Rights Groups Appeal against US Officials over Gaza Genocide

The Center for Constitutional Rights, a New York-based civil liberties organization, submitted the appeal on Monday on behalf of Palestinian human rights groups Al-Haq and Defense for Children International, as well as Palestinians in Gaza and Palestinian Americans in the United States.

In their appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, the plaintiffs' attorneys argued that Biden, Blinken, and Austin were complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza, which has resulted in over 37,000 Palestinian deaths since October.

The original lawsuit, filed in federal court in November, was dismissed in January on jurisdictional grounds. Laila El-Haddad, a Palestinian plaintiff who lost five family members in the Israeli military's attacks, vowed to seek justice, stating, "I promised my surviving family members in Gaza that I would do everything in my power to advocate on their behalf."

Meanwhile, International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan has sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the occupied territories in recent months. Khan announced last month that he had reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant "bear criminal responsibility" for the war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

These crimes include ordering targeted attacks on Palestinian civilians and causing starvation through Israel's months-long blockade of water and food supplies to the region.

The ICC prosecutor's decision has been rejected by Israel's Western allies. Biden, Blinken, Austin, and other Western leaders have opposed the ICC's call for arrest warrants for the war-mongering Israeli leaders.