The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said he had received threats while conducting investigations against senior Israeli officials with a top figure telling him the court was “built for Africa and for thugs like Putin,” and not for the West and its allies.
In an interview with CNN, Karim Khan said:
I’ve had some elected leaders speak to me and they were very blunt. “This court is built for Africa and for thugs like Putin,” was what one senior leader told me. We don’t do it like that. This court should be the triumph of law, over power and brute force: grab what you can take what you want, do what you will.
The ICC is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant along with Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohamed Deif.
The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include “causing extermination, using starvation as a method of war by denying humanitarian relief supplies, and deliberately targeting civilians in conflict,” Khan added.
The charges against Sinwar, Haniyeh, and Deif include “extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape, and sexual assault in detention,” Khan told CNN. He also added:
Nobody is above the law.
He suggested that if Israel disagrees with the ICC, “they are free to challenge the jurisdiction before the court judges, and that’s my advice to them.”
Israel’s offensive on Gaza continues
Israel continues its military offensive on the Gaza Strip despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in the region.
Since last October, more than 35,500 Palestinians, the vast majority of them women and children, have been killed and more than 79,600 injured after a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas. The Hamas attack killed nearly 1,200 people and took 250 hostages.
More than seven months into Israel’s war, vast swathes of Gaza have been destroyed. Locals have fled their homes in search of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has ordered it to ensure that its troops do not commit acts of genocide and to take measures to guarantee humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilian population.
