ICC arrest warrant applications ready for Israel's Ben Gvir and Smotrich on apartheid charges

Arrest warrant applications against two prominent Israeli ministers on charges of apartheid are ready and with two deputy prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Middle East Eye can reveal.

If the warrants for National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich are issued, it will be the first time that the crime of apartheid is charged at an international court.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan had prepared cases against Ben Gvir and Smotrich before he went on leave in May, according to numerous sources in the court with knowledge of the matter.

"Those applications for the arrest warrants are completely done," an ICC source told MEE.

"The only thing that didn't happen was submitting them to the court," the source said on condition of anonymity.

MEE can reveal that the deputy prosecutors have the power to submit them to pre-trial judges for examination, but some within the ICC believe the applications will be quietly shelved as the court faces unprecedented external pressure.

The newly elected US administration under Donald Trump sanctioned Khan in February, and he went on leave in May amid a UN investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against him, which he has denied.