ICC warns against interference amid Israeli leaders’ fears of arrest warrants

The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court issued a statement Friday asking that outside attempts to influence the court’s activities “cease immediately.”

The request comes amid consternation among Israeli officials and their supporters over reports that the court is considering arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli leaders have sought international support on the issue, casting the ICC as a threat to democracies such as Israel. Netanyahu asked “leaders of the free world” to use “all the means in their disposal” to halt any ICC actions in a televised news conference Wednesday.

The court, meanwhile, has not confirmed reports that it is seeking warrants for Israeli leaders.

Friday’s statement, which does not mention Israel, marks its first apparent response to the budding controversy.

Earlier this week, a group of Democratic and Republican senators held a virtual meeting with senior ICC officials to discuss arrest warrants being considered for top Israeli officials, Axios reported Thursday. The Biden administration maintains that the ICC does not have jurisdiction to investigate Israel.

“The court has to be alert to how a meeting like this could affect perceptions of independence,” said Elizabeth Evenson, director of the international justice program at Human Rights Watch. “Court officials have a responsibility to jealously guard their independence – and there are tools to do so.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has called on the Biden administration to “immediately and unequivocally demand that the ICC stand down.” U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced legislation in February that would sanction ICC officials who pursue investigations into U.S. troops, officials and allies who do not recognize the court’s jurisdiction. Israel falls into that category.

What to know

• Turkey halted all trade with Israel on Thursday, a step that marked a further deterioration of ties between the two governments stemming from the war in the Gaza Strip. The Turkish Trade Ministry posted a statement on social media announcing the restrictions and calling on Israel to increase the flow of aid into Gaza. “Turkey will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli Government allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” the ministry said in its statement. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had previously hesitated to limit his country’s considerable trade with Israel during an economic crisis at home. Last year, Turkish exports to Israel reached $5.4 billion, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.

• Hamas will send a delegation to Egypt “as soon as possible” to continue cease-fire talks, the group’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, said Thursday. Haniyeh said the deliberations are proceeding with a “positive spirit,” in a statement released after a phone call with Egypt’s intelligence minister. The delegation could arrive as early as Friday, according to a former Egyptian official with knowledge of the talks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations.

• The United Kingdom is imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers and extremist groups for inciting and carrying out violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Four individuals and two groups – Hilltop Youth and Lehava – will face financial restrictions. The four individuals are also banned from traveling to the United Kingdom. “Extremist settlers are undermining security and stability and threatening prospects for peace,” British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Friday. “The UK will not hesitate to take further action if needed, including through further sanctions.” The package announced Friday follows an earlier set of restrictions announced in February.

• Eliakim Liebman, an Israeli previously believed to be held hostage in Gaza, was found to have been killed by Hamas during the militant group’s Oct. 7 assault on Israel, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said Friday. Liebman was part of the security team at the Nova music festival, one of the first targets in the militant group’s October attack. His remains were discovered in Israel. On Thursday, Dror Or, another Israeli believed to be among the hostages held in Gaza, was also confirmed to have been killed Oct. 7, according to a statement by Kibbutz Beeri, the town in which Or was killed. Or’s body is believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza, according to the kibbutz.

- The United Nations warned Friday that an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah “could be a slaughter,” as its agencies prepared contingency plans in case of an Israeli operation. “It could be a slaughter of civilians and an incredible blow to the humanitarian operation in the entire strip because it is run primarily out of Rafah,” said Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Israeli officials have argued that they must enter Rafah to eliminate Hamas’s battalions and leaders in the city. A World Health Organization official added Friday that the agency is drawing up plans to continue providing care to civilians in southern Gaza in case of an incursion, but it warned that the plan is merely a “band-aid.”

- Some hospitals in Gaza have resumed partial operations. Nasser Hospital and al-Amal Hospital, two facilities in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, have resumed operating, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry told The Washington Post. Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza has also resumed operations, according to the ministry. The World Health Organization said that al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza is partially functioning. But the humanitarian situation remains “dire and extremely worrisome,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. Prominent Gaza doctor Adnan al-Bursh, head of the orthopedics department at al-Shifa Hospital, died in an Israeli prison on April 19, according to Palestinian prisoner associations on Thursday.

- Trinidad and Tobago announced its decision to “formally recognize the State of Palestine.” Its Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it also backs a two-state solution. As many as 140 U.N. member countries already recognize the Palestinian territories as a state. Spain recently declared plans for formal recognition, while the United States last month vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution proposing to admit the Palestinian territories as a full U.N. member state.

- At least 34,596 people have been killed and 77,816 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 263 soldiers have been killed since the launch of its military operation in Gaza.

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Jeong reported from Seoul. Heba Farouk Mahfouz and Hazem Balousha in Cairo, Cate Brown in Washington, and Annabelle Timsit and Louisa Loveluck in London contributed to this report.