August 4, 2025 | 09:05 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A former deputy prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia said there is overwhelming evidence of genocide in Gaza. He even equated the situation to the Srebrenica massacre in 1995.
Graham Blewitt, who helped prosecute war crimes in the Balkans and Nazi crimes in Australia, said in a recent interview with Australian broadcaster SBS News that if he worked at the International Criminal Court at present, he would "not hesitate to bring charges against Israeli leaders for genocide."
Blewitt said the mass killings in Srebrenica, where more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed and buried in 570 locations, including 77 mass graves, had been considered a "clear case of genocide" due to the perpetrators' intention to destroy the target group in whole or in part.
The 78-year-old man said the same standards might apply to Gaza.
"There’s no direct evidence apart from comments made by various Israeli leaders from time to time suggesting that they just want to wipe the Palestinians from the face of the Earth," he said as quoted by Anadolu.
Blewitt added that Israeli airstrikes had shown a worrying lack of proportionality.
"They’ll bomb a building and say they’re after a particular Hamas leader and not worry about the 30, 40, 50, 100 people in close proximity who are killed or injured as a result of that strike," he said.
Unlike the 1990s, the current digital era has created a vast visual documentation archive.
"Now anyone with a phone can record what’s happening, and there’s no end of evidence for those investigating what’s happening in Gaza," he said.
However, he also warned that current investigators did not have access to Gaza to gather physical evidence or examine the scene of the incidents.
As reported by SBS News, Blewitt began investigating war crimes in 1988, after being recruited to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) in Australia, formed by Prime Minister Bob Hawke's government to investigate suspected Nazi collaborators living in Australia.
Interference with Justice
Blewitt also expressed concern about global political efforts to protect Israeli leaders from legal action.
He criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order in February imposing sanctions on ICC staff, after the court issued arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He described it as a "terrible situation" that undermines international justice and may lead to some political leaders being considered in contempt of court.
Blewitt said this situation made him very frustrated.
"I used to be quite optimistic about the capacity of international institutions to hold war criminals accountable. Now, I'm not so sure," he said.
His statement comes as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) continues to examine a case filed by South Africa, accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. This case has subjected Israel's actions to increasingly intensive legal scrutiny.
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