Gaza’s two largest hospitals, Al-Shifa and Al-Nasser, have witnessed brutal Israeli attacks throughout the war
International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors have held meetings with the staff of Gaza’s two largest hospitals, Al-Shifa Hospital in the north of the strip and Al-Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis.
Two unnamed sources told Reuters on 29 April that ICC prosecutors have listened to the testimonies of several staff members of the two hospitals – both of which have been stormed by the Israeli army since the start of the war in October.
One source said that the Israeli army’s operations in and around both hospitals could become part of an ICC investigation. The sources refused to provide further details, and the ICC prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the operational aspect of the probe, citing concerns over the safety of witnesses and victims.
The ICC has said it is investigating both sides of the conflict.
In November, Al-Shifa Hospital was invaded by the Israeli army, who evacuated its staff at gunpoint and turned the facility into a detention center. The hospital was attacked again on 18 March, and hundreds were killed in a subsequent two-week Israeli operation inside and around the medical center.
Khan Yunis‘ Al-Nasser hospital was also stormed by Israeli troops in February. Several people were killed, including patients.
Palestinian rescue workers demanded urgent probes and international intervention following this month’s discovery of hundreds of bodies – many unidentifiable – buried in mass graves near the two hospitals.
Some of the bodies found showed signs of torture and execution. Other bodies had missing organs. Among the corpses found at the mass graves were those of children and elderly persons.
The investigations come after reports earlier this month saying the ICC was looking to issue arrest warrants against top Israeli officials – including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Netanyahu is reportedly in a state of extreme anxiety over the matter. According to Hebrew reports, Washington is involved in an effort to block the ICC from issuing the warrants.
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has threatened the ICC with “retaliation” if international arrest warrants are issued against senior Israeli officials for war crimes committed in Gaza.
“Legislation to that effect is already in the works,” officials told Axios on 29 April.
US lawmakers threaten ICC against issuing arrest warrants for Israeli officials
US law allows for the use of military force in The Hague to ‘liberate‘ any US citizen or citizen of a US-allied country being held by the ICC
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has threatened the International Criminal Court (ICC) with “retaliation” if international arrest warrants are issued against senior Israeli officials for war crimes committed in Gaza.
According to officials who spoke with Axios, “legislation to that effect is already in the works.”
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul told the US publication that the legislation would call for sanctions against ICC officials “involved in investigating the US and its allies.“
Representative Brad Sherman is quoted as saying that Washington should “think of whether we stay a signatory“ to the Rome Statute — the treaty that established the ICC and established four core international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.
Neither Washington nor Tel Aviv are among the 124 states that remain signatories of the ICC Rome Statute of 1998.
“We have to think about talking to some of the countries that have ratified [the treaty] as to whether they want to support the organization,“ he added.
“If unchallenged by the Biden administration, the ICC could create and assume unprecedented power to issue arrest warrants against American political leaders, American diplomats, and American military personnel,“ House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement issued on 29 April.
The Republican lawmaker also called on the White House to “immediately and unequivocally demand that the ICC stand down” and “use every available tool to prevent such an abomination.”
Based in The Hague, Netherlands, the ICC has been investigating war crimes committed by the Israeli military in Gaza. The court says it is also probing alleged violations by Palestinian resistance groups.
After reports broke earlier this month saying the ICC was looking to issue arrest warrants against top Israeli officials – including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant – the US and its allies began pressuring the court to back out, claiming the warrants could “jeopardize” a ceasefire deal for Gaza.
“Group of Seven nations have begun a quiet diplomatic effort to convey that message to the Hague-based court,” diplomatic sources who spoke with Bloomberg are quoted as saying.
Israel has been accused of genocide by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also based in The Hague.
An interim ruling at the start of the year determined that Israel was plausibly guilty of the crime of genocide and ordered it to stop genocidal acts during its war on Gaza and take measures to guarantee the efficient provision of humanitarian aid to the strip.
In 2002, two years after Washington withdrew from the Rome Statute, then-president George W Bush signed into law the “American Servicemembers Protection Act of 2002,” which authorizes the use of military force in the Netherlands to “liberate” any US citizen or citizen of a US-allied country held by the ICC.
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