The Hague prosecutor denounces pressure over possible measures against Israeli leaders for the Gaza war

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, has warned this Friday that the pressure on this judicial body based in The Hague (Netherlands) from Israel and the United States, given the possibility of it issuing measures against Israeli officials due to the war in Gaza, may constitute punishable acts. “Independence and impartiality are undermined when individuals threaten to retaliate against the court or its staff if, in carrying out its mandate, it makes decisions on investigations or cases that fall within its jurisdiction. “Such threats, even when not carried out, may also constitute an act punishable against the administration of justice under Article 70 of the Rome Statute,” Khan said in a statement through his office.

The text does not expressly mention Israel, but the message has been immediately interpreted as a wake-up call, above all, to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, according to the Israeli press, is “terrified” at the possible consequences of this new front. These sanctions could affect, in addition to Netanyahu, his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, and the head of the Armed Forces, Herzl Halevi. Faced with the campaign inside and outside Israel, especially in the United States, against the court’s possible measures, Khan demands that “all attempts to impede, intimidate or unduly influence its officials cease immediately.”

A group of US senators reportedly expressed their concerns to ICC officials during a meeting on Wednesday. on-line which the American website reported this Friday Axios citing three sources participating or familiar with the quote. The climate of unrest has been in place for several weeks in Israel, where the media has reported on some high-level meetings to try to design the defense strategy and to launch an international campaign to confront the announcement of sanctions that were almost complete. they take it for granted. Netanyahu does not want to see himself on the list of wanted men like the Russian Vladimir Putin, the Libyan Muammar Gaddafi or the Ugandan Joseph Kony.

The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, He described Monday as “shameful” and “illegal” that the ICC is considering issuing orders against Netanyahu and other senior officials in Israel. His voice joins that of other officials who support Israel in front of the court in The Hague at a time when the United States is experiencing intense protests in favor of the population of Gaza on many university campuses.

“Instead of wrongly attacking Israel, the International Criminal Court should bring charges against Iran and its terrorist proxies, including Hamas, for participating in horrific war crimes,” Johnson defended in a note. “It is shameful that, according to some reports, the International Criminal Court is planning to issue baseless and illegitimate arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials.”

This step by the court, Johnson added, would undermine “the national security interests of the United States,” which is why he called on his country to confront an “unprecedented” measure that would also endanger American sovereignty. “The administration [del presidente Joe] “Biden must immediately and unequivocally demand that the ICC be withdrawn and the United States must use all available tools to prevent such an abomination,” he concluded.

For Prime Minister Netanyahu, the court taking that step would amount to an “anti-Semitic hate crime,” he said Tuesday. Previously, he already pointed out that it would set a “dangerous precedent” to which Israel does not intend to give in. “Under my leadership, Israel will never accept any attempt by the International Criminal Court in The Hague to undermine its fundamental right to defend itself,” he said in a video on April 26. Members of the Government and legal advisors held an emergency meeting ten days earlier in the prime minister’s office to outline the defense plan against a possible announcement from The Hague, Israeli television Channel 12 reported. This meeting was supposedly attended by the Foreign Minister, Israel Katz; that of Justice, Yariv Levin, and that of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, according to that same medium.

The ICC accepted Palestine as a member in 2015, three years after the United Nations General Assembly granted it the status of “observer state.” Israel is not a member of the court and does not recognize its jurisdiction (nor does the United States). However, the court has jurisdiction to investigate possible crimes committed by both sides in the war between Israel and Gaza. In the first case, because the Palestinian Authority has accepted its jurisdiction. On the Israeli side, because it can persecute its citizens if they commit crimes in Palestinian territory. Hence the rejection and nervousness shown by the Netanyahu Government to the international arrest warrants that the Prosecutor’s Office may issue. The TPI lacks the police to enforce them, but once they are launched, the room for maneuver of those accused is reduced, whether they are high-ranking military or political leaders. The international community as a whole, and in particular the member states of the ICC – which are 124 – can execute these orders.

The court only prosecutes those most responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, in addition to genocide, and the possible commission of the latter hovers over this Gaza conflict. Another judicial instance, the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ), this January demanded that Israel take measures to prevent “acts of genocide against the Palestinian population in Gaza.” The UN judges did not demand a ceasefire and Netanyahu stressed that Israel has “the right to defend itself from the monsters of Hamas” after the attack on October 7. But the ICJ resolves disputes between States and does not issue arrest warrants.

With the TPI, the situation is different. In 2023, Khan called for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin for his possible responsibility in the kidnapping of Ukrainian children during the ongoing war between the two countries. Although Russia responded with its own arrest warrants against the prosecutor and the ICC judges, that does not invalidate the fact that Putin is already on the list of criminals wanted by international justice.

The Palestine case dates back to 2021, when the judges decided that the investigation carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office for possible war crimes should cover Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In November 2023, Khan confirmed that it included “the escalation of hostilities and violence since the attack [perpetrado por Hamás] which took place on October 7, 2023″. A month later, the prosecutor visited Ramallah, the administrative capital of Palestine. He also went to Israel and spoke with both Palestinian representatives and relatives of Israeli citizens killed or taken hostage by Hamas. The prosecutor then said that “the court had been created to prosecute crimes like those,” and recalled that international humanitarian laws must be complied with by everyone in this conflict.

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