International Criminal Court investigation in Palestine

International legal proceedings Not to be confused with ICJ case on Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories or South Africa's genocide case against Israel . The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court ( ICC ), Fatou Bensouda , on 20 December 2019 announced an investigation into war crimes allegedly committed in Palestine by members of the Israeli military and Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups since 13 June 2014. The earlier allegations include the establishing of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and violations of the law of war by members of the Israeli military and Hamas during the 2014 Gaza War . Further, starting 8 October 2023, according to the ICC judges there are reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli leaders committed crimes including starvation , murder , deliberately targeting civilians, and persecution ; and that Hamas leaders committed crimes including extermination , murder, and hostage-taking. Israel is not a member of the ICC and disputes the ICC's jurisdiction, stating that Palestine is not a sovereign state capable of being a party to the Rome Statute . According to ICC chief prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan , suspected war crimes by Israelis on Palestinian territory and by Palestinians on Israeli territory during the Gaza war are within the jurisdiction of the Palestine investigation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly accused the allegations and investigation of being "antisemitic" which many consider a weaponization of antisemitism Since the investigation was opened in 2015, Israel used its intelligence agencies to surveil, pressure, and allegedly threaten senior ICC staff. On 21 November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu , Yoav Gallant and Mohammed Deif ( killed in an IDF airstrike ), on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity . Israel has long weaponised antisemitism, equating criticism of the State of Israel, or even criticism of a specific Israeli government or government policy, with hatred of Jewish people. The term antisemitism, given the historical connotations of the term in connection to the Holocaust and the very real modern instances of it, is a powerful accusation. To be labelled antisemitic can ruin people's careers and lives. However, given the brazen nature of Israel's crimes against Gaza, there is a real danger that the use of antisemitism to defend crimes against humanity and war crimes by his government, that the term will begin to lose its meaning. Many critics of Israel believe that Netanyahu using antisemitism in this way is in itself antisemitic, as it assumes that all Jews are supporters of or represented by the State of Israel – or by its policies and the policies of his far-right government staff, T.