THE HAGUE/BUDAPEST – Leaders of several countries have expressed “unease” and outrage over the International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor’s decision to seek the arrest of Israeli leaders and “Islamist terrorist organization” Hamas for atrocities.
Austria’s chancellor Karl Nehammer said he “fully” respects ICC independence but signaled unease with Israel’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
“We fully respect the independence of the ICC. The fact, however, that the leader of the terrorist organization Hamas, whose declared goal is the extinction of the State of Israel, is being mentioned at the same time as the democratically elected representatives of that very State is incomprehensible,” he wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Austria is a signatory of the Rome statute, which created the ICC.
The prime minister of the neighboring Czech Republic, Petr Fiala, expressed outrage about the ICC’s move toward Israel. “The ICC Chief Prosecutor’s proposal to issue an arrest warrant for the representatives of a democratically elected government together with the leaders of an Islamist terrorist organization is appalling and completely unacceptable,” he stressed.
“We must not forget that it was Hamas that attacked Israel in October and killed, injured, and kidnapped thousands of innocent people. It was this completely unprovoked terrorist attack that led to the current war in Gaza and the suffering of civilians in Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon,” Fiala added in a statement monitored by Worthy News.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak shared those concerns, saying through a spokesperson, “This action [by the ICC prosecutor] is not helpful in relation to reaching a pause in the fighting, getting hostages out or getting humanitarian aid in.”
US CRITICISM
In the United States, the prominent Republican Senator Lindsey Graham was among several legislators accusing ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan of “lying” to him about how it would handle its investigation into Israel’s leaders.
“This outrageous decision is truly a slap in the face to the independent judiciary in Israel, which is renowned for their independence,” Graham wrote.
“Most importantly, I want the world to know that I, along with my Republican and Democrat colleagues and members of the Administration, engaged the ICC on this issue weeks ago,” he added in a statement seen by Worthy News.
“We were told there would be discussions with Israel before any actions were taken. We stressed that the principle of “complementarity” should be applied in this case. Complementarity requires the ICC to let the nation in question’s legal system move first before any action is taken by the Court.”
He said Prosecutor Khan’s team was supposed to be in Israel Monday “to arrange a meeting for next week with the prosecutor’s office about the allegations. I was told by ICC staff that the investigation would likely take months and not weeks and that there would be meaningful consultation with the State of Israel.”
[Yet] “Instead of the ICC following through with scheduled consultations with Israel, they announced the warrants. I feel that I was lied to and that my colleagues were lied to. Prosecutor Khan is drunk with self-importance and has done a lot of damage to the peace process and to the ability to find a way forward,” Graham said. “We must not forget as a nation the International Criminal Court threatened to bring action against American forces in Afghanistan – and we [the United States] are a non-member.”
MORE REACTIONS
Reed Brody, another war crimes prosecutor, seemed pleased that both Israel and Hamas face prosecution. “Many thought this request would never come. … Israeli leaders are finally facing a legal reckoning for their actions. Top Hamas officials likewise face justice for the cruel and inhuman taking of hostages and other crimes against humanity.”
Critics questioned the speed with which Israel has been targeted, saying ICC warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Omar al-Bashir of Sudan took much longer to prepare.
Yet advocacy group Human Rights Watch claimed that “Victims of serious abuses in Israel and Palestine have faced a wall of impunity for decades.”
It said that the “principled first step by the prosecutor opens the door to those responsible for the atrocities committed in recent months to answer for their actions at a fair trial. ICC member countries should stand ready to resolutely protect the ICC’s independence as hostile pressure is likely to increase while the ICC judges consider (prosecutor Karim) Khan’s request.”
Khan said that besides Netanyahu and Gallant, he is also seeking arrest warrants for the leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, the head of its military wing, Mohammed al-Masri (better known as Mohammed Deif), and the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh.
The charges he pursues against Netanyahu and Gallant relating to the war in Gaza include the use of “starvation of civilians as a method of warfare,” “intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime,” as well as “extermination as a crime against humanity,” and “murder” as a war crime.
The proposed charges against the Hamas leadership focus on the October 7 attack on southern Israel, which triggered the current war. They include “extermination as a crime against humanity,” “taking hostages as a war crime,” “rape and other acts of sexual violence as crimes against humanity,” and “torture as a crime against humanity.”
The Hamas-led health ministry claims more than 35,000 Palestinians have died since Israel launched its military operations, but it doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel’s prime minister said about 16,000 civilians and 14,000 Hamas fighters have been killed in Gaza, an overcrowded territory of more than 2.3 million people.
