International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News — Karim Khan, the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, asked judges to reject Israeli objections to an arrest warrant against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Submitting his 55-page response on Monday night, Khan asserted that the court had jurisdiction over all states party to the Rome Statute, regardless of where the perpetrators were from.
“Palestine,” Ukraine, Canada, and all countries of the European Union accept the statute, he said, while dozens of countries do not accept the court’s jurisdiction, including Israel, the United States, Russia, and China. As the alleged crimes occurred in the Gaza Strip, the court has jurisdiction, Khan argued.
Also named in the original arrest warrants were the Hamas leaders who ordered the invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, although they have all been killed.
Israel’s petition against the warrants called their issuing a “dark day in the history of nations,” adding that Israel has its own robust judicial system to deal with such claims.
The warrants have led countries in Europe to scramble to find ways to circumvent their obligation to arrest Netanyahu, with France stating that he has immunity as the current leader of a country with which Paris maintains diplomatic relations.
