Israel working to block feared ICC arrest warrants against PM, others over
Gaza war
Government source says The Hague focusing on allegations that Israel
‘deliberately starved’ Gazans; IDF gives rare press briefing over Shabbat to
highlight humanitarian efforts
By LAZAR BERMAN FOLLOW
Today, 6:06 pm
Israel was making a concerted effort to head off feared plans by the
International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials, an Israeli government
source told The Times of Israel on Sunday.
The National Security Council was leading the campaign, according to the
source.
The Foreign Ministry was also involved. “We are operating where we can,”
said an Israeli diplomat.
The first source said the major focus of the suspected ICC allegations will be
that Israel “deliberately starved Palestinians in Gaza,” the first source said.
Israel Defense Forces international spokesman Nadav Shoshani offered a
rare briefing on Shabbat for foreign reporters about Israel’s support for the
temporary humanitarian pier off Gaza, underscoring the country’s efforts to
blunt the ICC campaign.
The official confirmed earlier reports from Hebrew-language media that the
United States was part of a last-ditch diplomatic effort to prevent the ICC
from moving forward.
Writing for the Walla news site, analyst Ben Caspit said Netanyahu was
“under unusual stress” over the prospect of an arrest warrant against him
and other Israelis by the United Nations tribunal in The Hague, which would
be a major deterioration in Israel’s international status.
Netanyahu was leading a “nonstop push over the telephone” to prevent an
arrest warrant, focused especially on the administration of US President Joe
Biden, Caspit reported.
Haaretz analyst Amos Harel reported that the Israeli government was
working under the assumption that the ICC’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, may
this week issue warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav
Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.
Amid the reports, Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Sunday that Israel
“expects the court to refrain” from issuing arrest warrants.
“There is nothing more twisted than trying to prevent Israel from defending
itself against a murderous enemy that openly calls for the destruction of
Israel,” said Katz in a statement. “If the orders are issued, they will harm the
commanders and soldiers of the IDF and give a boost to the terrorist
organization Hamas and the radical Islamic axis led by Iran against which we
are fighting.”
Katz stressed that Israel adheres to “all the laws of war,” and instructed
Israel’s diplomatic missions around the world to prepare for a severe wave of
antisemitism if the ICC issues arrest warrants.
Israel is not a member of the court, based in The Hague, and does not
recognize its jurisdiction, but the Palestinian territories were admitted as a
member state in 2015.
Netanyahu said on Friday that any decisions by the ICC would not affect
Israel’s actions, but would set a dangerous precedent.
“Under my leadership, Israel will never accept any attempt by the
International Criminal Court in The Hague to undermine its basic right to
defend itself,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Telegram.
“While decisions made by the court in The Hague will not affect Israel’s
actions, they will set a dangerous precedent that threatens soldiers and
public figures,” he said.
One of Israel’s leading television news outlets, Channel 12, reported last
week that Israel was increasingly worried by the possibility that the ICC
would issue arrest warrants. The report said that the Prime Minister’s Office
held an “emergency discussion” on the issue. A government spokesperson
did not respond to questions on the television report or its details.
An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague,
Netherlands, December 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
Khan, the ICC prosecutor, said in October that the court had jurisdiction over
any potential war crimes carried out by Hamas terrorists in Israel and by
Israelis in the Gaza Strip.
Khan has said his team was investigating any crimes allegedly committed in
Gaza, and that those found to have breached the law will be held
accountable.
On October 7, Hamas led an attack on Israeli military bases and communities
in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 253 were taken
as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claims that more than 34,000
Palestinians have been killed by Israel in the war, but the number cannot be
independently verified, and it is believed to include both Hamas terrorists
and civilians, some of whom were killed as a consequence of the terror
group’s own rocket misfires.
The IDF says it has killed over 13,000 terrorists in Gaza, in addition to some
1,000 who were killed inside Israel on and immediately following October 7.
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The IDF has also lost 261 soldiers since it launched the ground invasion in
late October, bringing the number of soldiers killed since October 7 to 604.
People walk on a road lined with destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis in the
southern Gaza Strip on April 23, 2024. (AFP)
The war, now in its seventh month, has displaced most of the blockaded
Palestinian territory’s 2.3 million people and created a humanitarian crisis.
With 124 permanent members, the ICC can prosecute individuals for war
crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression.
The investigation at the ICC is separate from the genocide case launched
against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) also based in The
Hague.
The ICJ, also known as the World Court, is a UN court that deals with
disputes between states, while the ICC is a treaty-based criminal court
focusing on individual criminal responsibility for war crimes, crimes against
humanity and genocide.
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It is a sorry defensive that depends on starvation of a
population to advance it's objectives.
"There is nothing more twisted than trying to prevent
Israel from defending
itself against a murderous enemy that openly calls for
the destruction of
Israel,” said Katz in a statement. “If the orders are
issued, they will harm the
commanders and soldiers of the IDF and give a boost to
the terrorist
organization Hamas and the radical Islamic axis led by
Iran against which we
are fighting.”
The Hague is not claiming Israel can't defend itself,
just that starvation cannot be a weapon.
What would happen if Israel opened the gates and let
people leave? Where would they go? The neighbors
won't let them in. China? No, they are too much like
Uighars. Hamas is heavily invested in Somalia...
Netanyau said, "While decisions made by the court in
The Hague will not affect Israel’s
actions, they will set a dangerous precedent that
threatens soldiers and
public figures,” he said."
Good, says I. That's what it's supposed to do, set
that precedent, but affect actions asap.
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