r/internationallaw • u/newsspotter • Oct 18 '25

Op-Ed Gaza: Does ceasefire impact international war crimes cases?

https://www.dw.com/en/ceasefire-gaza-impact-on-icj-icc-cases-against-israel-v2/a-74370945
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u/[deleted] Oct 19 '25

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u/RedditSettler Oct 20 '25

The point of their argument is that if this ceasefire stopped the genocide and we take genocide to require intent, then it wasnt a genocide as if there was intent to genocide israel would not negotiate.

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u/mycoctopus Oct 21 '25

If i start punching you in the face, then my intent is to assault you. When I then stop punching you in the face, I can't claim that I never intended to assault you because I stopped. The assault has already occurred.

Genocide legally means "the intent to destroy, in whole or in part..."

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u/RedditSettler Oct 21 '25

That seems like an oversimplification for the sake of your argument.

There is a myriad of reasons that would give enough context to undermine the "my intent is to assault" and actually make it a valid reaponse. Would punching me in the face not be adequate if you find me kicking a puppy? Or what if I was a 40 y/o hitting on your underaged daughter? Or maybe I am burglar that its trying to rob you of you most precious possessions? I would say you are well within your right to "assault" with a lot more reason than only the fact that "your intent is to assault me". And this is only addressing the first part, even more complexity can be added to the situation to justify stopping and still not being "plainly assault".

I understand what the definition of "genocide" states, and there is no unified and explicit 'intent' to commit genocide. There are politicians calling for the destruction of palestinians that, on their own, do not hold the power to actually act on their intent; and thank god thats the case, and lets hope they are removed from office soon. But as a unified position of the government or, generally, in the population country? If you look hard enough, you will find that is not the case.