30-4-2024 (GAZA) In a significant development, prosecutors from the International Criminal Court (ICC) have conducted interviews with medical staff from Gaza’s two principal hospitals, marking the first confirmation that the Hague-based tribunal’s investigators are gathering testimony related to possible crimes committed in the Palestinian territory.
Two sources familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the probe, revealed to Reuters that ICC officials have taken statements from personnel who served at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis during the recent devastating conflict. The sources declined to provide further details out of concerns for the safety of potential witnesses.
One source indicated that events surrounding the two facilities could form part of the ICC’s ongoing investigation into alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and acts of aggression by all parties involved in the hostilities. The conflict erupted on 7 October when Hamas fighters launched an assault on Israel, prompting a punishing Israeli military offensive into Gaza in retaliation.
Throughout the weeks of intense bombardment, the two main Gaza hospitals emerged as high-profile targets, besieged and stormed by Israeli forces who accused Hamas militants of exploiting them for military purposes – a charge vehemently denied by the Palestinian group and medical staff. In recent days, Palestinian officials have also demanded investigations after the discovery of mass graves containing hundreds of bodies exhumed near Nasser Hospital, although it remains unclear if these sites were covered in the ICC interviews.
Israel has firmly rejected allegations of war crimes, asserting that all military actions – including those involving Gaza’s hospitals – were justified by the presence of Hamas combatants operating within the facilities. Crucially, hospitals are afforded special protection under international treaties during armed conflicts, rendering attacks against them potential war crimes prosecutable by the ICC under certain circumstances.
The Palestinian territories were granted ICC membership in 2015, a move that enables the court’s jurisdiction over actions committed by any individuals – including Israeli soldiers – within the occupied territories, as well as by Palestinians anywhere, even inside Israel. However, Israel does not recognise the ICC’s authority over its citizens.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed never to accept any ICC attempts “to undermine its basic right to defend itself”, warning that such a precedent “threatens soldiers and public figures”. Nonetheless, the court’s probe into the October hostilities and its outreach to Gaza medical workers signal the advancing nature of investigations that could have profound ramifications for both Israeli and Palestinian leaders implicated in alleged atrocities.
