The Wall Street Journal: Karim Khan was preparing arrest warrants for Smotrich and Ben-Gvir

The Wall Street Journal quoted current and former International Criminal Court officials as saying that Karim Khan, the court's chief prosecutor, "was preparing, before his annual leave, to request arrest warrants for Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir on charges of expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank."

The newspaper also reported that officials and legal experts "questioned that the court would proceed with these efforts without the presence of the chief prosecutor."

According to the newspaper, these experts warned that the United States might resort to "paralyzing the International Criminal Court by effectively isolating it from the American financial system, which could expose it to an existential threat."

The Wall Street Journal also quoted officials close to the International Criminal Court as saying that the court's judges "have ordered strict secrecy regarding the filing of any new requests for arrest warrants against Israeli or Hamas officials."

Two weeks ago, the US administration imposed sanctions on Karim Khan, the plaintiff, a week after President Donald Trump signed a presidential decree on the matter.

The US Treasury Department said at the time that it "imposed sanctions on Khan pursuant to the terms of Trump's February 6 executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court for issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes in the Gaza Strip."

Khan, a British citizen, initiated the proceedings that led the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and Galant in late 2024.

ICC judges found "reasonable grounds" to suspect the two men of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel's war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.

She explained that the war crimes attributed to Netanyahu and Galant include the use of starvation as a weapon of war, as well as crimes against humanity, including murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.

Source: Al Jazeera + Agencies + Wall Street Journal