Prepared with the input of International Criminal Court-registered lawyers and other war crimes experts, Al-Haq strongly supports the 172-page communication submitted by DAWN to Prosecutor Karim Kham on 19 January 2025. The submission details a pattern of deliberate and purposeful decisions by United States officials to provide military, political, and public support to Israel and facilitate violations of international law, including the crime of genocide, committed in Gaza.
The submission outlines that former President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken and Secretary of Defence Austin hold primary responsibility for providing unconditional support to Israel’s settler-colonial regime through its $17.9 billion worth of weapons transfers, intelligence sharing, targeting assistance, diplomatic protection, and official endorsement of Israel’s genocide. DAWN’s communication outlines the legal and factual basis for investigating these former officials for violating Articles 25(3)(c) and (d) of the Rome Statute for both aiding and abetting and intentionally contributing to crimes committed by Israeli officials in Gaza.
Speaking at a press conference centred on the submission, Al-Haq’s General Director, Mr. Shawan Jabarin, highlighted the pivotal role played by the Biden administration in Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza – noting that the genocide simply could not have been carried out without US support, which it received on every level. As a Palestinian human rights defender that has devoted his life to vindicating the inalienable right of Palestinians to freedom and self-determination, Mr. Jabarin reflected on the historical impunity enjoyed by Israel and the continued determination of the US to shield it from justice and block any accountability efforts for Israeli crimes – whether perpetrated by government officials, members of the military or security services, or illegal settlers.
The US is dedicated to shielding Israel and itself from legal accountability. Al-Haq, alongside other Palestinian human rights groups, residents of Gaza, and Palestinian Americans, previously initiated similar proceedings in US court against Biden, Blinken and Austin based on their failure to prevent and complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza, in a landmark case brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). However, the case was dismissed by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on 15 July 2024. Despite powerful legal and factual findings by the district court judge that it is “plausible” that Israel’s conduct amounts to genocide, the judge dismissed the case relying on the political question doctrine to deny review of Executive conduct even when it violates domestic criminal and international law. The Ninth Circuit similarly refused to exercise a check on Executive power, potentially sending a dangerous message that the Executive branch can commit grave crimes such as genocide without checks and balances.
However, US organisations continue to demand that their elected government officials are held to account. This watershed moment in the fight for justice has been long-awaited by Palestinian civil society actors and non-governmental organisations. As noted by Mr. Jabarin, “[t]his story is not over, right now, as we speak, Trump and his administration continue to send weapons and [give] diplomatic cover to Israel”. The world is watching, and the ICC must act now and make clear that no one is above the law –– US officials can and will be held accountable, or “we risk an even greater catastrophe in the future”.