Jakarta. The top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) can make use of the recent top UN court’s ruling on Israeli occupation in its arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a senior Indonesian diplomat.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) -- the UN’s primary judicial organ -- recently announced that Israel had violated international laws by occupying Palestinian territories. The non-binding ICJ ruling is another matter different from the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants. ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan not long ago requested arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of conducting war crimes in Gaza.

The request went to the pre-trial chamber which would decide whether the ICC would issue the warrants or not.

According to Amrih Jinangkung, a director-general at the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, there is a possibility that the ICC prosecutor will bring up the ICJ ruling in his upcoming arguments. 

“It is possible we’ll see someone at the ICC, particularly the prosecutor, using the ICJ ruling as a reference to prove that Israel has violated the law in Palestine,” Amrih told the press in Jakarta on Monday.

“But again, please note that the ICJ and ICC are dealing with different matters. The ICC does not focus on Israel as a whole, but its judicial process focuses more on several political figures. … So the prosecutor can raise the [ICJ ruling] if asked to prove any violations by Israel, not the accused [individuals]. The ICJ ruling covers law violations by Israel and does not specifically target the [Israeli] prime minister and defense minister,” Amrih said, without referring to Netanyahu or Gallant by name.

The war in Gaza has drawn the world’s attention. The health authorities in Gaza reported that the war has claimed the lives of over 38,900 Palestinians since the conflict broke out on Oct. 7, 2023.

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