Israel demands ICC remove prosecutor and void arrest warrants

Israel has formally asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to remove prosecutor Karim Khan from all matters involving the country, demanding that the court scrap the arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza.

In a statement, Israel’s Foreign Ministry claimed Khan pursued the cases with “improper personal motives” and pushed “false and unfounded claims against Israel” while attempting to “divert public attention from serious accusations against him,” the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

The move follows months of turmoil surrounding the prosecutor. Earlier this year a major Middle East Eye investigation uncovered extraordinary details of an intensifying intimidation campaign targeting the British chief prosecutor of the ICC over his investigation into Israeli war crimes.

The campaign has involved threats and warnings directed at Karim Khan by prominent figures, close colleagues and family friends briefing against him, fears for the prosecutor’s safety prompted by a Mossad team in The Hague, and media leaks about sexual assault allegations.

Middle East Eye revealed that Khan was warned in May that if the arrest warrants issued last year for Netanyahu and his former defence minister were not withdrawn, he and the ICC would be destroyed.