Dozens of filings flood ICC's Israel-Hamas case, causing delays

By Stephanie van den Berg

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - More than 60 governments and other parties will be allowed to file arguments to the International Criminal Court as judges consider whether to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other leaders on both sides of the Gaza war, court documents show.

ICC prosecutors say there are reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant as well as Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, military chief Mohammed Al-Masri, and another Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, bear criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In documents made public on Tuesday, judges granted permission to 18 states, including the United States, Germany and South Africa, 40 organizations and individuals to file written submissions by August 6.

They are related to prosecutor Karim Khan's request in May for the arrest warrants in relation to the Hamas attack on southern Israel last October 7 and the ensuing Israeli assault on the Palestinian enclave.

About 1,200 people were killed in the initial Hamas attack and around 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli counts. Nearly 40,000 Palestinians have since been killed in an Israeli assault on Gaza that has cause a humanitarian crisis.

Israel and Palestinian leaders have dismissed allegations of war crimes, and representatives for both sides have criticised Khan's decision to seek warrants.

While there is no set deadline to rule on the prosecution request for arrest warrants, allowing dozens of legal arguments will slow the process by the three-judge panel deciding on the matter.

The requests for intervention were not made public by the court but some are expected to be a response to a request by Britain to file arguments on whether the court has jurisdiction over Israeli nationals due to provisions in the Oslo Accords which say the Palestinians do not have criminal jurisdiction over Israeli nationals.

Some countries who have filed a request including Germany, the United States and Hungary have condemned the ICC prosecutor's move to seek warrants for Israeli officials.

Others, including Spain, Ireland, South Africa and Brazil have been vocal in their support for the investigation into alleged crimes against Palestinians.

Israel itself has not asked to intervene, but the Palestinian Authority did and was among those allowed to make submissions.   

The ICC has had an ongoing investigation into any alleged crimes within its jurisdiction committed on Palestinian territory and by Palestinians on the territory of Israel since 2021.

In that year, ICC judges ruled that the court has jurisdiction after the Palestinian authorities signed up to the court in 2015, after being granted United Nations observer state status.

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg and Anthony Deutsch, Editing by Angus MacSwan)