Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to the USA earlier this week to meet with President Donald Trump.
On his flight from Hungary to the US, Netanyahu avoided flying over sure European international locations that may implement the Worldwide Legal Courtroom (ICC) arrest warrant in opposition to him within the occasion of an emergency touchdown, in response to Israeli media. The detour added roughly 400 km (250 miles) to his journey.
Final November, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and his former defence minister for alleged battle crimes in opposition to Palestinians in Gaza.
What’s the ICC?
The ICC is an unbiased court docket primarily based in The Hague, Netherlands, that prosecutes people accused of committing critical worldwide crimes like genocide, crimes in opposition to humanity, battle crimes and the crime of aggression.
It’s the first court docket with the authority to carry people criminally accountable for these crimes, slightly than states or organisations, with member states required to arrest these topic to ICC warrants.
The ICC was established in 2002 following the adoption of the Rome Statute in 1998.
What’s the Rome Statute?
The Rome Statute is the treaty that outlines the principles for the way the ICC operates.
Adopted in 1998 throughout a diplomatic convention in Rome, Italy, it was the place nations worldwide got here collectively to create a justice system for addressing probably the most critical crimes in opposition to humanity.
Which international locations are members of the ICC?
As of April 2025, 137 international locations had signed the Rome Statute – indicating their intention to hitch – whereas 125 of them had formally ratified it, turning into full member states of the ICC.
The international locations which have signed or ratified the Rome Statute are proven on the map beneath.
1999
Fiji, Ghana, Italy, San Marino, Senegal, Trinidad and Tobago
2000
Austria, Belgium, Botswana, Canada, France, Gabon, Germany, Iceland, Lesotho, Luxembourg, Mali, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Norway, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Spain, Tajikistan, Venezuela
2001
Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Central African Republic, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Dominica, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
2002
Barbados, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ecuador, Estonia, Gambia, Greece, Honduras, Eire, Jordan, Latvia, Malawi, Malta, Mauritius, Mongolia, Namibia, Niger, North Macedonia, Panama, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Uganda, Uruguay, Zambia
2003
Afghanistan, Albania, Georgia, Guinea, Lithuania
2004
Burkina Faso, Guyana, Liberia, Republic of the Congo
2005
Dominican Republic, Kenya, Mexico
2006
Comoros, Montenegro, Saint Kitts and Nevis
2007
Chad, Japan
2008
Cook dinner Islands, Madagascar, Suriname
2009
Chile, Czech Republic
2010
Bangladesh, Moldova, Saint Lucia, Seychelles
2011
Cape Verde, Grenada, Maldives, Tunisia
2012
Guatemala, Vanuatu
2013
Ivory Coast
2015
Palestine
2016
El Salvador
2019
Kiribati
2023
Armenia
2024
Ukraine
To date, solely Burundi (2017) and the Philippines (2019) have withdrawn from the court docket, whereas Hungary — which hosted Netanyahu final week — introduced on the eve of his arrival that it was withdrawing from the ICC.
A state’s withdrawal from the court docket turns into efficient one yr after it formally submits a discover of withdrawal – often within the type of a letter – to the workplace of the United Nations secretary-general.
Are member states required to arrest Netanyahu on their soil?
Member states of the ICC are required to completely cooperate with the court docket in its investigations and prosecutions. This consists of arresting suspects, offering proof and witness testimony, and providing safety to victims and witnesses. They need to additionally implement the choices of the court docket, which incorporates executing arrest warrants and implementing sentences.
States are additionally inspired to include crimes outlined by the ICC, resembling genocide and battle crimes, into their nationwide legal guidelines, guaranteeing their authorized techniques are able to addressing these offences.
In impact, all of which means a rustic that’s a part of the ICC is anticipated to take into custody those that face arrest warrants from the court docket, if these people — resembling Netanyahu in Hungary — are on their territory.
Nonetheless, ICC members states haven’t all the time adopted this in observe. In 2017, South Africa, a member of the court docket, didn’t arrest Sudan’s then chief Omar al-Bashir, who was visiting, regardless of an ICC warrant in opposition to him.
Why did the ICC subject an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu?
On November 21, 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Protection Minister Yoav Gallant, and a Hamas commander, Mohammed Deif, over alleged battle crimes.
There are “cheap grounds” to imagine that Gallant and Netanyahu “deliberately and knowingly disadvantaged the civilian inhabitants in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, together with meals, water, and drugs and medical provides, in addition to gas and electrical energy”, the ICC stated.
Israel rejected the fees as false and politically motivated.
The Biden administration rejected the arrest warrant, calling it “outrageous”, whereas the Trump administration later imposed sanctions on ICC officers.
What’s the US’s relationship with the ICC?
The US will not be a member of the ICC.
In 2000, through the Clinton presidency, the US did signal the Rome Statute, however it was by no means ratified by the Senate. In 2002, underneath the administration of President George W Bush, the US withdrew its signature.
On February 6, 2025, US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the ICC, accusing the court docket of focusing on each Israel and the US.
Trump’s govt order claimed that the ICC had “abused its energy” by issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, asserting that the court docket had taken “illegitimate” actions in opposition to the US and its “shut ally” Israel.
Why is Hungary withdrawing from the ICC?
On Thursday, Hungary introduced its determination to withdraw from the Worldwide Legal Courtroom, simply earlier than Prime Minister Viktor Orban acquired his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu.
International Minister Caspar Veldkamp of the Netherlands, which hosts the ICC, stated on Thursday that till Hungary’s withdrawal from the ICC was full, which he stated takes a few yr, the nation should nonetheless meet its duties.
European Union international locations have been cut up on the ICC warrant.
Some stated final yr they might meet their ICC commitments, whereas Italy has stated there have been authorized doubts, and France has stated it believed Netanyahu had immunity from ICC actions.
Germany’s subsequent chancellor Friedrich Merz stated in February he would discover a means for Netanyahu to go to with out being arrested.
What are the continuing ICC instances?
The ICC has 12 ongoing investigations together with from Afghanistan, Bangladesh/Myanmar, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ivory Coast, Libya, Mali, Palestine, Philippines, Sudan, Venezuela and Ukraine.
There have been 32 instances earlier than the court docket, with some having a couple of suspect. ICC judges have issued no less than 60 arrest warrants.
How many individuals has the court docket convicted?
ICC judges have issued 11 convictions and 4 acquittals. Twenty-one individuals have been held within the ICC detention centre in The Hague and have appeared earlier than the court docket, and 31 individuals stay at massive. Expenses have been dropped in opposition to seven individuals on account of their deaths.
Of the 11 convictions, solely six have been for the court docket’s core crimes of battle crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity. The others have been for crimes resembling witness tampering. The six convicted males have been all African fighter group leaders from the DRC, Mali and Uganda. Phrases ranged from 9 to 30 years in jail. The utmost doable time period is life imprisonment.
What’s the distinction between the ICJ and the ICC?
The Worldwide Legal Courtroom (ICC) and the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ) are simply lower than 3km (1.9 miles) aside in The Hague, a metropolis within the Netherlands.
Each courts are presently instances associated to Israel and Palestine, but regardless of their comparable abbreviations, there are some key variations between the 2.
Notably, the ICJ’s duties embrace settling authorized disputes between states whereas the ICC prosecutes people for battle crimes.
