THE HAGUE: Worldwide Felony Court docket (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan has defended his resolution to deliver warfare crimes allegations in opposition to Israel’s prime minister, saying Israel had made “no actual effort” to analyze the allegations itself.
In an interview with Reuters, he stood by his resolution over the arrest warrant regardless of a vote final week by the USA Home of Representatives to sanction the ICC in protest, a transfer he described as “undesirable and unwelcome”.
ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli defence chief Yoav Gallant and Hamas chief Ibrahim Al-Masri final November for alleged warfare crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity in the course of the Gaza battle.
The Israeli prime minister’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Khan’s remarks to Reuters.
Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court docket and denies warfare crimes. The US, Israel’s fundamental ally, can be not a member of the ICC and Washington has criticised the arrest warrants in opposition to Netanyahu and Gallant.
“We’re right here as a court docket of final resort and … as we communicate proper now, we have not seen any actual effort by the State of Israel to take motion that may meet the established jurisprudence, which is investigations concerning the identical suspects for a similar conduct,” Khan informed Reuters.
“That may change and I hope it does,” he stated in Thursday (Jan 16)’s interview, a day after Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas reached a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza.
An Israeli investigation may have led to the case being handed again to Israeli courts beneath so-called complementary rules. Israel can nonetheless show its willingness to analyze, even after warrants have been issued, he stated.
The ICC, with 125 member states, is the world’s everlasting court docket to prosecute people for alleged warfare crimes, crimes in opposition to humanity, genocide and aggression.
Khan stated that Israel had excellent authorized experience.
However he stated “the query is have these judges, have these prosecutors, have these authorized devices been used to correctly scrutinise the allegations that we have seen within the occupied Palestinian territories, within the State of Palestine? And I feel the reply to that was ‘no'”.
