The pending International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be delayed by several months as the ICC will hear legal briefs from a number of countries, including Israel’s allies.
In May, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan issued a request to the court to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, military chief Mohammed Al-Masri, and another Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh for war crimes committed in southern Israel and Gaza.
On Monday, the court signaled it would not rule on that request for several months. The ICC accepted about 70 legal briefs arguing for and against issuing the warrants. Some of the arguments were submitted by Israeli allies, such as the US and Germany. Countries and organizations may continue submitting briefs for another week.
The briefs in favor of Netanyahu will likely argue that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over Israeli officials. While Israel is not a party to the treaty that created the court, if the ICC issues an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, it could present problems for the Israeli leader. During his recent trip to the US, Netanyahu had to avoid stopping in European countries for fear of them executing the arrest warrant should the ICC issue one.
Khan argues that there is reasonable ground to believe Netanyahu is guilty of authorizing war crimes in Gaza. Over the past nine months, at least 39,000 Palestinians have been killed, including mainly women and children.
The list of war crimes Khan alleges Netanyahu and Gallant are guilty of include the following: starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, wilful killing, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, and extermination.
Israeli troops have admitted to committing many of these war crimes themselves. In a recent article in 972 Magazine, Israeli soldiers described a free-for-all where they were allowed to kill at will. Soldiers explained that troops fired on unarmed civilians and often would shoot at Palestinians out of boredom.
