The United States, France, Germany, Russia and Argentina, who had dual nationals taken hostage, did not try to bomb Hamas infrastructure and places where Hamas hid. Instead, they let Israel do it and then accused Israel of destroying the Gaza Strip.
Rather than putting any pressure on Qatar and demonstrating in front of Qatari-owned hotels in France, the United States and elsewhere in Europe, the families of the hostages have been putting pressure on the Israeli government, thereby doing exactly what Hamas would presumably like them to do. They are "working" for Hamas -- and against their own interests -- in the hope of seeing more hostages released. By their actions the value of the hostages only increases.
The demonstrators are doing what Hamas cannot do by itself: they are dividing Israel so that the unity government loses its strength in the negotiations, as well as any ability to bring the hostages home sooner -- a triumph that was successfully accomplished by the IDF, left unfettered.
The hostages are not the Israeli government's to deliver. They are unfortunately under the total the control of Hamas, Qatar and Iran --which is where the pressure should be applied, not on the government of Israel.
The only way a new Israeli government might negotiate the release of hostages would be by placing Israel's entire population in incalculable danger. Any new Israeli leader hand-picked and pushed through by the current US administration would most likely be expected to agree to a terrorist Palestinian state next to Israel -- meaning that the Israel would not be able to cross its border, if necessary, in "hot pursuit" of terrorists, and that the new state would soon be militarized, officially or not. Even if a new, sovereign Palestinian state were supposedly demilitarized, it would still be free to form alliances with any other entity it liked, including Iran, Al Qaeda or ISIS.
Qatar said it would invest in France 10 billion euros and in exchange France said it would be happy to try to save the terrorist group Hamas.... Everyone wins -- except the hostages held by Hamas.
Without the US military base there, Qatar knows that it would be a rich, targetable oil-rig. America, "in exchange," it seems, agreed to let Hamas continue its terrorist activities support the US quest for a Palestinian state. No remaining hostages were released; perhaps they were not even talked about.
Even though American citizens are among those still held hostage in Gaza, the US appears to have sided with the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups, and their terrorist-supporting patrons, Qatar and Iran.
This is not the first time that Muslims have launched attacks against non-Muslims and taken hostages.
We did not hear the President of the Cairo's Al-Azhar University, nor Egypt and Jordan, Muslim states that entered into a peace agreement with Israel, condemn Hamas for having taking Israeli, American, Chinese, French, German, Russian, Filipino and Thai hostages.
They could not condemn it: taking captives is authorized by the Qur'an (9:5; 23:1-5; and 70: 30-35), so long as the captives are not Muslims. ISIS accordingly justified transforming Yazidi hostages into sex slaves.
Biden (USA), Cameron (GB), Macron (F), Scholz (D), Harris (IRL), Jakobsdóttir (IS), Sánchez (E), Meloni (IT), Golob (SLO), however, appeared surprised. They and their respective advisors were apparently not aware of that fact.
International customary law, however, forbids the taking of hostages. Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions prohibits the taking of hostages (Geneva Conventions, common Article 3, 1). It is also prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention and is considered a grave breach thereof (Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 34 and Article 147).
"It is generally acknowledged by the international community that the taking of hostages is one of the most vile and reprehensible of acts. This crime violates fundamental individual rights—the right to life, to liberty and to security—that are protected by binding legal instruments such as the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the worldwide level, and the 1969 American Convention on Human Rights and the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on the regional level. The United Nations General Assembly has stated that the taking of hostages is an act which places innocent human lives in danger and violates human dignity."
The Rome Statute defines "enslavement" in its Article 7(2)(c) :
"Enslavement means the exercise of any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership over a person and includes the exercise of such power in the course of trafficking in persons, in particular women and children.
Article 7(1)(c), Crimes against humanity, of the Rome Statute considers enslavement as a crime against humanity:
1. For the purpose of this Statute, "crime against humanity" means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
(a) Murder;
(b) Extermination;
(c) Enslavement;
(d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
(f) Torture;
(g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
It is not surprising, therefore, that several Muslim states (Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Sudan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen) are not parties to the Rome statute. Qatar voted against it.
The International Convention against the Taking of Hostages (1979) develops international cooperation between states in devising and adopting effective measures for the prevention, prosecution and punishment of all acts of taking hostages as manifestations of international terrorism.
State parties of the International Convention against the Taking of Hostages (1979), pursuant to its Article 6 - Paragraph 1 must:
"When an alleged offender is present [this includes accomplices] in the territory of a Party, and it is 'satisfied that the circumstances so warrant', in accordance with its law, take the person into custody, or take such other measures to enable any criminal or extradition proceedings to be instituted. The limited discretion is common to the conventions, but must be exercised reasonably and in good faith".
This 14 page article ends with these words:
The hostages are still in the hands of Hamas. Girls and women, men and boys, can continue to be held as sex slaves in Gaza and raped, tortured or murdered.
Even though American citizens are among those still held hostage in Gaza, the US appears to have sided with the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups, and their terrorist-supporting patrons, Qatar and Iran.
In other parts of the world, "More than 365 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith" with many facing genocide. No state so far has filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) about that. What prevents South Africa from filing a case at the ICJ?
The Islamic Republic of Iran will in all likelihood soon have nuclear bombs. It may well try to use them on Israel, the "Little Satan". The US administration still pretends that it is not aware that one Iranian nuclear bomb exploding high above the United States would be enough to send the "Big Satan", America, back to the Middle Ages.
In fairness, the US has been sending Israel truly impressive help but that could be erased by other "priorities" tomorrow.
Muslims in New York, Illinois and Michigan are already calling for "Death to America," and Biden, who wants their votes, seems to be trying to accommodate them. In the meantime, terrorists-in-waiting have been rioting on American university campuses, with only a few exceptional members of Congress willing to confront them.
"Never Again" has been overtaken, at least for now, by "Death to America", "Death to Israel", "Kill them all".
For the full article please click on the link above or click on the link below for the pdf file:
Michel Calvo was born in Tunis, Tunisia. An expert in international law, he was a member of the International Court of Arbitration representing Israel. He is the author of The Middle East and World War III: Why No Peace? with a preface by Col. Richard Kemp, CBE.
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Pictured: Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a citizen of the United States and Israel who is being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, appears, with his left hand amputated, in a Hamas propaganda video published on April 24, 2024.
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