The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has affirmed its jurisdiction to investigate alleged war crimes in Gaza following the events of October 7, 2023. With a 3-2 majority, the chamber upheld the pre-trial decision that these alleged crimes fall within the scope of the investigation initially notified by the Prosecutor under Article 18 of the Rome Statute. This decision permits the continuation of the investigation in Palestine, which previously led to arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. More details on this decision can be found in JURIST.
Under Article 18(1), the Prosecutor is required to notify state parties before starting an investigation. Israel was informed on March 9, 2021, of investigations into alleged crimes since June 2014. However, Israel contested this, arguing that the notification did not encompass events post-October 7, 2023. The court dismissed Israel’s appeal, clarifying that the notification was not confined to the 2014 settlement issues, and explicitly included acts qualifying as war crimes or crimes against humanity under the statute.
Despite affirming the jurisdiction, the chamber was divided over whether the situation after October 7 marked a new context outside the current investigation’s scope. Judges Luz Del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza and Solomy Balungi Bossa dissented, suggesting that omitting subsequent 2023 and 2024 referrals constituted a legal error warranting a remand for reconsideration.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry expressed its disapproval of the ICC’s decision, calling it a politicization of the ICC and a breach of sovereign rights. Their statement emphasized the principle of complementarity, highlighting Israel’s robust judicial system. The court’s jurisdiction in Palestine has sparked intense debate, with some member states supporting the ICC’s operations, while others, like the United States, have implemented sanctions against ICC officials for investigating Israel.
Amid these developments, organizations such as Human Rights Watch have urged ICC member states to protect the court’s functions and combat impunity for international crimes, addressing growing threats and sanctions targeting the ICC’s jurisdictional exercises in contentious geopolitical contexts.