Six months. That’s how long it took the International Criminal Court (ICC) to decide on arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders—two of whom are no longer alive. Six long months of waiting, while bombs rained down on Gaza and the death toll soared.
Over 9,000 additional Palestinians have lost their lives as a result of Israel’s ceaseless bombardment and siege in only six months. This raises the official death toll to an astounding 45,000, but The Lancet specialists caution that the actual figure may be much higher. It is heartbreaking to see the destruction in Gaza, and the ICC has been under a lot of pressure, as seen by the delay in issuing these arrest warrants.
For comparison, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova and Russian President Vladimir Putin for suspected war crimes in Ukraine in just three weeks. The stark contrast in response times highlights how politicized international justice has become.
Pressure from All Sides
The ICC’s three-judge panel faced unprecedented pressure. Countries that often preach about a “rules-based world order” were the ones leading the charge against the court. US President Joe Biden was quick to slam ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan’s application for the arrest warrants, calling it “outrageous” back in May—long before the court had even begun its review.
Biden didn’t mince his words, saying, “Let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence—none—between Israel and Hamas. When Israel faces dangers to its security, we will always support it.
It was more than simply hyperbole. Since then, Karim Khan has been the target of sexual misconduct allegations that have been timed to damage his reputation. The accusations are currently being investigated by an outside investigator, but the timing begs the issue of whether this is a legitimate probe or political sabotage.
At first, the UK government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer attempted to claim that crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territories were outside the ICC’s jurisdiction. Their logic? Despite being signed in the 1990s, the Oslo Accords have never been completely carried out. But after receiving criticism, this argument was discreetly abandoned.
“We’ve been very clear about the importance of the rule of law and the independence of the courts both domestically and internationally,” a Starmer official subsequently stated.
In the meantime, a measure to penalize the ICC is circulating through Congress in the United States, a country whose government has not even ratified the Rome Statute. This is although the White House has rejected it and while it has been passed by the House of Representatives with bipartisan backing. Although it has not been taken to vote in the Senate, it has been promised to be seen through if Donald Trump is elected president the following year by Republican Senator John Thune.
Thune didn’t hold back, posting on social media, “If the ICC and its prosecutor do not reverse their outrageous and unlawful actions to pursue arrest warrants against Israeli officials, the Senate should immediately pass sanctions legislation, as the House has already done on a bipartisan basis.”
The pressure on the ICC judges was immense. Iulia Motoc from Romania has, in fact, just retired for health reasons. She is replaced by Beti Hohler from Slovenia.
However, the judges ignored this and proceeded nonetheless. Amid a wave of political interference, out came the arrest warrants.
Is it the Law of the Jungle or an Order Based on Rules?
Despite attempts by strong governments to sabotage their work, the ICC judges have shown incredible bravery by upholding their mission. For proponents of international law and responsibility, their decision is a rare victory.
But it has nevertheless been an enlightening reaction from US officials. “No standing, relevance or road,” Senator John Fetterman said on social media after dismissing the ICC altogether. “Fuck that,” he added, with an emoji of an Israeli flag.
The US has isolated itself internationally with repeated vetoes of recommendations by the UN to end the hostilities. The country has opposed four resolutions since the beginning of the war some 13 months ago, the latest this week for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza.
At the UN, the Palestinian envoy Majed Bamya lashed out: “There is no right to mass killing of civilians.” There is no right to starve an entire civilian population. There is no right to forcibly displace a people, and there is no right to annexation. This is what Israel is doing in Gaza. These are its war objectives. This is what the absence of a ceasefire is allowing it to continue doing.”
Hours later, Israeli warplanes bombed a residential block near Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, killing at least 66 people.
How the Biden administration tackled the problem will be one of the worst moments in US foreign policy. It is also public bashing by the Prime Minister of Israel, Netanyahu, against the leadership of Biden.
Netanyhahu said during a speech in the Knesset earlier this month that Biden had urged Israel not to invade Gaza on foot.“The US had reservations and suggested that we not enter Gaza,” Netanyahu said. He added that Biden had threatened to cut off weapons shipments if Israel proceeded.
But Netanyahu made it clear he wasn’t backing down. “We will fight with our nails,” he said, recounting his response to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s warnings.
As Biden’s presidency winds down, his inability to lead on this issue has left a bitter taste. His hesitation and mixed messages have only deepened the crisis, making even his Republican predecessors look like paragons of moral clarity by comparison.
The very issuance of the ICC arrest warrants themselves sends a ray of hope amidst mayhem, only to remind one that some individuals will never give up on their ideals of justice and accountability, even at the point of a gun.
For now, the arrest warrants are an indelible mark of ICC judges’ bravery and of the doggedness of those fighting on for a more just and fair society. Accountability has hardly been fought; there is much ground yet to be stridden.
