Israeli committing ‘manifest war crime’ says legal scholar who defended Tel Aviv at ICJ genocide case

A leading member of Israel’s legal team in the genocide case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has publicly condemned the Israeli military’s latest operation in Gaza as a “manifest war crime”. Professor Eyal Benvenisti, a prominent international law expert and director of the Lauterpacht Centre at Cambridge University, co-authored a scathing legal opinion warning that Israel’s policy of forcibly “concentrating and moving” Gaza’s population amounts to a grave breach of international law.

Published on 8 July in Haaretz, the opinion, co-written with legal philosopher Professor Chaim Gans, denounces the IDF’s current campaign, dubbed Operation “Gideon’s Chariots”, as a clear case of forcible population transfer, a crime prohibited under the Fourth Geneva Convention and classified as both a war crime and a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute.

Benvenisti explains that under international law, moving civilians during wartime is only allowed in very limited and clearly defined situations—mainly when it is urgently needed to protect them from immediate danger. Even then, strict conditions must be met: the evacuation must be temporary, civilians must be guaranteed safe routes and access to aid, and they must be allowed to return home once the fighting ends.

According to Benvenisti, Israel’s current order to “concentrate and move” Gaza’s population fails to meet any of these requirements. Instead of aiming to protect civilians, the plan he argues is designed to push Palestinians out of Gaza altogether. This is confirmed by public statements from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon, who have openly described the policy as one of permanent removal of Palestinians from the territory, which is a clear violation of international law.

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In a Knesset address in May, Netanyahu explicitly said: “We are demolishing more and more [of their] homes, they have nowhere to return to. The only obvious result will be the desire of the Gazans to emigrate outside the Strip.” The legal scholars interpret this as direct evidence of an intent to forcibly transfer civilians, an act Benvenisti warns is punishable under both Israeli and international law.

The opinion draws upon precedents set by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and emphasises that Israel’s own laws, including a 1950 statute, define deportation and other inhumane acts against civilian populations as crimes against humanity.

Most significantly, the authors argue that the IDF’s orders are “manifestly unlawful,” stripping soldiers and commanders of any legal defence under the doctrine of “superior orders.” Article 34M of the Israeli Penal Code, they point out, requires disobedience to such illegal orders, placing legal liability on every level of command, up to and including the Chief of Staff.

Benvenisti’s break with the Israeli government’s legal position is particularly striking. He played a central role in defending Israel’s actions before the ICJ last year, when South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. 

The legal opinion comes at a time when human rights groups and UN experts have warned that Israel’s actions in Gaza, including the destruction of homes, denial of humanitarian aid, and repeated forced displacements, are fuelling what may amount to an irreversible campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Benvenisti and Gans conclude that “There is no moral or legal obligation to obey the order, but more importantly: there is a moral—and legal—obligation to disobey it.”

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