Human rights attorney Amal Clooney is among a group of legal experts who advised the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to seek arrest warrants against the top leaders of Israel and Hamas. <\/p>\n
The panel was convened by the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan and tasked to review the evidence and legal analysis underpinning his application for warrants against three Hamas leaders and two Israeli politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. <\/p>\n
It issued a detailed legal report on Monday, which said the panel found \u201creasonable grounds to believe\u201d that the individuals named in the arrest warrants have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity. <\/p>\n
Clooney, who has represented victims of mass atrocities, faced online criticism prior to her announcement for not speaking about Israel\u2019s siege on Gaza. In a statement shared on her Clooney Foundation for Justice website on Monday, she explained how she had found herself advising Khan. <\/p>\n
\u201cMore than four months ago, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court asked me to assist him with evaluating evidence of suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel and Gaza,\u201d the statement said. \u201cI agreed and joined a panel of international legal experts to undertake this task.\u201d <\/p>\n
She said the panel\u2019s findings were \u201cunanimous\u201d despite their diverse backgrounds. \u201cI served on this panel because I believe in the rule of law and the need to protect civilian lives. The law that protects civilians in war was developed more than 100 years ago and it applies in every country in the world regardless of the reasons for a conflict,\u201d Clooney said in the statement. <\/p>\n
The eight-person legal panel consisted of renowned legal experts, including Theodor Meron, former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and Lord Justice Fulford, a former ICC judge. They \u201cunanimously determined\u201d that the court had jurisdiction over crimes committed in Palestinian territories and by Palestinian nationals, Clooney\u2019s statement wrote. <\/p>\n
The panel also was unanimous in concluding that \u201cHamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including hostage-taking, murder and crimes of sexual violence.\u201d <\/p>\n
Clooney\u2019s statement added there was also \u201creasonable grounds to believe\u201d Netanyahu and \u201cIsraeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity including starvation as a method of warfare, murder, persecution and extermination.\u201d <\/p>\n
A panel of ICC judges will now consider Khan\u2019s application for the arrest warrants. <\/p>\n
Both Hamas and Israeli politicians condemned the arrest warrants, with Netanyahu calling it a \u201ctravesty of justice\u201d and an \u201coutrageous decision\u201d that \u201ccreates a twisted and false moral equivalence between the leaders of Israel and the henchmen of Hamas.\u201d <\/p>\n
The application for warrants marks the first time the ICC has targeted the top leader of a close ally of the United States. Israel and the US are not members of the ICC. However, the ICC claims to have jurisdiction over Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank after Palestinian leaders formally agreed to be bound by the court\u2019s founding principles in 2015. <\/p>\n
The Biden administration on Monday forcefully denounced the ICC\u2019s move, with President Joe Biden saying in a statement: \u201cWhatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence \u2013 none \u2013 between Israel and Hamas.\u201d <\/p>\n
Clooney, who is a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London and an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, is married to the actor George Clooney. Alongside her husband, she co-founded the Clooney Foundation for Justice, which gives free legal support to victims of abuses of power, according to its website. <\/p>\n
She has represented Yazidi victims of genocide \u201cin the only three genocide cases against ISIS members in the world,\u201d according to the website. She also was counsel to victims of genocide in Sudan\u2019s Darfur and \u201chelped to secure freedom for political prisoners around the world including journalists and opposition figures.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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