LONDON: Three siblings facing conscription into the Israel Defense Forces have been granted the right to apply for Australian protection visas, The Observer reported.
A tribunal found that the trio held a genuine fear that they could be forced to break international law if deployed to Gaza.
If they had refused service in Israel, they could have faced imprisonment as conscientious objectors.
The Australian Administrative Review Tribunal found that this potential punishment amounted to persecution.
It also found “credible allegations that Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip are in breach of international humanitarian law.”
Australia, therefore, has a legal obligation to protect the siblings as refugees who would face persecution in Israel, the tribunal found.
It also found that “the basis of their refusal to serve in the IDF was that they would be required to serve in the Israel-Palestinian conflict on the Gaza Strip, and as part of that conflict may be forced to engage in breaches of international humanitarian law. The tribunal accepts that these views are genuinely held.”
Under Israeli law, the siblings would be subject to “terms of imprisonment of up to two years for refusing to serve in the IDF.”
The tribunal cited the International Criminal Court’s issuing of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“Israel authorities and Israeli security forces have committed and are continuing to commit genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” it found.
“The International Criminal Court arrest warrant and the UN Commission of Inquiry report contain credible allegations that Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip are in breach of international humanitarian law.
“This is a situation where Israel’s military operations are not currently considered by the international community to be proportionate in the means used to achieve a legitimate national objective of Israel.”
The tribunal said it is “satisfied that the risk of imprisonment faced by the (siblings) for refusal to do military service would involve a real chance of serious harm to them.”
