Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a ceremony in Jerusalem marking Memorial Day for fallen soldiers of Israel’s wars and victims of attacks on May 13, 2024.
(Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool Photo via AP)
The prosecutor at the International Criminal Court publicized his request for warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders. Publicly, Canada’s position aligns with Israel and the United States.
(From left): Yahya Sinwar, Karim Khan, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Adel Hana/AP; Mauricio Duenas Castaneda/EFE/EPA; Abir Sultan/EPA
Though the move by the ICC chief prosecutor is a significant one, it’s very unlikely the Israeli or Palestinian leaders will be arrested or face a trial.
On the left, fire and smoke rise above buildings in Gaza City as Israeli warplanes target the Palestinian enclave on May 17, 2021; on the right, rockets launched from Gaza flying toward Israel on May 10, 2021.
Mahmud Hams / AFP/Getty Images and Mahmoud Issa/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images.
Boaz Atzili, American University School of International Service
In most wars, each side’s aggression is meant to get the other side to back down. But that’s not the case with how Israeli and Palestinian leaders have conducted their long-running war.