The HagueAn Israeli newspaper reported sealed ICC warrants against 5 more Israeli officials.
The report names 3 politicians and 2 military officers; sealed warrants restrict travel before targets know they are named.
Israel and the US reject ICC jurisdiction; the court has not confirmed the report.
Sources: TRT World
THE COURT'S JURISDICTION
The ICC prosecutes individuals — not states — for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression. It claims jurisdiction either when the accused's state is a member or when the crime occurred on a member's territory. Palestine acceded in 2015; that is the jurisdictional hook for cases involving Israeli conduct in Gaza and the West Bank, even though Israel itself is not a member.
WHY WARRANTS STAY SEALED
A sealed warrant is invisible until the target crosses a border into a member state's territory, at which point that state has a treaty obligation to arrest. The secrecy is operational: announce a warrant and the target simply never leaves home. Slobodan Milošević was indicted under seal in 1999; the indictment was unsealed only when NATO's bombing campaign made his arrest plausible.
THE ROME STATUTE MAP
125 states are parties to the Rome Statute. The US, Israel, China, India, Russia, and most of the Gulf are not. A named official can travel freely among non-members but risks arrest the moment they land in Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, or Pretoria.
THE NETANYAHU PRECEDENT
In November 2024 the ICC issued warrants for Netanyahu and former defense minister Gallant over alleged starvation and civilian-targeting in Gaza, alongside a warrant for Hamas commander Mohammed Deif. It was the first time the court had named a sitting leader of a Western-aligned democracy. France, Germany, and the UK have since equivocated on whether they would honor an arrest on their soil — a stress test the treaty had not faced before.
WHO ACTUALLY GETS ARRESTED
The court has no police. Every arrest in its history was carried out by a national government — usually after the regime that protected the suspect had already fallen. Charles Taylor was handed over by Liberia's successor government; Bosco Ntaganda walked into the US embassy in Kigali himself. Sitting officials of powerful states have a near-perfect record of avoiding arrest.
THE US POSITION
The American Service-Members' Protection Act of 2002 — nicknamed the 'Hague Invasion Act' — authorizes the US president to use 'all means necessary' to free any American or allied national held by the ICC. The US has never been a party and signed bilateral immunity agreements with over 100 countries pledging not to surrender Americans to the court.