(Originally published on May 20, 2024 and updated with new additions to the symposium.)
On May 20, the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s Chief Prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan KC, announced that he had applied for arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders, including the organization’s head Yahya Sinwar and senior leaders Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (known as “Deif”) and Ismail Haniyeh, for charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in relation to the situation in Palestine. On Nov. 21, the ICC announced that it was issuing warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, and Deif. (It did not issue warrants for Sinwar and Haniyeh because they were confirmed dead.)
In May, Just Security launched a symposium to provide legal and policy analysis of the developing events, as well as to provide context and serve as a resource for policymakers, journalists, and the public. Coverage is continuing on an ongoing basis; check back frequently for updates.
Analysis
Rebecca Ingber, Mapping State Reactions to the ICC Warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant (first published on Nov. 22, 2024 and continually updated)
Tom Dannenbaum, Nuts & Bolts of the International Criminal Court Arrest Warrants in the ‘Situation in Palestine’ (Nov. 22, 2024)
Marty Lederman, Toward a Fuller Understanding of the U.S. (and Israeli) Legal Objections to ICC Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, Part II: The argument that the ICC lacks jurisdiction (Oct. 15, 2024)
Marty Lederman, Toward a Fuller Understanding of U.S. Legal Objections to ICC Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant: Assessing the argument that warrants would be premature, Part I (Oct. 7, 2024)
Todd Buchwald, Expert Explainer: The US for the first time submits a formal brief to the International Criminal Court on the ‘Situation in Palestine’ (Aug. 22, 2024)
Michael Maya, Don’t Sanction the ICC for Doing its Job (Aug. 27, 2024)
Adil Ahmad Haque, “With Utmost Urgency”: Arrest Warrants and Amicus Observations at the International Criminal Court (Sep. 9, 2024)
Adil Ahmad Haque, The International Criminal Court’s Jurisdiction in Palestine and the ‘Oslo Accords Issue’ (July 9, 2024)
Yahli Shereshevsky, Armed Conflict Classification in the ICC Prosecutor’s Request for Arrest Warrants – Between International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Law (June 18, 2024)
Alexandre Skander Galand, ICC Arrest Warrant Requests in the Palestine Situation and Complementarity Anxieties: Why a new notification to Israel beforehand was not needed (June 11, 2024)
Amichai Cohen and Yuval Shany, The Prosecutor’s Circumvention of Article 18 Complementarity? A Flaw in the ICC’s Palestine Investigation (June 1, 2024)
Amichai Cohen and Yuval Shany, The Prosecutor’s Uphill Legal Battle?: The Netanyahu and Gallant ICC Arrest Warrant Requests (May 25, 2024)
Ambassador Todd F. Buchwald, The ICC Arrest Warrants: A Strong U.S. Reaction Should Not Include Sanctions (May 22, 2024)
Tess Bridgeman and Ryan Goodman, Sec. Blinken’s View on Sanctions Against the ICC: A More Complete Picture (May 22, 2024)
David Luban, What the ICC Prosecutor Charged – and Didn’t Charge – in Gaza Warrants (May 22, 2024)
Tom Dannenbaum, Nuts & Bolts of Int’l Criminal Court Arrest Warrant Applications for Senior Israeli Officials and Hamas Leaders (May 20, 2024)
Rebecca Hamilton, Tess Bridgeman, and Ryan Goodman, Timeline of Int’l Crim Court Arrest Warrants for Gaza War: What Comes Next and How We Got Here (May 20, 2024)
Adam Keith, Do Not Destroy the Int’l Criminal Court for Pursuing Accountability in Gaza (May 17, 2024)
Podcasts
A Request for ICC Arrest Warrants and the Israel-Hamas War (Co-Hosts Paras Shah and Tess Bridgeman, with guests Ambassador Todd Buchwald, Tom Dannenbaum, and Rebecca Hamilton) (May 20, 2024)
Documents and Statements
Key documents and statements are listed below. The full case record is also available on the ICC’s site.
Office of the Prosecutor, Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC on the issuance of arrest warrants in the Situation in the State of Palestine (Nov. 21, 2024)
ICC Press Release, Situation in the State of Palestine: ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I rejects the State of Israel’s challenges to jurisdiction and issues warrants of arrest for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant (Nov. 21, 2024)
ICC Press Release, Situation in the State of Palestine: ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I issues warrant of arrest for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (Deif) (Nov. 21, 2024)
ICC Decision on Israel’s challenge to the jurisdiction of the Court pursuant to article 19(2) of the Rome Statute (Nov. 21, 2024)
ICC Decision on Israel’s request for an order to the Prosecution to give an Article 18(1) notice (Nov. 21, 2024)
Office of the Prosecutor, Announcing Application for Arrest Warrants (May 20, 2024)
Independent Panel of Experts Report for the ICC Office of the Prosecutor (May 20, 2024)
Statement from U.S. President Joe Biden on the Warrant Applications by the International Criminal Court (May 20, 2024)
Statement, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Warrant Applications by the International Criminal Court (May 20, 2024)
2021 ASIL Task Force Report on Policy Options for U.S. Engagement with the ICC