Where and over whom does the ICC have jurisdiction?
From CNN Staff
The International Criminal Court building is seen in The Hague, Netherlands in January 2019.

Israel does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court as it hasn’t signed the Rome Statute, which established the court. But that doesn’t mean its citizens cannot be prosecuted by the court.

The court had already been investigating possible crimes committed by Israel since 2014 in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem. The investigation began in March 2021, and was referred to the court by the Palestinian Authority, which adopted the ICC’s mandate in 2015 as the State of Palestine. The ICC concluded then that it has jurisdiction on the conflict and, “by majority, that the territorial scope of this jurisdiction extends to Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

Netanyahu in May said that issuing arrest warrants for Israeli officials would leave an “indelible stain” on the edifice of international law and justice, adding that the ICC was “founded as a consequence of the Holocaust” and should not attempt to “undermine” Israel’s fundamental right to self-defense.

Palestinian leaders have signed up to the Rome Statute in 2015. As such, the ICC has jurisdiction over actors in Gaza and other Palestinian territories and by extension, over actors in those territories, including Hamas.