Palestinians call for investigation into Israeli threats against ICC

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) — A group of 20 Palestinians asked the Dutch public prosecution service to look into claims of threats and intimidation against staff at the International Criminal Court over its investigation of supposed war crimes in Palestinian territories.

“My clients have been following the [ICC] investigation for years and they are worried the threats may prevent them from getting justice,” attorney for the group Barbara van Straaten told Courthouse News. 

According to an investigation by The Guardian, Israeli intelligence officials have spied on ICC officials for years, including an incident where a senior Mossad official “ambushed” the former prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in a hotel room. 

The ICC's prosecutor office was aware of the request filed to the Dutch authorities last week and said, in a statement, it “remains deeply concerned by the ongoing attempts to improperly influence its activities through threats and intimidation of its officials.” 

Bensouda opened an investigation into the supposed war crimes committed in Palestinian territories in 2021 after judges ruled that the court has jurisdiction over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel occupied following the Six-Day War of 1967. 

Last month, the current prosecutor, Karim Khan, said his office “will not be improperly influenced by any form of threat and harassment.” 

In May, Khan requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and three senior Hamas leaders. The charges against the Israeli leaders center on the use of starvation as a war crime, pointing to the “arbitrary” closing of border crossings and cutting off water and electricity to the Gaza Strip following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. 

The groups says in its request that attempts to influence, bribe or blackmail court staff are illegal under the Rome Statute and — since the ICC is headquartered in the Netherlands — the country has an obligation to investigate possible violations. 

“It will be studied and then decided upon, that may take some time,” a spokesperson for the Dutch public prosecution service said in a statement.

Israel has vehemently denied the accusations of spying and has also demanded the court drop the investigation into Netanyahu and Gallant. In September, the country submitted a pair of briefs to the court, arguing the ICC lacked jurisdiction in the case. 

The request for warrants from the prosecutor is put to a pretrial panel of three judges, who consider the evidence and decide if warrants should be issued. This process typically takes around two months. 

In an unusual move in July, the pretrial chamber agreed to a request by the government of the United Kingdom to weigh in on whether the court had jurisdiction over Israeli officials. Dozens of advocacy organizations, international legal experts and countries submitted amici curiae filings in August. 

In his response, Khan reiterated that the institution has jurisdiction to investigate Israeli officials over their actions in the ongoing war in Gaza and urged the judges to move forward with arrest warrants. 

Follow @mollyquell