IIsraeli Foreign Minister traveled to France on Tuesday to help contain the fallout from International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan’s decision to seek arrest warrants for some of the country’s top leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
France, Belgium and Slovenia express support to the world’s top war crimes court after Khan on Monday charged Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders – Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh – with war crimes and crimes against humanity .
“Today’s orders are the result of an independent and impartial investigation by my office,” Khan wrote in a statement. a lengthy statement published on the International Criminal Court website.
“Guided by our obligation to investigate incriminating and exoneration evidence equally, my Office has worked hard to separate allegations from facts and to soberly present evidence-based conclusions to the Pre-Trial Chamber.”
Where are the arrest warrants for the Israeli and Hamas leaders?
Requests for arrest warrants will first have to be approved by a panel of three judges – from Romania, Benin and Mexico – at the ICC before they can be implemented. It is not guaranteed that they will agree to issue the warrants.
“The accusation is not stupid; they wouldn’t mess up at this stage such an important case that everyone is watching. Therefore, I believe that the judges will agree with the warrants,” said Iva Vukušić, a legal expert at Utrecht University. told The Guardian.
The panel will be under great pressure, including from the US and Israel. About a dozen senators wrote to Khan earlier this month warning his office: “Target Israel and we will target you.” Netanyahu fiercely criticized Khan, calling the events “a moral outrage of historic proportions.”
What happens if the ICC issues the warrants?
If issued, it will be difficult for Israeli and Hamas leaders to travel to countries under the jurisdiction of the ICC.
Some 124 countries have signed the Rome Statute, a treaty that requires them to hand over individuals with active ICC arrest warrants who have set foot on their territory. Locations under the jurisdiction of the ICC include most of the Western Hemisphere – with the notable exception of the US – and Europe and Oceania, as well as parts of Africa and Asia.
The move would be especially significant for Israeli leaders, who frequently travel to Western capitals that fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC.
The last world leader to have an arrest warrant issued was Russian President Vladimir Putin, accused of orchestrating the forced deportation of Ukrainian children. The arrest warrant forced him to cancel a trip to South Africa in July 2023.
What would ICC arrest warrants mean for Hamas leaders?
An arrest warrant would have little effect on Hamas leaders’ ability to travel.
Sinwar and Deif are believed to be hiding in Gaza. Thousands of Israeli soldiers are actively searching for the two men following the October 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel.
An ICC arrest warrant would be more complicated for Qatar-based Hamas political leader Haniyeh, who would have to rethink meetings with other Arab leaders in the region.
But Gulf cooperation countries, including Qatar, are not signatories to the Rome statute.
Could more ICC warrants be expected?
Khan said in his statement on Monday that more could happen. His office is investigating allegations of sexual violence committed by Hamas and “the large-scale bombings that have caused and continue to cause so much death, injury and suffering to civilians in Gaza.”
At least 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, according to the Hamas-led Gaza Health Ministry, a number considered credible by both the UN and the US government.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
