Three Palestinian human rights organizations have filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the Netherlands, demanding an investigation into Israel, which they say is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip. They are also asking the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant. Al-Jazeera, a Qatari television station, reported on the matter.
Al-Hak, Al-Mizan and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) called for the court to pay “urgent attention to the continuous Israeli bombardment of densely populated areas with civilians in the Gaza Strip”, which according to Gaza health authorities have killed more than 10,500 Palestinians , of which almost half are children.
The complaint also calls for an expansion of the ongoing war crimes investigation into the Gaza Strip, whose residents are suffering from “a blockade, forced evictions, the use of toxic gas and the denial of basic necessities such as food, water, fuel and electricity.” This, according to the authors of the complaint, constitutes war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said in late October after visiting the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt that obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians could be considered a war crime. According to him, the ICC has the authority to assess suspicions of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip and in the attack of the Palestinian movement Hamas on Israel on October 7.
The Palestinian Authority, based in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, joined the ICC in 2015, but Israel does not recognize the court.
