Palestinian children gather at a hot meal distribution point in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on June 4.EYAD BABA/AFP/Getty Images
Mark Kersten is an assistant professor in criminal justice at the University of the Fraser Valley and a senior consultant at the Wayamo Foundation.
Canadian authorities are conducting an investigation into war crimes and other potential atrocities committed in the Israel-Hamas war. First reported by journalist Ben Mussett, the news comes amidst mounting evidence of the intentional starvation of civilians in Gaza, the refusal of Hamas to return hostages, moves to build new (and illegal) settlements in the West Bank, and open calls among Israeli leaders to depopulate Gaza. The RCMP investigation marks the first time that Canada has dedicated tangible resources to investigating international crimes in the Palestinian territories and Israel.
Details are thin, but we know that the RCMP opened the investigation in early 2024, just months after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, and amidst Israel’s continuing siege of Gaza. This “structural investigation,” as it is called, collects and preserves evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in a particular context, without necessarily linking that evidence to specific perpetrators. It can do this, for example, by reaching out to victims and survivors who have fled wars of atrocity to gather their testimony. It can also include collecting open-source evidence, such as videos or photographs.
States like Canada can use the evidence collected if an opportunity to do so arises, such as to support a prosecution of a perpetrator who enters onto their territory. Alternatively, they can share that evidence with other authorities – the prosecutors of allied states or bodies like the International Criminal Court (ICC). Canada is currently conducting a structural investigation into Ukraine and conducted one into the atrocities committed against the Yazidi people in northern Iraq.
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So far, it is unclear what the focus and core purpose of the structural investigation into the Israel-Hamas war is. Does the investigation cover all of Israel and the Palestinian territories? Or is it emphasizing themes, such as use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza or settler violence in the West Bank – topics that Canadian leaders have been especially vocal about in recent weeks?
When Canada opened its structural investigation into Ukraine, it did so with a great deal of publicity. Why did that not happen with the investigation into the Israel-Hamas war? Was it only acknowledged now because patience with the Netanyahu government is running thin?
Is the investigation’s goal criminal accountability or something else? Over the last two decades, and with few exceptions, Canada stepped away from actively prosecuting alleged perpetrators of international crimes who arrived on Canadian soil. It preferred to deport them to their country of origin without any guarantee that they would subsequently be prosecuted. Could the investigation be aimed at ensuring Canada is not a “safe haven” for alleged war criminals?
While structural investigations focus on contexts and not specific individuals, effective probes into international crimes should lead to prosecutions, especially in countries where alleged perpetrators reside or where they regularly visit.
In other Western states, such as Belgium and Britain, law enforcement agencies are actively considering or have already launched investigations into dual citizens who fought with the Israel Defense Forces and who allegedly committed war crimes. Would Canada do the same?
A structural investigation might also examine whether any Canadian companies or persons have contributed to settler violence or the construction of Israeli settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank, which Canada views as a violation of the Geneva Conventions.
Even if Canada does not move to prosecute perpetrators who live in or enter the country, it is important to establish whether evidence collected by the RCMP can be shared with the ICC, which is doing its own investigation into the situation in the Palestinian territories.
Canada was a founding member of the court but has historically opposed the ICC’s investigation into Gaza, going so far as to suggest that its funding for the world’s only permanent international court with jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide was at risk of being pulled. Some of that opposition softened in recent months, but direct co-operation between the RCMP and ICC on this investigation could be a game changer, while also extending concrete support to the ICC as it faces unrelenting attacks from the Trump administration.
It is important to remember that states like Canada are under a legal obligation to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of war crimes and genocide, regardless of their nationality or where their crimes were committed. A structural investigation breathes life into that obligation.
More than anything, the opening of a structural investigation signals that Canada may finally be moving from talking about the need for accountability for atrocities committed in the Palestinian territories, to playing a part in delivering it.