ICC warrant unlikely to bring change to operations in Israel-Hamas war

(TND) — The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for war crimes and crimes against humanity for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and leaders of Hamas over the Oct. 7 terrorist attack and resulting war that has killed tens of thousands of civilians and sparked growing international outrage.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement Monday morning that he was applying for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, along with Hamas leaders for Yahya Sinwar, Muhammad Deif and Ismail Haniyeh. Judges from the court will need to approve the request, a process that usually takes several months, but the move is likely to be a blow to Israel’s standing on the world stage that has become increasingly isolated as the Palestinian death toll has climbed.

Khan said Netanyahu and Gallant have criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity, accusing them of using starvation as a weapon of war and intentionally targeting civilian populations in attacks.

“The effects of the use of starvation as a method of warfare, together with other attacks and collective punishment against the civilian population of Gaza are acute, visible and widely known, and have been confirmed by multiple witnesses interviewed by my Office, including local and international medical doctors,” Khan said in a statement.

Hamas’ leaders are being charged for their roles in planning and conducting the Oct. 7 terrorist attack that killed hundreds of Israeli civilians and led to the start of the war.

Neither Israel nor the United States are member states of the ICC, but it will still complicate tense diplomatic issues connected to the war.

The ICC’s warrant request is unlikely to change either side’s military objectives moving forward.

“This isn't going to make a change materially to how the war is going to be fought, and what Israel has to do or how Hamas is going to continue to fight,” said Mark Chandler, former director of Defense Intelligence Agency's Middle East and Africa Center and professor of practice at Coastal Carolina University.

Members of the governing coalition have also been unified in coming out against the ICC decision. Israeli War Cabinet member Benny Gantz and Netanyahu critic rejecting Khan’s claims in a statement Monday morning.

“The State of Israel is waging one of the just wars fought in modern history following a reprehensible massacre perpetrated by terrorist Hamas on the 7th of October,” he said. “The prosecutor’s position to apply for arrest warrants is in itself a crime of historic proportion to be remembered for generations.”

The ICC announcement has drawn significant backlash for including Israeli leaders in the same announcement as Hamas, a designated terrorist group. There are also concerns about the precedent it sets moving forward in future conflicts and missions to root out terrorism.

“Is this something leaders want hanging over their heads as they plan and conduct war against terrorists or some authoritarian regime bent on killing thousands? Where would it stop?” Chandler said.

The warrants come as Israel is pushing deeper into Rafah but so far avoided a full-scale invasion, a red line for the Biden administration and other world leaders over concerns about the civilian death toll that is expected to come with such an operation. Israeli forces have been battling with Hamas fighters in parts of the city and increased its bombardments but have not yet moved forward with an outright invasion.

More than 800,000 Palestinians have already fled Rafah due to the fighting, according to the United Nations. More than half of Gaza’s population had fled to the city and its surrounding areas amid the war between Israel and Hamas.

The White House has become increasingly critical of Israel’s military response and conduct as the war has continued into its seventh month and has sent multiple high-ranking administration officials to the Middle East to help broker a cease-fire. Biden paused a $1 billion shipment of U.S.-made weapons to Israel last week over concerns about a large civilian death toll in Rafah before ultimately deciding to move forward with it.

Along with humanitarian concerns, Biden is facing intense pressure from both sides of the aisle for his handling of the war and U.S. support for Israel. Protests spread across college campuses that lingered for weeks, creating issues for Biden and school administrators to navigate under a bright politically charged spotlight. Demonstrations outside of administration events have also become a common occurrence as pro-Palestinian protesters grow more frustrated with the mounting death toll.

Biden told graduates in a speech at Morehouse College that he heard the voices of protesters and that there’s a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“That’s why I’ve called for an immediate cease-fire to stop the fighting,” he said.

Even with the recent disagreements with Israel, the White House said it "fundamentally rejects" Monday's announcement and criticized lumping Israel together with Hamas.

“Fundamentally, this decision does nothing to help, and could jeopardize, ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement that would get hostages out and surge humanitarian assistance in, which are the goals the United States continue to pursue relentlessly,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

Republican lawmakers in Congress have blasted the court for targeting Israeli leaders with warrants, threatening to pull U.S. support for it and to levy sanctions against it.

“This outrageous decision is truly a slap in the face to the independent judiciary in Israel, which is renowned for their independence,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “I will feverishly work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle in both chambers to levy damning sanctions against the ICC.”

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