Israeli officials concerned about possible ICC arrest warrants as pressure mounts over war in Gaza
Jerusalem, Apr 29: Israeli officials appeared increasingly concerned that the International Criminal Court may issue arrest warrants against the country's leaders, as international pressure mounts over the war in Gaza. Airstrikes overnight into Monday killed 22 people in a southern city, according to hospital records.
The deaths in Rafah included six women and five children, one of whom was just 5 days old, according to the records and an Associated Press reporter. Israel is planning an invasion of the city — though its closest ally, the United States, and others have repeatedly warned against it, saying an offensive would spell catastrophe for the more than a million Palestinians sheltering there.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials have referred in recent days to an ICC probe launched three years ago into possible war crimes committed by Israel and Palestinian Hamas group going back to the 2014 Israel-Hamas war. The probe is also looking at Israel's construction of settlements in occupied territory the Palestinians want for a future state.
There was no comment from the court on Monday, and it has given no indication warrants in the case are imminent.
But Israel's Foreign Ministry said late Sunday that it had informed Israeli missions of “rumours” that warrants might be issued against senior political and military officials. Foreign Minister Israel Katz said any such warrants would “provide a morale boost” to Hamas and other groups.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel “will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defence.”
“The threat to seize the soldiers and officials of the Middle East's only democracy and the world's only Jewish state is outrageous. We will not bow to it,” he posted on the social media platform X.
It was not clear what sparked the Israeli concerns. A series of Israeli announcements in recent days about allowing more humanitarian aid into Gaza appears to be aimed in part at heading off possible ICC action.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said during a visit to the region in December that the investigation is “moving forward at pace, with rigour, with determination and with an insistence that we act not on emotion but on solid evidence.”
Neither Israel nor the United States accept the ICC's jurisdiction, but any warrants could put Israeli officials at risk of arrest in other countries. They would also serve as a major rebuke of Israel's actions at a time when pro-Palestinian protests have spread across US college campuses.
The International Court of Justice, a separate body, is investigating whether Israel has committed acts of genocide in the ongoing war in Gaza, with any ruling expected to take years. Israel has rejected allegations of wrongdoing and accused both international courts of bias.
Israel has instead accused Hamas of genocide over its October 7 attack that triggered the war. Hamas stormed through army bases and farming communities across southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostages.
In response, Israel launched a massive air, sea and ground offensive that has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally.
Israel blames the high civilian death toll on Hamas because the group fight in dense, residential areas. The military says it has killed over 12,000 group members, without providing evidence.
The war has driven around 80 per cent of Gaza's population of 2.3 million from their homes, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities, and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.
Israel has vowed to expand its ground offensive to Rafah, where over 1 million Palestinians have sought shelter from fighting elsewhere. Israel says Rafah is the last Hamas stronghold, with thousands of fighters embedded there.
US President Joe Biden's administration, which has provided crucial military and political support for the offensive, has urged Israel not to invade Rafah over fears it could cause a humanitarian catastrophe — concerns he reiterated in a phone call with Netanyahu on Sunday.
The Biden administration faces a May 8 deadline to report to Congress on whether Israel is abiding by international law in its use of American military aid, including by allowing the entry of humanitarian assistance.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Israel on his latest trip to the region that began in Saudi Arabia on Monday. He said Israel needs to do more to allow aid to enter Gaza, but that the best way to alleviate the humanitarian crisis is for the two sides to agree to a cease-fire.
The US, Egypt and Qatar are pushing Israel and Hamas to accept an agreement they drafted that would free some of the hostages and bring about at least a temporary truce. Hamas is still believed to be holding around 100 hostages and the remains of some 30 others after most of the rest were freed in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners last year.
Hamas has said it will not release the remaining hostages without an agreement to end the war. Netanyahu has rejected that demand, saying Israel will continue its offensive until Hamas is destroyed and all the hostages are returned.
At an event in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Blinken called on Hamas to accept what he said was an “extraordinarily generous” offer from Israel. "In this moment, the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and cease-fire is Hamas,” he said.
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SC upholds inclusion of ‘secular, socialist’ in Preamble of Constitution
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the inclusion of the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ in the Preamble of the Constitution, confirming their retrospective application from November 26, 1949. The court ruled that the power to amend the Constitution under Article 368 extends to the Preamble, which is an integral part of the document.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna stated, “The power under Article 368 cannot be curtailed. It will equally apply to the Preamble.” The 42nd Constitutional Amendment, which introduced these terms in 1976 during the Emergency, was challenged on grounds of its retrospective application and the lack of states’ ratification.
The petitioners, including BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, argued that the amendment forced a particular economic theory on the nation and violated the original intent of the Constitution. Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay contended that the Preamble reflects the will of the people at the time of adoption in 1949 and is therefore unalterable.
The court dismissed these objections, affirming that both socialism and secularism are part of the Constitution's Basic Structure. The Bench clarified that socialism refers to a welfare state ensuring equality of opportunity without negating private sector participation or individualism. It emphasised that secularism is embedded in the Constitution, particularly in the principles of equality and fraternity.
Chief Justice Khanna remarked, “Secularism has always been a core feature of the Constitution.” He added that the amendment did not impose socialism as dogma but aligned with the welfare goals enshrined in various constitutional provisions.
