OPINION - The International Criminal Court makes a false equivalence between Israel and Hamas

The Home Secretary took to the airwaves this greeting successful an effort to douse the flames of the Prime Minister’s comments, regarding the determination of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an apprehension warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu.

Yvette Cooper efficaciously refused to comment, saying that it was improbable that the Israeli Prime Minister would beryllium arrested successful the UK, stressing that the “overwhelming” bulk of rulings by the International Criminal Court bash not crook into issues for the British instrumentality enforcement system. This was successful stark opposition to Keir Starmer, astatine slightest successful tone, who hours earlier had said that the UK would respect the ICC’s warrant.

What is disturbing astir the ICC’s determination is the motivation equivalence it places betwixt Israel connected the 1 manus and Hamas, a violent organisation. There tin beryllium nary doubting of the appalling humanitarian interaction of the warfare successful Gaza, wherever thousands of civilians, including women and children, person been killed. At the aforesaid time, this was a warfare deliberately sparked by Hamas, which acceptable retired to execution Jews connected October 7 past year, erstwhile 1,100 radical were killed, women raped and 250 taken hostage. Around 100 stay successful captivity.

Moreover, the ICC has traditionally been a venue for ineligible proceedings erstwhile it is believed that specified actions are intolerable successful the state of the accused. Israel is simply a ideology with the regularisation of law. Netanyahu, similar immoderate Israeli citizen, could expect a just trial, and it is truthful doubtful whether this enactment was indispensable astatine all. Moreover, Israel is not a signatory to the treaty, which is wherefore it, alongside different countries, argued the ICC lacked jurisdiction implicit the matter. And portion the ICC has sought to effort a semblance of adjacent handedness, 2 the Hamas leaders it has indicted are dead.

For each its faults, the effect of this ruling is nary little chilling. From a applicable perspective, Netanyahu and his erstwhile defence minister, Yoav Gallant, tin present expect to look apprehension if they were to sojourn immoderate of the 124 nations that are enactment to the Rome Statute, including galore Israeli allies. It leaves Israel further isolated arsenic it fights not lone Hamas successful Gaza, but different Iranian-backed violent groups, specified arsenic Hezbollah successful confederate Lebanon, the Houthis successful Yemen and militias successful Iraq. Then determination is the menace from Iran itself, which has doubly attacked Israel straight successful the past fewer months with drones and ballistic missiles.

Ultimately, the ICC’s ruling makes a ceasefire, truthful captious to ending the bloodshed, nary much likely.