U.S. moves to block war crimes charges for Israel

https://huffpost.com/entry/un-security-council-us-block-accounta…

As bloodshed continues in Gaza, State Department officials are quietly working to stymie an attempt to spur global pressure to end the fighting there.

U.S. diplomats are finalizing a démarche ― a diplomatic initiative ― to their Swiss counterparts that Washington hopes will scuttle plans for a meeting to discuss violations of the Geneva Conventions in the current war between Israel and Hamas, the Gaza-based militant group, according to State Department documents seen by HuffPost.

The revelation comes as the U.S. is simultaneously slow-rolling the most high-profile international attempt to ease suffering in Gaza: a United Nations Security Council resolution that would drastically increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the besieged strip.

The Geneva Conventions are the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law which determine what actions are legal during a war. Every U.N. member state is party to some aspect of them, including the U.S. and Israel. Formal determinations that Israel has violated the conventions in its U.S.-backed offensive in Gaza against Hamas would represent a serious global condemnation of both countries ― and corroborate the claims of human rights groups who have gathered evidence they call proof of such violations.

Historically neutral Switzerland is the depository of the conventions, which means it determines when meetings of the parties involved are held to discuss compliance.