A ceasefire has come into force between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, to finally bring the brutal fighting to an end and alleviate the suffering of 2.1 million Palestinians in the enclave.
The war in Gaza, which claimed the lives of more than 46,000 Palestinians and injured over 111,000 others, sparked international anger as it caused dire humanitarian crisis in the Strip and brought the region to the brink of an all-out war.
The brutality of the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians have increased Israel’s international isolation and pushed many people to speak out against the war crimes committed by Israel against the people of Palestine. Gilles Devers was one of the staunch defenders of Palestinian rights, spearheading efforts to achieve justice for the people of Palestine.
Gilles Devers: Champion of Palestinian Rights
A French lawyer, academic, and a prominent Palestinian advocate, Gilles Devers dedicated his life to defending the rights of the oppressed, regardless of their religion, race, color, or nationality. He only cared about humanity, utilizing legal tools to achieve justice for refugees, displaced people, and people in crises.
Since 2009, Devers took up the Palestinian issue, filing dozens of reports with the ICC’s prosecutor’s office on behalf of Palestinian victims. The French lawyer led a group of more than 350 NGOs and 40 lawyers, submitting a request for the ICC to decide on Israel’s war crimes during its war on Gaza in 2008-2009.
Devers efforts encouraged the Palestinian Authority to seek ICC membership, which it gained in 2015. Moreover, the French law expert’s complaint against Israel’s 2014 war on Gaza, which killed more than 2,320 Palestinians, was the reason behind the ICC’s declaration in 2021 that it would launch a probe into possible war crimes committed by Israel.
Confronting Israeli Crimes
After the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, Devers mobilized a group of 500 lawyers and NGOs. The French lawyer led an effort at several international courts, most notably the International Criminal Court (ICC), filing cases against top Israeli officials, including the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Devers and his fellow lawyers presented thousands of reports and evidence that convict Israeli officials of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Despite his illness, Devers saved no effort to follow up on the legal cases.
The Battle has not Ended
From November 2023 to November 2024, Devers worked tirelessly to bring those responsible for the suffering of the Palestinian people to justice. Fortunately, the French lawyer had the opportunity to hear the ICC’s order to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, reaping the fruit of his hard work.
In a sigh of relief, Devers told his son “Now, I can die in peace,” passing away on November 26, 2024, just 5 days after the ICC ruling. After Devers’ death, his son, Manuel, pledged he would continue his father’s journey. “We are going to continue,” he said, according to Le Monde.
ICC Arrest Warrants
On November 21, 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as Hamas’ commander, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri, known as Mohammed Deif. The arrest warrants came against the backdrop of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity over Israel’s war in Gaza and Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel, respectively.
In their decision to issue the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, the ICC judges said that each of them “bear criminal responsibility for the following crimes as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others: the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
They added: “The Chamber considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”
After the ICC’s decision, Netanyahu and Gallant have become internationally wanted suspects and are at risk of arrest if they travel abroad.
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