What is the International Criminal Court, and why does it concern Israeli authorities | World

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has already stated that it is following reports of ongoing activities.

The ICC is also investigating Hamas terrorist acts committed on October 7, 2023 (read more below).

The ICC was created in 2002 as the permanent court of last resort to try individuals responsible for the world’s most heinous atrocities, such as:

• War crimes.
• Crimes against humanity.
• Genocide.

The Rome Statute, which created the ICC, was adopted in 1998, and came into force after receiving 60 ratifications, on July 1, 2002. The UN General Assembly approved the ICC, but the court is independent.

Without its own police force, it depends on member states to arrest suspectswhich has proven to be the main obstacle to trials.

Netanyahu said on Friday (3), via the social network X, that Israel “will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right to self-defense.”

“While the ICC would not affect Israel’s actions, a dangerous precedent would be set,” he said.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday night that it had informed missions abroad about “rumors” that the court could order the arrest of Israeli political and military officials. The ministry did not say the source of the rumors.

In a statement emailed to The Associated Press, the court’s District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on specifics.

The 124 member states of the ICC have signed the Rome Statute. Dozens of countries have not signed and do not accept the court’s jurisdiction over war crimes, genocide and other crimes. Among them are Israel, the United States, Russia and China.

The ICC is involved when countries cannot or do not intend to prosecute crimes within their territory. Israel argues that has a functioning judicial systemand that discussions about the possibility or intention of a trial by a country have already fueled previous disputes between the court and specific countries.

In 2020, then-US President Donald Trump imposed economic sanctions and travel restrictions against the ICC prosecutor and another high-level member of the prosecutor’s office. The ICC team was investigating U.S. and allied soldiers and intelligence officers for possible war crimes in Afghanistan.

Current President Joe Biden, whose government has provided crucial political and military support to the current Gaza offensive, removed sanctions in 2021.

The ICC has 17 ongoing investigations, issued a total of 42 arrest warrants, and detained 21 suspects. Its judges have already convicted 10 suspects and acquitted four.

In its early years, the court was criticized for focusing on crimes in Africa — 10 of its investigations are in African countries — but there are now investigations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.

In 2012, the UN General Assembly upgraded the status of Palestinians from UN observers to Non-member observer state. This opened the door for the Palestinian territories to join international organizations such as the ICC.

The ICC accepted “the State of Palestine” as a member in 2015, a year after the Palestinians accepted the court’s jurisdiction.

The court’s chief prosecutor, at the time, announced in 2021 that she was opening an investigation into possible crimes in Palestinian territory. Israel frequently makes accusations of bias against the UN and international organizations, and Netanyahu criticized the decision as hypocritical and anti-Semitic.

Current ICC prosecutor Karim Khan visited Ramallah and Israel in December, and met with Palestinian officials and families of Israelis killed or taken hostage by Hamas militants in the October 7 attack that triggered the Israel-Hamas war.

Khan classified Hamas’ actions as “some of the most serious international crimes that affront the conscience of humanity, crimes that the ICC was created to prosecute”and requested the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

Khan said that “international humanitarian law must still be applied” to the Israel-Hamas war, and that “the Israeli military knows which laws must be applied”. After the visit, Khan declared that an ICC investigation into possible crimes committed by Hamas militants and Israeli forces “is a priority for my office.”

A year ago, the court issued a warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin on charges of responsibility for the abduction of children from Ukraine. Russia responded by issuing its own arrest warrants for Khan and the ICC judges.

Other prominent rulers indicted by the court include ousted Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir on charges including genocide in his country’s Darfur region. Libya’s former ruler Muammar Gaddafi was captured and killed by rebels shortly after the ICC issued an arrest warrant on charges linked to the brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011.