NAIROBI, Kenya, May 28 – The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) actions in the Middle East raise fundamental questions about its impartiality.

📻 Breaking It Down

Israel — not a member of the Rome Statute — has been investigated and its leaders targeted with arrest warrants. Iran — a repeat violator with documented atrocities — faces no ICC action whatsoever.

This pattern of selective justice, as the following analysis will show, is not merely a matter of legal technicality. It not only undermines the Court’s credibility but also points to a lack of political will.

Although Israel is not a state party to the Rome Statute, the ICC initiated an investigation against it in 2021 for reasons that remain unclear. This fact alone constitutes a clear violation of international law. Nevertheless, the ICC asserted that its jurisdiction extends to the Palestinian territories.

📌 What You Need to Know

Then, on October 7, 2023, Hamas — the de facto governing authority in Gaza — launched a devastating attack on Israel. That assault resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 people, including more than 50 children, wounded over 5,000, and took more than 200 hostages.

In response, Israel, exercising its right to self-defense, began a military operation against Hamas. It would be a reasonable expectation that the ICC impose sanctions or open an investigation into Hamas or the governing authority in Gaza.

Yet in October 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. No action whatsoever followed regarding the atrocities committed by Hamas.

At the same time, the ICC remains silent on Iran’s actions. Mass shootings of civilians in 2019 using heavy weapons and military vehicles; the mass killing of men and women in 2022–2023; and annual executions ranging from several hundred to over a thousand people — none of this has drawn meaningful interest from the ICC.

Not surprisingly, the unprecedented wave of rockets and drones launched at Israel this year — which failed to hit any military target but did harm civilians — has also failed to attract the ICC’s attention.

In April 2026, four women were killed by an Iranian rocket while visiting a bridal shop near Hebron. Numerous attacks on civilian vessels have also been documented, many of which are registered in ICC member states.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya