LONDON: After seeking an arrest warrant for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in May, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has said that justice must be seen to be done.
Speaking to the BBC’s “Political Thinking with Nick Robinson” radio program, Karim Khan said it was important to show that the ICC would hold all nations to the same standard in relation to alleged war crimes.
He also welcomed the new British government’s decision to drop opposition to the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
“There’s a difference of tone and, I think, of substance in relation to international law by the new government. And I think that’s welcome,” he told Robinson.
Khan had also sought warrants for three Hamas leaders, two of whom have since been killed.
The prosecutor said the court needed to request warrants for leaders on both sides of the war to ensure people around the world saw that the court was applying “the law equally based upon some common standards.”
Khan said: “If one had applied for warrants in relation to Israeli officials and not for Gaza, (some would) say: ‘Well, this is an obscenity’ and ‘How on earth is that possible?’
“You can’t have one approach for countries where there’s support, whether it’s NATO support, European support (or) powerful countries behind you, and a different approach where you have clear jurisdiction,” he added.
Khan said in May that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh, bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity from Oct. 7 onwards.
The request for the warrants has yet to be approved by ICC judges.
Khan said Israel’s prime minister and defense minister were suspected of crimes including starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, murder, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, and extermination.
He accused the Hamas leaders of crimes including extermination, murder, hostage taking, rape and sexual violence, and torture.
Israel and Hamas have both rejected the allegations. US President Joe Biden said the application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders was “outrageous.”
Khan told the BBC that he had been pressured by some world leaders not to issue warrants.
“Several leaders and others told me and advised me and cautioned me,” he said.
Khan also told the BBC that unlike his critics, he had reviewed the evidence the warrant requests were based on.
“I have one advantage at least. Hopefully, even they will concede, I’ve seen the evidence. They haven’t,” he said.
“The application is not public. It is confidential. It is filed to the chamber. So, they are guessing what evidence has been submitted,” he said.
