Piroschka van de Wouw/Portal
International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Portal on October 12 in The Hague, Netherlands.
CNN –
International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan said his office had been commissioned by five countries to investigate whether crimes were committed in the Palestinian territories as part of Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks.
South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti submitted the transfer, Khan said.
“Under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, a State Party may bring to the attention of the Prosecutor a situation in which one or more crimes appear to have been committed within the jurisdiction of the Court and request the Prosecutor to investigate the situation for the purpose of determining whether one or more crimes have been committed several specific individuals should be charged for committing such crimes,” Khan said in a statement.
He noted that his office was already conducting an investigation into the situation in the Palestinian territories into possible crimes committed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since June 2014. The investigation began in March 2021.
“It is ongoing and extends to the escalation of hostilities and violence since the October 7, 2023 attacks,” Khan said. “Pursuant to the Rome Statute, my office has jurisdiction over crimes committed within the territory of a State Party and against the nationals of States Parties.”
Both Hamas and Israel have been accused of war crimes as the death toll in the conflict rises. Nearly 11,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah, which draws on medical sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave. Following the militant group’s terrorist attacks on October 7, which left 1,200 people dead and 240 taken hostage in Israel, Israel wants to target Hamas commanders and infrastructure with its airstrikes.
Israel’s siege of Gaza has included a near-total blockade of food, water and electricity, except for what the United Nations described as a “trickle” of humanitarian aid. However, on Friday, Israel’s War Cabinet agreed to allow two fuel tankers to enter the Gaza Strip each day to support water and sewage systems.
The conflict is covered by a complex international legal system developed after World War II that attempts to balance humanitarian concerns and the military needs of states.
A UN report last month said it was gathering evidence of war crimes following the Hamas attack. The report said Israel may be committing the war crime of collective punishment after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government ordered a “total siege” of the Gaza Strip. A number of prominent human rights groups agree with the UN’s assessment.
Earlier this month, Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, called the Oct. 7 attacks “atrocities” and said they – and the capture of hostages – amounted to war crimes.
But he added: “Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinian civilians also constitutes a war crime, as does the unlawful forced evacuation of civilians.”
The South African government has called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. In a statement last month, South Africa’s Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation accused Israel of war crimes and said: “The constant bombing of civilian targets and the denial of water, food, fuel and electricity to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip are prohibited under the International Convention. “Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Conventions.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described as “nonsense” allegations that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza. “We consciously do everything in our power to target the terrorists, and the civilians – as is the case in any legitimate war – are sometimes so-called collateral damage,” he told NBC News on Sunday.
Israel is not a member of the ICC and rejects the court’s jurisdiction. However, that has not stopped the court from investigating his actions in the occupied Palestinian territories. Fatou Bensouda, the ICC prosecutor at the time, conducted a “careful preliminary investigation” for five years and concluded she was “satisfied that war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.” However, it came There were no arrests and Bensouda left office in 2021.
Khan had previously said that the acts committed by Hamas on October 7 would be “serious violations of international humanitarian law” if proven. He also stressed that “Israel has clear obligations in the context of its war with Hamas: not just moral obligations, but also legal obligations… That’s in the Geneva Conventions. It’s there in black and white.”