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Why Gaza Is Not Remotely Occupied
(Washington Post) Eugene Kontorovich - The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court last week found no jurisdiction over Israel's naval interdiction of vessels seeking to break the Gaza blockade. But she did issue a long, non-binding pronouncement that it would be "reasonable" to conclude Israel occupies Gaza. But even with all the qualifications, the prosecutor's argument is not reasonable. It is absurd and unprecedented. It embodies principles that have never and can never be applied to other situations. There has never been a finding of such a "remote" occupation, lasting nine years after the end of physical occupation and in the presence of a distinct and hostile local government. The basic condition of occupation is the substitution of the authority of the occupying power for that of the local authority. But there is no suggestion that Gazan authorities have been "substituted." They maintain daily authority on the ground. The International Court of Justice in 2005 considered the extent of Uganda's occupation of the Congo. The Court concluded that in a certain province, without the soldiers actually there, it did not amount to an occupation.