Qatar meets ICC head as it mulls legal action against Israel

DOHA: Qatar has met with the president of the International Criminal Court as it seeks legal action against Israel over its unprecedented strike on its territory last week, an official said on Thursday.

The emirate’s chief negotiator, Mohammed al-Khulaifi, met in The Hague on Wednesday with the president of the ICC, Judge Tomoko Akane, as it pursues “every available legal and diplomatic avenue to ensure accountability for those responsible for Israel’s attack on Qatar”, the Qatari official told AFP.

Last week’s deadly Israeli strike targeted Qatar-based leaders of Palestinian group Hamas and sent shock waves through the Gulf states that have long depended on the United States for their security.

Hamas has said top officials of its political bureau, hosted in Qatar with US blessing since 2012, survived the strike but it said five members were killed, along with an officer of Qatar’s internal security force.

Gaza hit by telecoms blackout as Israeli tanks advance

Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, the official called Israel’s attack “unlawful”, adding it “constitutes grave violations of international humanitarian law”.

Qatar, as an observer state at the ICC, cannot itself refer cases to the court.

But after emergency talks in Doha, the Arab and Islamic blocs called on their members Monday to take “all possible legal and effective measures to prevent Israel from continuing its actions”.

In a post on X after his meeting with the ICC chief, Khulaifi said his visit had been “part of the work of the team tasked with exploring legal avenues to respond to the illegal Israeli armed attack against the State of Qatar”.

Last year, the ICC launched a prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity during Israel’s war in Gaza, including by intentionally targeting civilians and using starvation as a method of war.

The ICC also sought the arrest of Israel’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, who has since been confirmed killed by Israel.

Israel has killed at least 65,141 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.