“States that are not parties to the ICC can cooperate on a voluntary basis if they want to.”
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has called on its member states to cooperate in implementing the arrest warrants for Israeli officials and also advised that non-member states could cooperate on a voluntary basis, according to a report.
“States that are parties to the ICC Rome Statute have an obligation to cooperate with the ICC, according to Chapter Nine of the statute,” said the court spokesman Fadi El-Abdallah on Monday, the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reported, citing the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Several posters showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant behind bars were displayed in the streets of Tehran, Iran following arrest warrants issued by the ICC against them. pic.twitter.com/rM5g6NLrB2
— TRT World (@trtworld) November 26, 2024
“States that are not parties to the ICC can cooperate on a voluntary basis if they want to,” El-Abdallah added.
The ICC issued arrest warrants last Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of “crimes against humanity and war crimes,” compelling the ICC’s 124 member states to arrest them should they enter their territory.
First Step
According to MEMO, El-Abdallah told WAFA that after issuing arrest warrants, the court asks the states in whose territories the suspects are located to cooperate with the court, noting that the court’s judges can, in the event a state that is party to the Rome Statue denies the obligation to cooperate, refer it to the Assembly of State Parties to take whatever action the assembly deems appropriate.
‘No Pick and Choose’ – EU Chief Says Member States Obliged to Implement ICC Decisions
“Issuing arrest warrants is the first step in the preliminary stages of a case,” explained the ICC official. “It is not a judgment. It is only a preliminary stage by which they say that the evidence presented by the prosecutor established reasonable grounds and makes it necessary for the judges to listen also to the defence views on this matter.”
He pointed out that a judgment will come only if there is a trial and after it.
No Trial in Absentia
“There is no trial in absentia at the ICC. So that means that when we have an arrest warrant, it is important that the suspects appear before the judge just for the case to move ahead,” El-Abdallah noted.
Yoav Gallant to Travel to US despite ICC Arrest Warrant for Gaza War Crimes
Regarding the possibility of opening an ICC country office in the Middle East similar to the office it opened in Ukraine, El Abdallah said that the issue of opening offices is linked to practical developments that may or may not require it. Therefore it was too early to determine whether there is a need to open an office in the Middle East, said the report.
The crimes of which the Israeli prime minister and former defense minister are accused include using starvation as a weapon of war, murder and persecution, and inhumane acts.
Threat of Sanctions
The White House and Israel have rejected the ICC’s decision, with US President Joe Biden slamming it as “outrageous” and Netanyahu calling it “antisemitic.”
For his part, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham threatened to sanction US allies if they enforce the warrants.
🚨🇺🇸LINDSEY GRAHAM THREATENS TO SANCTION U.S ALLIES
"To any ally; Canada, Britain, Germany, France, if you try to help the ICC, we're going to sanction you.
We should crush your economy."
Source: Fox News pic.twitter.com/TOnwuDe4vK
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 23, 2024
“To any ally, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, if you try to help the ICC, we’re going to sanction you,” Graham told Fox News in an interview late on Friday.
Meanwhile, the European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell said on Saturday that EU member states were obliged to carry out the arrest warrants.
“The states that signed the Rome convention are obliged to implement the decision of the court. It’s not optional,” Borrell said.
He emphasized that the ICC’s “decisions are legally binding: there is no pick & choose. Threats against it are unacceptable, incl. from US Senate.”
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
Sea swallows more than 10,000 tents over the past two days in Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/iAhagXnVif
— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) November 26, 2024
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 44,211 Palestinians have, to date, been killed, and 104,567 wounded.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
Millions Displaced
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(MEMO, PC)
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