Israel, despite its extensive legal expertise, has not properly investigated war crimes allegations brought against it during the war in Gaza, according to Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), reports Al Jazeera.
“The question is have those judges [in Israel], have those prosecutors, have those legal instruments been used to properly scrutinise the allegations that we’ve seen in the occupied Palestinian territories, in the State of Palestine? And I think the answer to that was ‘no’,” Khan said in an interview with the Reuters news agency.
“We’re here as a court of last resort and … as we speak right now, we haven’t seen any real effort by the State of Israel to take action that would meet the established jurisprudence,” he added.
Khan also criticised the US House of Representatives’ vote last week to sanction the ICC for issuing an arrest warrant against Netanyahu, saying it “is a matter that should make all people of conscience be concerned”.
On top of its warrant for Netanyahu, the ICC has also issued warrants for Israeli defence chief Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
