former President Rodrigo Duterte, has denied accusations made by Duterte's longtime partner, Honeylet Avanceña, that he barred her from visiting the detained former leader at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. In a viral video posted by vlogger Maharlika, Avanceña expressed deep emotional distress over her limited access to Duterte. She pleaded directly with Kaufman, alleging that she was being kept away from the former president despite his deteriorating emotional health. According to her, Duterte has shown signs of depression and needs the support of his loved ones. Kaufman, in a statement to NewsWatch Plus, emphasized that visitation matters are beyond his jurisdiction as legal counsel. He clarified that only ICC detention authorities and, in certain cases, the court's judges determine who may visit detainees. 'Contrary to Ms. Avanceña's claims, visiting rights are not determined by counsel,' he said. Reassuring the public, Kaufman also stated that Duterte is under proper care and is being closely monitored by those around him daily. As of writing, the ICC has not released any official comment regarding Avanceña's claims. Duterte remains under investigation by the international tribunal for alleged crimes against humanity committed during the Philippine government's anti-drug campaign.
