The recent announcement by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to seek arrest warrants for some Hamas and Israeli leaders in connection with the ongoing conflict in Gaza has garnered mixed reactions from the International Community. On the 7 th of October 2023, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched “Operation al-Aqsa Flood” against Israel, killing hundreds of civilians, abducting about 245 hostages and subjecting several others to cruel and inhumane treatment. Israel in response invoked its right to self-defense, declared war and launched “Operation Iron Swords” against Hamas militants in Gaza since the 8 th October 2023. The ongoing war between Hamas and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is argued to have resulted to several breaches of International Humanitarian law. This paper examines the jurisdiction of the ICC over such international crimes using the Rome Statute and relevant rules regulating armed conflict enshrined in the 1949 Genva Conventions and its additional protocols as yardstick. Thus, the central question is whether the ICC Prosecutor has the right to institute criminal proceedings against Israeli and Hamas leaders accused to have committed crimes proscribed under the Rome Statute? It argues that pursuant to articles 12(2)(a)(b), 13(c),15 (1)(3), and 58 of the Rome Statute, the Prosecutor is entirely within his jurisdiction in seeking arrest warrants against the persons suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity prohibited by article 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute.
Akhavan, P. (2008). Reconciling Crimes against Humanity with the Laws of War: Human Rights, Armed Conflict, and the Limits of Progressive Jurisprudence. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 6, 21-37. https://doi.org/10.1093/jicj/mqn001
Barcelona Traction, Light & Power Co., Ltd. Case BT-ICJ Rep (1970).
Bouchet-Saulnier, F. (2013). The Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. https://doi.org/10.5771/9781442221130
Bruderlein, C. (1991). Custom in International Humanitarian Law. International Review of the Red Cross, 31, 579-595. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0020860400072569
Chifflet, P. (2006). The First Trial of Former Members of the Kosovo Liberation Army: Prosecutor v. Fatmir Limaj, Haradin Bala, and Isak Musliu. Leiden Journal of International Law, 19, 459-476. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0922156506003384
Clapham, A., & Gaeta, P. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of International Law in Armed Conflict . OUP.
Crawford, E., & Pert, A. (2024). International Humanitarian Law . Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009326681
Cross, I. C. of the R. (2010). Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 . International Committee of the Red Cross.
Cryer, R. (2009). The Definitions of International Crimes in the Al Bashir Arrest Warrant Decision. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 7, 283-296. https://doi.org/10.1093/jicj/mqp029
Dinstein, Y. (2021). Non-International Armed Conflicts in International Law . Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108864091
Fleck, D. (2013). The Law of Non-International Armed Conflict. In D. Fleck (Ed.), The Handbook of International Humanitarian Law (p. 581). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/law/9780199658800.003.0012
Flood, I. O. al-A. (n.d.). Operation Al-Aqsa Flood: A Rupture in the History of the Palestinian Resistance and Its Implications. In Insight Turkey/Fall 2023: Turktime Has Begun (p. 85).
Gaza: Number of Children Killed Higher than from Four Years of World Conflict (n.d.). https://turkiye.un.org/en/263401-gaza-number-children-killed-higher-four-years-world-conflict
Grant, T. D. (1998). Defining Statehood: The Montevideo Convention and Its Discontents. Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, 37, 403-459.
Guterres, A. (2023). Secretary-General’s Remarks to the Security Council on the Middle East . https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2023-10-24/secretary-generals-remarks-the-security-council-the-middle-east
Hasan, A., & Buheji, M. (2024). A World Losing Its Legitimacy-Gaza from Collective Punish Till Ethnic Cleansing & Genocide. International Journal of Management (IJM), 15, 188-209.
Henckaerts, J.-M., & Alvermann, C. (2005). Customary International Humanitarian Law (Vol. 1). Cambridge University Press.
ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Limaj, Bala and Musliu, Trial Judgment, 30 November 2005, para. 89.
International Committee of the Red Cross (1977). Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II). https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/assets/files/publications/icrc-002-0142.pdf
Israel and the Occupied Territories: Key Facts and Figures from October 7th to January 31st 2024 (n.d.). https://www.icrc.org/en/document/israel-and-occupied-territories-key-facts-and-figures-october-7th-january-31st-2024
Jamshidi, M. (2024). Genocide and Resistance in Palestine under Law’s Shadow. Journal of Genocide Research . https://doi.org/10.1080/14623528.2024.2348377
Karim, A. A., & Khan, K. (2024). Statement on the Application for Arrest Warrants in the Situation in the State of Palestine . International Criminal Court. https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-prosecutor-karim-aa-khan-kc-applications-arrest-warrants-situation-state
Kleffner, J. K. (2011). The Applicability of International Humanitarian Law to Organized Armed Groups. International Review of the Red Cross, 93, 443-461. https://doi.org/10.1017/s181638311200001x
Lachenmann, F., & Wolfrum, R. (2016). The Law of Armed Conflict and the Use of Force: The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law . Oxford University Press.
Milton-Edwards, B. (2008). The Ascendance of Political Islam: Hamas and Consolidation in the Gaza Strip. Third World Quarterly, 29, 1585-1599. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436590802528739
Oxfam (2024). Daily Death Rate in Gaza Higher than Any Other Major 21st Century Conflict . https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/daily-death-rate-gaza-higher-any-other-major-21st-century-conflict-oxfam
Panel of Experts in International Law (2024). Report of the Panel of Experts in International Law . International Criminal Court. https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/2024-05/240520-panel-report-eng.pdf
Pilloud, C., Sandoz, Y., Swinarski, C., & Zimmermann, B. (1987). Commentary on the Additional Protocols: Of 8 June 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 . Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
Posse, H. D. T. G. (2006). The Relationship between International Humanitarian Law and the International Criminal Tribunals. International Review of the Red Cross, 88, 65-86. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1816383106000051
Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir, Judgment in the Jordan Referral Re Al-Bashir Appeal BT-OA (2019).
SC/15390 (n.d.). Detailing Extremist Violence on both Sides of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Senior Official Tells Security Council Political Horizon Must Be Re-Established . https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15390.doc.htm
Sinwar, Y., Al-Masri, M. D. I., & Haniyeh, I. (n.d.). Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim AA Khan KC: Applications for Arrest Warrants in the Situation in the State of Palestine .
Stahn, C. (2019). A Critical Introduction to International Criminal Law . Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108399906
Sweers, R. (n.d.). The Decision on the Situation in Palestine Issued by Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court .
United Nations (1998). Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Treaty Series , 2187 .
Whyte, J. (2024). A “Tragic Humanitarian Crisis”: Israel’s Weaponization of Starvation and the Question of Intent. Journal of Genocide Research . https://doi.org/10.1080/14623528.2024.2339637