Gaza Genocide Claim Tests Limits of Court’s Ability to Intervene

Palestinian and American plaintiffs asked a US appeals court on Monday to reinstate their lawsuit claiming the Biden administration is aiding and abetting genocidal conduct by Israel in Gaza.

The November 2023 lawsuit involves legal questions—not political ones—about the US’s alleged violations of treaty commitments to prevent genocide, attorney Katherine Gallagher of the Center for Constitutional Rights told a three-judge panel at oral arguments in San Francisco.

But the judges for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit didn’t all appear receptive to Gallagher, who represents Defense for Children International and a number of Palestinians and Americans who ...