Karim Khan’s defense of Gaza war crimes allegations against Netanyahu comes amid delays in ratifying the ceasefire.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) defended the organization’s issuance of arrest warrants against the Israeli prime minister and former defense chief, adding that the country had not carried out its own an investigation into allegations of war crimes.
Karim Khan, speaking in an interview with the Reuters news agency on Thursday, said the ICC had seen “no real effort” by Israel to take “steps that would be consistent with established jurisprudence.” », adding that he hoped the situation would change.
ICC judges issued arrest warrants last November for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during Israel’s war on Gaza.
An Israeli investigation could have led to the case being referred to Israeli courts according to so-called complementary principles. Khan said Israel could still demonstrate its willingness to investigate, even after arrest warrants were issued.
This seems unlikely given that Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based ICC, denying war crimes despite its apparent failure to investigate the allegations.
The United States, Israel’s main ally, is also not a member of the ICC. Last week, the US Congress voted to sanction the court in protest over the arrest warrants, a move Khan called “undesirable and unwelcome.”
Khan said Israel had very good legal expertise, but had not used its judges, prosecutors and legal instruments “to properly examine the allegations we saw in the occupied Palestinian territories.”
“Manipulation and procrastination”
Khan’s comments come a day after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement in Gaza after more than 460 days of war.
Under pressure from his government’s hardliners, who say the war has failed to achieve its goal of wiping out Hamas, Netanyahu delayed key security and cabinet meetings, which were supposed to vote on the agreement on Thursday.
The security cabinet approved the ceasefire on Friday, paving the way for ministers to vote on the deal at a plenary cabinet meeting.
It was not immediately clear when the full cabinet would meet for the vote. A Times of Israel report said the second meeting would not take place until Saturday evening, with full ratification following a mandatory 24-hour grace period for raising objections, raising the possibility that the ceasefire does not come into force on Sunday as initially. foreseen.
Mustafa Barghouti, secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative political party, told Tel Aviv Tribune that Netanyahu was running out of options to prevent the implementation of a ceasefire.
“He manipulated it and tried to postpone it and procrastinate because his main goal is to keep his government together. But it is now very clear that he can no longer maneuver,” he said.
