History was made when on May 24 the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in a mandatory ruling of 2-13, asked Israel to cease its military operations in Southern Gaza and open Rafah crossing in order to provide emergency assistance to the beleaguered Palestinian population of Gaza. Prior to that on May 20 prosecutor of International Criminal Court (ICC) had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Hamas Chief Yahya Sinwar, Commander of Hamas military wing Mohammad Al-Masri and Head of Hamas Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh. Both the rulings have, however, failed to have any bearing on Israel because of the lack of enforcement capacity.

When the ICC prosecutor called for the issuance of arrest warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister, the Defense Minister and three leaders of Hamas, the reaction was mixed. Earlier, the ICC had issued arrest warrants for former President of Sudan General Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir and Russian President Vladimir Putin on charges of war crimes but failed to get its orders implemented. The Office of Prosecutor ICC, justifying request for the issuance of war crimes against Israeli and Hamas leaders, stated: “My Office submits that the war crimes alleged in these applications were committed in the context of an international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine, and a non-international armed conflict between Israel and Hamas running in parallel. We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Israel by Hamas and other armed groups pursuant to organizational policies. Some of these crimes, in our........

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