Tag: <span>the Israeli Defense Force (IDF)</span>

International Criminal Court. Appeals

International Criminal Court: Upholding International Humanitarian Law.

Karim Khan, chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), on May 20, 2024 announced that he had formally applied for arrest warrants for leaders of the Israeli government and the political and military leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) for war crimes and crimes against humanity as set out in the Rome Statute which created the ICC.

Karim Khan, chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC). By Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The killing of Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023 and the taking of hostages.

The Israeli leaders are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Chief of Staff, General Herzi Halevi. The Hamas leaders are Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas since 2017, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, the Commander-in-Chief of the Al-Assam Brigades – the military arm of Hamas, and Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’s Political Bureau based in Doha, Qatar.

Benjamin Netanyahu MK, 9th Prime Minister of the State of Israel. By Avi Ohayon / Government Press Office of Israel, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Israelis are accused of violations of international humanitarian law including starvation as a method of war including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies and deliberately targeting civilians. The Hamas leaders are said to be individually criminally responsible for the killing of Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023 and the taking of hostages.

Yoav Gallant MK, 22nd Minister of Defence of the State of Israel. By Avi Ohayon / Government Press Office of Israel, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The lives of all human beings have equal value.

Karim Khan stated in an interview at the time of the announcement of the arrest warrants, “We must collectively demonstrate that international humanitarian law, the foundational baseline for human conduct during conflict, applies to all individuals and applies equally across the situations addressed by my Office and the Court. This is how we will prove, tangibly, that the lives of all human beings have equal value.”

The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Chief of Staff, General Herzi Halevi. By  / IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

The application for arrest warrants is the first step. The warrants must be approved by a panel of ICC judges which oversee such decisions. Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, but Palestine accepted its jurisdiction in 2015. The legal aspect of the next steps is complicated and need to be followed closely.

Yahya Sinwar, commander of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, shakes hands with a soldier. By Fars Media Corporation, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Association of World Citizens has stressed that all elements of international humanitarian law must be safeguarded and charges of war crimes investigated.

Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’s Political Bureau. By Council.gov.ru, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.