New Delhi: While dismissing a case against US President Joe Biden and two other cabinet officials on grounds of jurisdiction, a US federal court in California observed that it was “plausible” that Israel’s military operations in Gaza amount to genocide and hoped that the US administration would review their “unflagging” support for Israeli military action.Last November, a non-profit group Defence for Children International-Palestine and nine individuals filed a lawsuit against President Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin for supporting Israel’s military actions in Gaza which began in retaliation for Hamas’s terror attack of October 7, in violation of the Genocide convention.The plaintiffs, which included individuals who are Palestinian residents of Gaza as well as US citizens with relatives in Gaza, had asked the court to compel the US president and government officials to “take all measures within their power to prevent Israel from committing genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza”. They also had asked the US to stop any further assistance, military, financial or diplomatic, to Israel, which was also sought as a preliminary injunction.In the attacks on South Israel, Hamas killed over 1,400 people and took around 240 others hostage. In retaliation, Israel launched multi-pronged bombardment of Gaza, which has killed over 25,000 people, mostly women and children, as per UN officials.The US government moved to dismiss the lawsuit on January 26, noting that the US Constitution “squarely commits foreign policy and national security decisions to the political branches of the Government”. It was also argued that it was not within the court’s hand to redress the harms suffered by the plaintiffs.Granting the US government’s motion of dismissal, Senior District Judge Jeffrey S. White at the US District Court of Northern District of California said that it was “bound by precedent and the division of our coordinate branches of government to abstain from exercising jurisdiction in this matter”.However, the US federal judge also noted, referencing a recent decision from the UN’s highest judicial body, that there was credibility to the claim that Israeli actions might be considered as genocide.“Yet, as the ICJ has found, it is plausible that Israel’s conduct amounts to genocide. This Court implores Defendants to examine the results of their unflagging support of the military siege against the Palestinians in Gaza,” said the judgement written on January 31.Senior District Judge White wrote that there was “undisputed” evidence during the hearings that lined up with the ICJ order and “indicates that the current treatment of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military may plausibly constitute a genocide in violation of international law”.“Both the uncontroverted testimony of the Plaintiffs and the expert opinion proffered at the hearing on these motions as well as statements made by various officers of the Israeli government indicate that the ongoing military siege in Gaza is intended to eradicate a whole people and therefore plausibly falls within the international prohibition against genocide,” said the US federal judge on Wednesday.The Hague-based International Court of Justice had refused to dismiss South Africa’s case against Israel, stating that it was “plausible” that Israel’s behaviour after October 7 could be viewed through the lens of the Genocide Convention.Referring to statement made by Israeli leaders and assessments of UN officials, the ICJ had said, “In the Court’s view, the facts and circumstances mentioned above are sufficient to conclude that at least some of the rights claimed by South Africa and for which it is seeking protection are plausible. This is the case with respect to the right of the Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide and related prohibited acts.”As part of provisional measures, the court had directed Israel to take all measures to ensure that its military does not commit acts violating the Convention, but had stopped short of ordering a cessation of hostilities.