The International Criminal Court said on Friday that it had ended proceedings against former Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh, following his assassination in Tehran in late July.
In May, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan filed applications for arrest warrants against Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri (Deif) and Ismail Haniyeh.
“I have reasonable grounds to believe that [the Hamas leaders] bear criminal responsibility for the war crimes and crimes against humanity [perpetrated on Oct. 7],” Khan said in a public statement.
Hamas’s “military” leader Deif was eliminated in an Israeli airstrike on August 12.
In the same statement, the ICC prosecutor said he would seek arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on the same grounds.
Khan warned that he “will not hesitate to submit further applications for warrants of arrest if and when we consider that the threshold of a realistic prospect of conviction has been met.”
In an interview with the BBC on Wednesday, Khan defended his decision and compared his request for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant to the arrest warrants requested against Russian President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine.
“You can’t have one approach for countries where there’s support, whether it’s NATO support, European support [and] powerful countries behind you, and a different approach where you have clear jurisdiction,” he said.
Netanyahu dubbed the accusations a “disgrace” and an attack against the entire nation of Israel.
The ICC has no jurisdiction in Israel as Jerusalem is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which established the court. But in a legalistic sleight of hand, the court claimed jurisdiction by accepting the “State of Palestine” as a signatory in 2015, even though no such state exists.
The 124 countries that are signatories to the Rome Convention are obligated to act on any arrest warrant it issues, raising the possibility that Netanyahu and Gallant could be placed under arrest while visiting these places.
Senior Adviser of Foundation for Defense of Democracies Richard Goldberg scolded the judge’s actions, saying “The claims are baseless, the jurisdiction is non-existent, and the request should be rejected by the ICC. If a kangaroo court can make up accusations and illegitimately come after Israel, it can do the same to the United States, too.”
Meanwhile, 84% of Israelis believe that the ICC is a political body, not a legal one, according to a recent JNS poll. Twelve percent disagreed, while 5% of respondents had no opinion.
Respondents were asked a series of questions regarding their assessment of the ICC and how best to handle its actions against Israel, its security forces and its political leaders.
