In a submission filed on Monday, the ICC Prosecutor emphasized the necessity to issue the arrest warrants due to the “ongoing criminality” he mentioned in his original request in May.
The Prosecutor of the International Court of Justice (ICC), Karim Khan pressed the pre-trial chamber to issue “with utmost urgency” arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, along with Hamas’ leaders Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif.
In a submission filed on Monday, the ICC Prosecutor emphasized the necessity to issue the arrest warrants due to the “ongoing criminality” he mentioned in his original request in May and the “worsening situation in Palestine”.
The arrest warrants are “necessary to ensure that they do not obstruct or endanger the investigation or court proceedings, prevent the continuing commission of the crimes alleged and/or the commission of other Rome Statute crimes,” Khan also wrote.
The ICC chief prosecutor withdrew, in his new submission, the arrest warrant originally requested for late Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh who was assassinated in Iran on July 31.
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‘Moral Disgrace of the First Order’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to criticize Khan’s call labeling it as a “moral disgrace of the first order,” the Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel reported.
“The comparison made by the prosecutor in The Hague between the prime minister and the defense minister of Israel, which fights the murderous terrorism of Hamas according to the laws of war; and the war criminal Sinwar, who executes Israeli hostages in cold blood; is antisemitism for its own sake and moral disgrace of the first order,” Netanyahu said in a statement quoted by the Israeli newspaper.
According to the statement issued by his office, The Hague procedure is “politically biased and do not rest on any professional legal basis.”
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has not commented yet on the fresh ICC prosecutor’s request.
The ICC Case
Karim Khan has requested an expedited ruling from judges on the issuance of arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant while emphasizing that the court holds jurisdiction to prosecute Israeli nationals.
In court documents released on August 23, Khan pressed judges to avoid delays in considering the arrest warrants requested for Israeli officials and Hamas leaders, Reuters news agency reported.
“Any unjustified delay in these proceedings detrimentally affects the rights of victims,” Khan was quoted by Reuters as saying.
“It is settled law that the court has jurisdiction in this situation,” the filing said, dismissing claims by Israel that it is carrying out its own investigations into alleged war crimes.
In May, the ICC prosecutor announced that the court filed applications for arrest warrants against several Israeli leaders and leaders of the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza.
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Khan said he had “reasonable grounds to believe that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav Gallant, the Minister of Defence of Israel, bear criminal responsibility for the following war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 8 October 2023.”
If arrest warrants are issued, Netanyahu and Gallant would be unable to travel to any of the 124 member countries of the ICC, where its rulings are binding.
Israel does not recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction. The court, established in 2002, accepted Palestine as a member after 13 years.
(PC, Anadolu)
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