ICC prosecutor visits Rafah, says institution probing Hamas attack, Israeli actions

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Karim A.A. Khan says his institution is conducting “active investigations” into the October 7 Hamas massacres, as well as the situation in both Gaza and the West Bank.

“We have active investigations ongoing in relation to the crimes allegedly committed in Israel on 7th October, and also in relation to Gaza and the West Bank, and our jurisdiction goes back to 2014,” says Khan in a statement made at the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border.

The ICC prosecutor evokes the Holocaust and the Second World War in explaining the reason for his mission to the region, and says the ICC will work professionally to “separate allegation from fact,” and examine all relevant evidence.

“This is a moment of objectivity, a moment of quiet reflection and it needs to be a moment in which the international community and the international architecture built on the rubble of the World War II, the terrible gas chambers and the Holocaust, the razing of cities throughout Europe, [which] was meant to create institutions that would ensure never again would we see abominations where people could be targeted for their race, religion, culture, where they come from or what passport they hold,” says Khan.

“Those promises need to be fulfilled.”

“We are independently looking at the situation in Palestine, we’re looking at the events in Israel and the allegations that Palestinian nationals have also committed crimes, we need cooperation and assistance.”

Khan also insists that “there should not be any impediment to humanitarian relief supplies, going to children, women and men — civilians,” and says the curtailment of the rights of civilians as defined under international humanitarian law, customary international law and the Geneva Conventions could give rise to “criminal responsibility” under the Rome Statute which established the ICC.