Washington is wrong to accept the court’s indictment of Russian, but not Israeli, leaders.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fears that the International Criminal Court (ICC) will soon charge him for alleged war crimes in Gaza and has appealed to the Biden administration for help. Washington is reportedly trying to dissuade ICC chief Prosecutor Karim Khan from filing charges, but its arguments, both legal and practical, are weak.
Khan has not said what he is planning, but the most likely charges will be for obstructing access to food and other humanitarian aid. Khan has already warned the Netanyahu government that this reported obstruction could lead to ICC action, and given Israel’s refusal to allow the court’s investigators into Gaza, the proof of obstruction—in the form of widely acknowledged famine conditions—is more readily available than evidence concerning Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate bombing of Palestinian civilians. Senior officials in Hamas’s military chain of command are also likely to face charges for the atrocities that the group committed on Oct. 7, 2023.
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan speaks during a UN Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters on July 13, 2023 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
This article was written by Kenneth Roth and published by Foreign Policy on May 7, 2024. You can read the full article on foreignpolicy.com.