The International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague in The Netherlands is the world's sole permanent court with the power to prosecute individuals for international crimes. These crimes include genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression.
Typically, cases will advance to the ICC once they have cycled through local and national courts with no prosecution of crimes.
As of September 2021, 123 countries are signed on the Rome Statute, the binding legal treaty that enacted the creation of the court and serves as its legal guide. Israel signed on to the Statute on December 31, 2000, but its signature was never approved or accepted.
The Judicial Division is the body of lawmakers that hears cases, headed by the president. Cases are brought to the Judicial Division by the Prosecutor.
On March 3, 2021, then-ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced the opening of a full war crimes probe against Israel and Hamas, focusing on the Gaza wars in 2014 and 2018, as well as the launching of rockets by Hamas against Israeli civilians and the settlement enterprise.
Lebanon reversed its decision to authorize ICC war crimes investigations, missing a "historic opportunity" for justice, says Human Rights Watch.
The High Court of Justice's defense of senior Israeli officials against being put on trial in The Hague is now seen as exaggerated and baseless.
The ICC prosecutor’s decision is painful, among other reasons, because it expresses a complete lack of confidence in the Israeli justice system.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken had indicated he'd be open to working with Congress on bipartisan sanctions against the ICC.
He also addressed the judicial reform, of which he was a chief proponent, and stated that at the time he had received warnings from the legal system in Israel.
Israel allegedly “deployed its intelligence agencies to surveil, hack, pressure, smear and allegedly threaten senior ICC staff in an effort to derail the court’s inquiries.”
The International Court of Justice's ambiguous language has led to differing interpretations regarding Israel's military actions in Rafah.
We must fight for global public opinion and show how the ICC in The Hague not only defends but also collaborates with terrorism.
Following the ICJ's ruling on Friday, forcing Israel to halt its operations against Hamas in Rafah, many politicians and various experts expressed their opinions on the ICJ and its ruling.
While the Israeli media presents a picture of the war that is focused on Israel – hostages, war casualties, and the IDF operation – the world sees mostly one image: the destruction of Gaza.
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