The Hague- As Israeli politicians of all stripes criticize Prosecutor Karim Ahmed Khan’s request for the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials, reactions from leaders around the world remain divided.
The Public Prosecutor has submitted requests to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as the head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, the Commander-in-Chief of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Muhammad al-Deif, and the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, referring to allegations By committing war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Israeli and Palestinian sides.
In exclusive statements to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, experts in international law praised this judicial precedent, and confirmed the addition of new names for Israeli leaders, considering that the possibility of dropping charges against the resistance is not excluded, and the opinions of each of them follow.
Tayyab Ali is a lawyer specializing in international law
This case begins with the Israeli Prime Minister. Once an arrest warrant is issued against him, the matter will flow to the rest of his ranks. Therefore, I do not consider that what is happening currently reflects the entire investigation conducted by the court or even a conclusion thereof, but rather I see it as the first step in a huge investigation that will lead to the addition of more suspects in the next stage.
As for the resistance factions, they can emphasize several things in their defense, including that they are not involved in violations of international law. But on the other hand, the Israelis may argue that they were acting in self-defense, and that their actions were proportionate and legitimate.
It may seem that the court’s request to issue arrest warrants came as a result of the pressures it was subjected to, but I would not classify it in this way, because what we are witnessing today is a historic step to break the shield of impunity.
At a time when the Palestinians have become accustomed to being accused of terrorism in many Western countries, and being held accountable for their actions, the Israelis find themselves facing public accountability before the international judiciary, a precedent that has never happened before.
Let us not forget that the Palestinian Resistance Movement (Hamas) agreed to the Palestinian authorities’ announcement to place the occupied Palestinian territories under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, indicating their readiness for such measures.
If the court’s request is approved, the requests will remain valid, will be disseminated across the ICC member states, and will be adhered to in accordance with orders for the arrest and extradition of suspected war criminals.
Let us not forget that this round of arrest warrants was directed at the main actors, but there is another war machine made up of individuals who supported and stood behind war crimes, including those sending weapons and cutting off funding for humanitarian relief agencies. Under Article 25 of the Rome Statute, they may also find themselves vulnerable to arrest, as complicit in aiding and abetting Israel.
Heidi Dixtal is a lawyer and certified counselor at the International Center for Justice for Palestinians (ICJP).
We know that this investigation by the ICC Prosecutor’s Office took very long years, and recently it received additional evidence from various organizations, individuals and witnesses as well. Therefore, the prosecution must consider it and proceed with issuing the arrest warrant.
In response to your question about why specific individuals, such as Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy, are not mentioned in this request, the prosecution is expected to continue evaluating the evidence, and the possibility of filing another request for additional or amended detention orders remains open.
It must be noted that the prosecution made a very strong statement before the Security Council – last week – in which it said that its office would remain independent despite threats and pressures, and I see that there is hope for this to happen, and that the court will be able to evaluate the evidence fairly, and that arrest warrant requests have become It is now in the hands of the Pre-Trial Chamber, that is, the judges.
If this case reaches the point of arresting an individual and bringing him before the court, the defense will have the opportunity to raise arguments in their defense, and it is important to say that the Prosecutor was careful in using the terminology, including “liquidation” rather than “genocide” as a crime against humanity.
(Tel Aviv Tribune)
Abdel Majeed Marari is a legal expert and director of the Middle East and North Africa department at the AFDI organization.
As a legal team, we value this precedent that we have been pursuing since 2009, despite some gaps. Within the framework of Article 58 of the Rome Statute, the Pre-Trial Chamber will review the Prosecutor’s request and the evidence, and then the judges will meet to consider this file.
It is expected that the court will partially amend the Public Prosecutor’s request, especially in the part related to the Palestinian side, considering that there is a kind of confusion between what is military and what is political, and by that I mean the head of the Political Bureau of the Resistance Movement, Ismail Haniyeh, and it is not possible to balance between “ The victim and the executioner.
We rely in this on Article 31 of the Rome Statute, which says that “during self-defense, land and property, war crimes and crimes against humanity are forfeited, because that party is in a state of defense and resistance.” This confirms that Palestinian resistance actions are stipulated in the rules of international law and are recognized. In the Geneva Convention, the United Nations Charter and the Rome Statute.
According to the leaked information that we received previously, the names of Sinwar, Al-Dhaif and Abu Ubaida were supposed to be present. Therefore, I am certain that the memorandum was amended, because the names that were announced were different from those that we received before, and this could be explained by the Public Prosecutor’s desire not to reveal the complete list, or because he tried to mitigate the impact of the memorandum in light of the threats to which he was exposed.
If this memorandum is ratified, an order will be issued to member and non-member states to respond to the arrest request, in accordance with Article 89, first paragraph of the Rome Statute.
Saad Jabbar is a lawyer and expert in international law
The government in the Israeli political system has a collective responsibility, and the list announced by the Attorney General is not exhaustive, and other names of Israeli leaders or institutions may be added.
Regarding not mentioning the Palestinian prisoners in the occupation prisons, this comes within the mentality of guilt towards the Israelis and the Anglo-Saxon method, at a time when there is no proportionality between the number of deaths on the Palestinian and Israeli sides. To strike a balance, the court addressed the issue of hostages held by Hamas.
I’m sure Karim Khan is horrified in his handling of this issue. In the Russia file, for example, Britain persuaded and recruited 43 member states of the court to submit a complaint to the Attorney General’s Office against Putin, while Washington provided funding to the court. I believe that the “Al-Aqsa flood” on October 7 needs an independent international investigation, because we do not know So far what actually happened.
I believe that the International Criminal Court’s decision came late and was lame, because it chose three Palestinians (the weak party) versus two Israeli leaders, but what the Public Prosecutor did was a smart process in a double way. On the one hand, he announced the request to involve the judges in making the arrest decision, and on the other hand, he forced the court. To move forward with the file, and absolve himself of the criticism he faced due to his delay in issuing the decision.
Yuri Nemets specializes in international law and Interpol issues
I think that the ICC is trying to play on both sides, and I think it is logical – from a legal point of view – for the court to issue an arrest warrant and try members of the Hamas movement, but I do not understand the attempt to prosecute Israeli leaders and the ICC report regarding requesting arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant is not based on any evidence. .
As a lawyer, I cannot consider reports about the numbers of Palestinian casualties as evidence, because many of them are still controversial. I also refuse to describe what the Israeli side is doing as genocide due to the absence of prior intent, and the number of victims from each side should not be compared.
The prosecutor is supposed to be objective and fair when he talks about the existence of evidence, because I have not seen this evidence that has not yet been presented. In return, the Israeli government and Hamas members can request an appeal against this decision and follow the necessary procedures, because the democratic legal system provides the right to a fair trial.
Toby Cadman specializes in international criminal law and extradition
I am certain that new Israeli names will be added, and the matter will not be limited to Netanyahu and Gallant, and that is why what we are witnessing today is just the beginning, and I expected that the Public Prosecutor would target Hamas and the Israeli leaders to create some kind of balance between the two parties, but the importance of the case is that Israeli officials will face trial for the first time. The first.
Regarding the accusations directed at Hamas members, I believe that Karim Khan is aware of the fact that Palestine is under illegal occupation, and that Israel does not have the right to self-defense, while the Palestinians have the right to resist occupation, and this is what made him focus on the issue of the Israeli hostages.
If this case is compared to Ukraine and Russia, the arrest warrant issued against Russian President Vladimir Putin took about 3 weeks from the date of submitting the application until the final arrest warrant was issued. Therefore, the same time frame will apply, if not faster.
While we know that there is no possibility for any Israeli political or military figure to surrender himself to the International Court, Hamas has always taken the position that it will cooperate with any investigation conducted by the Court, while it is not clear whether the Israelis can surrender or not, but if they travel to any member state of the Federal Court jointly, they will be arrested and transferred to The Hague.