Israel’s terror war against Gaza failed. The Palestinian unity government held.
Israel’s terror against the people of Gaza, struck the world with dismay. Entire neighborhoods, refugee camps and 10 mosques were leveled and 6 hospitals partially destroyed. Even in the United States, where Israeli media and right-wing media with Fox News spearheaded an intense hate campaign against the Palestinians, deep cracks were struck in the backing of Israel. Especially among the younger North Americans who could follow through on social media through Israel’s war crimes.
Most of the world’s countries had already recognized Palestine as a state, but Europeans still lacked. Israel’s war on Gaza changed this. First, the Swedish government recognized Palestine and it was followed in quick succession by polls in the British, French and Spanish parliaments and lastly the European Parliament, which all recommended the recognition of a Palestinian state. It was clear that those who stood in the way of abolishing the Israeli occupation of Palestine in addition to Israel themselves were the United States. Palestine therefore formed, together with the Arab League, a plan that would result in the formal formation of a Palestinian state and the termination of the occupation in 2017. This plan was submitted to the UN Security Council by the Arab League and Palestine at the end of December 2014. The Palestinians knew well, the US would veto, but hoped that a majority would support the plan in the Security Council. At the December 31 vote, eight of the 15 members of the Council (Jordan, China, France, Russia, Luxembourg, Chad, Chile and Argentina) also supported the plan, but 9 needed to adopt it – which would have triggered a veto from US side. The United States and Israel therefore unfolded a fierce diplomatic activity in the days leading up to the vote in order for more countries to abstain. It managed to get Nigeria and Rwanda to abstain. The only two countries that voted against the resolution were the United States and Australia. Despite the defeat, France declared in early 2016 that if Israel had not escaped the occupied territories in 2017, France would unilaterally recognize Palestine and its sovereignty.
As a result of the Security Council defeat, President Abbas signed the papers on the inclusion of Palestine in the ICC. Ban Ki-moon announced in early January 2015 that Palestine will be admitted. Thus, the road was paved for Palestine to sue Israel’s war crimes for the ICC. The Israeli government was desperate and declared that no Israeli soldiers will be extradited. Netanyahu confirmed that the Israeli soldiers have the impunity to commit war crimes against Palestine. At the same time, the Israeli government announced its intention to raise suits for “war crimes” committed by Palestinians in Israel. Finally, the Israeli government interrupted the transfer of customs and tax revenue to the self-government to economically starve it.
On December 10, 2014, Israeli police killed Palestinian Minister Ziad Abu Ein at a demonstration outside Ramallah. Ein had the Israeli settlements in the occupied territories as his portfolio.
ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced in January 15 that the ICC will launch preliminary investigations into whether war crimes have been committed in the areas occupied by Israel. The move was welcomed by many politicians around the world. Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil stated that he hoped the preliminary investigation would lead to: “prosecution of Israeli officers for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip”. Israel’s foreign minister, right-wing Avigdor Lieberman, immediately condemned the ICC’s announcement as “scandalous” and described the preliminary investigation as “an attempt to undermine Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism”.
Sweden recognized the state of Palestine in October 2014, and in January 2015, according to agooddir, Palestine in Stockholm opened its first embassy. Relations between Israel and Sweden gradually deteriorated during the year, and in January 2016, the Israeli government declared the Swedish Foreign Minister for persona non-grata in Israel after she stated in very cautious terms that an investigation into whether Israel used excessive force in its dealings with the Palestinians – on the basis that Israel had killed 153 Palestinians in the previous 6 months.
In May 2015, the Vatican recognized Palestine as a state – after decades of recognition of the PLO.
In December 2015, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution stating that the State of Palestine has sovereignty over its own natural resources, including in the areas currently pending. is occupied by Israel. It instructed Israel to refrain from extracting, destroying or degrading Palestine’s natural resources, while asserting that Palestine has the right to seek compensation for such abuses. The resolution was adopted by 164 votes against 5.
In the latter half of 2015, Palestinians conducted a series of knife attacks on Israelis in primarily Jerusalem and Hebron. The assaults cost 23 Israelis their lives. Israel again responded with armed attacks on Palestinians, killing 153 Palestinians over the same period. Israeli military attacked a Palestinian hospital in Hebron in November and subsequently executed one of the patients. Disguised as Palestinians and with a Shin Beth wheelchair agent pretending to be pregnant, the soldiers entered the hospital in search of a Palestinian who allegedly injured a settler with a knife a few weeks earlier. During the campaign, they executed 27-year-old Abdallah Shalaldeh. ( Palestinian shot dead in Israeli undercover raid on West Bank hospital, Guardian 12/11 2015 ).
