...Katherine Gallagher, a senior attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights who represents the plaintiffs, argued before U.S. Circuit Judges Consuelo María Callahan, Jacqueline Nguyen and Daniel Bress on Monday that the case concerns whether the judicial branch is “powerless” while the executive branch acts in violation of international law. She cited “clear evidence” of killings of Palestinian people using American weapons...

“Here, reviewing executive conduct — whether it is adding or abetting the specific intent to destroy, in whole, people — it is the responsibility of the court to review that conduct against clearly established definition of genocide, of complicity in genocide," Gallagher said. "The Supreme Court made clear that even in moments of crisis, the executive is still bound by law.” ...

On rebuttal, Gallagher said the government was arguing that there is no accountability for U.S. foreign policy decisions in its own courts. She said the State Department's report in May, which found that U.S. weapons are being used in Gaza in violation of international law, shows that it could limit those weapons' use as a response.

She cited recent estimates that the death toll in Gaza is around 40,000.

“It is not simply the failure to put in place a ceasefire resolution that has caused that. It’s the more than a million pieces of ammunition that have been used in Gaza," she said: "tens of thousands of missile kits that have been sent, including tons of thousands of bombs sent within the last month.”

The plaintiffs said a press conference Monday that they will pressure the Biden administration even more if the panel rules in the government’s favor.

“Here we are today, and the genocide continues. The scale of destruction is massive, and almost complete,” said Wael Elbhassi, one of the plaintiffs. 

Baher Azmy, legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, predicted that the Biden administration will be condemned for its culpability in Israel’s campaign.

“Experts in our case say they have never encountered such clear statements of genocidal intent by leaders before," Azmy said. "It is unmasked, and the Biden administration has known about it from day one. Yet they perpetuate it.”

Ahmed Abu Artema, a Palestinian plaintiff who spoke in a recording sent from Gaza, added, "To hear the Biden administration is saying in court that it has the discretion to continue supporting this genocide is a reminder that, in their eyes, the lives of my people are worthless. But we have no choice but to resist this dehumanization.”

Gallagher said she hoped for a speedy decision from the panel...

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