The Hague, May 4 (RHC)– The International Criminal Court (ICC) has condemned threats against the top United Nations court and its staff after suggestions that Israeli leaders may face arrest warrants for their genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
In the past few weeks, fear has mounted in the occupying regime as The Hague-based ICC is reportedly planning to charge Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, war minister Yoav Gallant and military chief Herzi Halevi with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The ICC chief said both the UN court and its personnel had received threats in recent days.
The ICC’s “independence and impartiality are undermined, however, when individuals threaten to retaliate against the court or against court personnel should the Office, in fulfillment of its mandate, make decisions about investigations or cases falling within its jurisdiction,” said office of ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan on X.
“Such threats, even not acted upon, may constitute an offence” against the top UN court’s “administration of justice,” it warned, calling for an end to such activity. “The Office insists that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence its officials cease immediately,” the ICC stressed. Khan’s office, however, did not say where the threats had come from and which investigation was concerned.
The ICC, which can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression, has been conducting an investigation into atrocities committed by the occupying regime in Gaza and the occupied West Bank since June 2014.
The Israeli regime has been ignoring the ICC’s preliminary ruling in January which ordered Tel Aviv to take all measures to protect civilian life in Gaza and to refrain from genocidal acts.
If arrest warrants are served, the top tribunal’s 124 member states are obligated to arrest and hand over the defendants to the Hague once they enter their soil.
Recently, Israeli media reported that the Tel Aviv regime is holding secret meetings and consultations with its allies, including the United States, Britain, and Germany, in a bid to obstruct the ICC’s work.
Netanyahu has already said he expected international leaders to use “all the means at their disposal to stop this dangerous move.”
Neither the United States nor Israel are members of the ICC.
Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the regime’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people.
Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 34,622 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Another 77,816 individuals have sustained injuries as well.
Israel has imposed a “complete siege” on Gaza, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.
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