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.
Anne Herzberg of NGO Monitor explained how the warrants significantly limit Israel's ability to cooperate with national security officials.
In a post on X, Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton decried the ICC as a "kangaroo court" and called Karim Khan a "deranged fanatic."
Former Israeli diplomat and former foreign ministry official, Yigal Palmor, told the Post that the warrants will have significant implications for international justice.
The ICC's reasoning for issuing the arrest warrants amounts to a harsh indictment of Israel's policies in its war on Gaza.
"We call on the International Criminal Court to expand the scope of accountability to all criminal occupation leaders," Hamas said in a statement.
The ruling could prevent Israeli officials from traveling and comes as the government ignores legal advice to open a state inquiry.
“The Senate must pass or bill to protect Americans and our allies from wrongful targeting by the ICC. Standing up for our great ally Israel shouldn’t be a partisan issue."
The request requires the approval of ICC judges, but their decision has been delayed, partly because of several rounds of legal filings by Israel that have challenged the court's jurisdiction.
How global anti-Israel sentiment endangers US security and alliances.
“We have failed to live up to the promise of Never Again that was made in Nuremberg,” ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan told reporters in the German city.
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