On April 29, 2024, Israel began to voice out the fears that the International Criminal Court were preparing to issue arrest warrants for their government officials on charges related to its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In actual sense, this was coming against the backdrop of South Africa, pushing for the case of genocide against the Palestinians situated in the Gaza strip, by the Nation of Israel.

Although, most people don't know that there has bee an official investigation by the ICC into Israel for allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the occupied Palestinian territories since 2021.

The first Question that comes to mind is?
What right do the ICC have to bring up a case against Israel?

To answer that, it is pertinent to note the Function of the ICC

I wouldn't like to bore you with a lot of History, but here is an excerpt taking from Reuters

The ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression when member states are unwilling or unable to do so themselves. It can prosecute crimes committed by nationals of member states or on the territory of member states by other actors. It has 124 member states.

So the ICC will only be able to prosecute Nationals of aggressor states (either member states of the ICC or other actors against member states) not against STATES.

Inadvertently, only Netayanhu and some select officials of the nation of Israel are compromised.

It is also pertinent to note that there is a warrant against Putin for war crimes for illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine, and this arrest warrant for Putin was issued in March 2023.

Member countries of the ICC include;

Afghanistan
Albania
Andorra
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
B
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
C
Cabo Verde
Cambodia
Canada
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
Colombia
Comoros
Congo
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Côte d’Ivoire
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
D
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
E
Ecuador
El Salvador
Estonia
F
Fiji
Finland
France
G
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guyana
H
Honduras
Hungary
I
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
J
Japan
Jordan
K
Kenya
Kiribati
L
Latvia
Lesotho
Liberia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
M
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritius
Mexico
Mongolia
Montenegro
N
Namibia
Nauru
Netherlands
New Zealand
Niger
Nigeria
North Macedonia
Norway
P
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Poland
Portugal
R
Republic of Korea
Republic of Moldova
Romania
S
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
State of Palestine
Suriname
Sweden
Switzerland
T
Tajikistan
Timor-Leste
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
U
Uganda
United Kingdom
United Republic of Tanzania
Uruguay
V
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Z
Zambia

Finally, it will interest you to note that Israel is not a member of the court and does not recognise its jurisdiction, but the Palestinian territories were admitted as a member state in 2015 as seen in the list above.

#BeInformed
#FactsoverSentiments