GLOBAL outrage over the steady rise of the death toll and misery in Gaza, the West Bank and now Lebanon, has failed to bring about a ceasefire. Many who had pinned their hopes on prominent international institutions to find a way, some way, to halt 14 months of Israeli military “shock and awe” in the occupied territories, have given up. Frustrated. Hopeless.

And as the genocide against two million Palestinians in Gaza snakes its way into yet another Christmas holiday season and threatens to spoil a festive occasion, a legal bomb went off just a few days ago. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. A brief moment to reflect on the meaning of the ICC’s ruling before this milestone too passes.

Based in the Hague, the ICC also issued a warrant for the arrest of Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the Hamas military chief better known as Mohammed Deif, whom Israel’s authorities said was killed in Gaza in August this year. The ICC’s list of indictees might have included Hamas’ leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, but they too were executed earlier this year by Israel in Gaza and Iran.

The warrants came six months after chief prosecutor Karim Khan first accused the Israeli prime minister and his former defence minister of committing the war crime of starvation and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts. Serious stuff.

A panel of three ICC judges rejected appeals by Israel challenging its jurisdiction and in what is now a first in the ICC’s 22-year history, arrest warrants have been issued against two senior leaders of a country that is an ally of the West. The ICC decision is binding on all states that are party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, which includes all EU member states. France and the Netherlands have already said they are prepared to enforce the warrants.

Guyana too is a signatory to the ICC. Under the presidency of Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, Guyana signed the Rome Statute on 28 December, 2000 and ratified it on 24 September, 2004. The issue may or may not have come up in private discussions between President Irfaan Ali and India’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, who was in Guyana for a historic state visit when the ICC announcement was made.

India is not a party to the Rome Statute for a number of complex legal factors having to do with the jurisdiction of the ICC with regard to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). During negotiations around the creation of the ICC more than two decades ago, India claimed that the Statute cannot add to or subtract from the powers of the UNSC, which are already provided for in the UN Charter.

For this and other reasons, the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Israel have never ratified the Rome Statute. The State of Palestine, however, was granted membership in 2015 which meant that the court has jurisdiction to investigate Israelis for alleged crimes committed in occupied Palestine, which includes the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Rome Statute was ratified by 124 countries and they, like Guyana, would be compelled to arrest Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif and hand them over to the court at Hague if presented with the opportunity. A trial could not commence in absentia. A lawyer representing Palestinian victims described the warrants as “a historic decision” and noted that the court acted even though it was threatened with sanctions by the United States.

Meanwhile, B’Tselem, Israel’s largest human rights group, called on member states of the ICC to affirm their commitment to enforcing the warrants and shielding the ICC from threat. Clearly, they know something many Western leaders have failed to grasp so far.

In the days leading up to the public disclosure of the warrants, a new anonymous X handle tweeted details of an alleged complaint of sexual harassment against the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan. Without much hesitation, the British media reported on the allegations forcing the Independent Oversight Mechanism (IOM) of the ICC to conduct an independent investigation. The IOM found there was no evidence to support the allegations.

What the ICC did find, however, was a mountain of evidence that Netanyahu and Gallant deprived the civilian population in Gaza of food, water, medicine, medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity from at least October 8, 2023 to May 20, 2024.

The ICC found hard evidence showing that Netanyahu and Gallant prevented humanitarian aid in violation of international humanitarian law from reaching the victims of their bombing campaign in Gaza. The actions of these two Israeli leaders, the court found, had a “severe impact” on the capacity of hospitals to deliver urgent care to injured and dying Palestinians.
The ICC said there were reasonable grounds to believe that the crimes of torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, cruel treatment, and outrages upon personal dignity were committed against Palestinians captured by Israel.

As we take this opportunity to reflect on the significance of these warrants, let us also acknowledge a simple fact — Netanyahu and Gallant may never see the inside of an ICC courtroom in The Hague.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.