The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, has applied for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in connection with their actions during the seven-month war. The chief prosecutor pointed out that there are reasonable grounds to believe they bear criminal responsibility for following war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza since Oct. 7: starvation of civilians as a method of warfare as a war crime; willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health; willful killing or murder as a war crime; intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime; extermination and/or murder, including in the context of deaths caused by starvation, as a crime against humanity; and persecution as a crime against humanity and other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity.
This was a historical moment since the hegemons of the world thought that Israel and its officials were immune from international law principles. So far, Israel has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, most of whom are children and women, and also wounded about 80,000 people during their continuous assault against Gaza. The court will hold Israeli leaders responsible for committing the above-mentioned crimes.
Many Western politicians, including U.S. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, have considered the ICC’s prosecutor’s request as “outrageous” and “shameful" reiterating their support for Israel. Similar condemnations were made by the officials of the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. Some Western officials and effective circles have even threatened to impose sanctions against the prosecutors of the court. Israelis ask the U.S. lawmakers and pro-Israeli lobbies such as AIPAC to take effective steps against the court’s decision, including impositions of sanctions against and travel bans on ICC officials and ending all American support for the ICC.
However, many progressive politicians such as Sen. Bernie Sanders argued that the ICC’s chief persecutor’s decision was “right to issue arrest warrants.” He went further and said that “without these standards of decency and morality this planet may rapidly descend into anarchy, never-ending wars, and barbarism.” Many independent lawyers also welcomed Khan’s decision, while many others claimed that it was a late decision.
Some Western politicians such as Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib pointed out that crimes committed in Gaza must be prosecuted at the highest level. Similarly, Josep Borrell, the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has underlined that the ICC is “an independent international institution” and “all states that have ratified the ICC statutes are bound to execute the court’s decision.” Furthermore, most of the non-Western political actors also welcome the court’s decision. For instance, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa welcomed Khan’s application for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.
While the supporters of Israel, such as Biden and Blinken, opposed the court’s equivalence of Israel with Hamas, the pro-Palestinian political actors rejected the court’s equivalence of the victim and the executioner. The two sides will continue to put pressure on the ICC. While supporters of universal human rights ask the prosecutor to act more swiftly, some senators from the U.S. have sent a letter intimidating the members of the ICC.
We will see whether the court will side with power or with values and norms. If the ICC insists on its decision and calls its member states to act accordingly, then it will show to the whole world that none is immune from international law and the hopes for the consolidation of a rule-based world order are still alive. On the contrary, if the U.S. and other pro-Israeli states denounce the ICC decision, they will further undermine the standing of the court in the world and the very basic norms of international law.
In addition, the Biden administration has claimed that the ICC does not have jurisdiction in Israel, since Israel is not a state party to the court. However, the ICC prosecutor had previously (in 2015) accepted crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territory as being under its jurisdiction. That is, the ICC will hold Israel responsible for crimes that it has been committing in the occupied Palestinian lands, including Gaza. Even if the court’s decision is not implemented, it will further deepen the isolation of Israel in the world. This is yet another front at which the international community will put pressure on Israel to stop its genocidal acts in Gaza.
