A Qatari official held talks with International Criminal Court representatives as the Gulf state seeks legal action against Israel for its air strike on Doha against Hamas leaders.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Al Khulaifi met with ICC president Tomoko Akane and deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan in The Hague on Wednesday.
They discussed Israel's attack on September 9 in the context of international criminal law, under which such acts are punishable, the state-run Qatar News Agency reported.
Mr Al Khulaifi affirmed Qatar's commitment to international law and its determination to defend its rights through all legitimate legal avenues, the agency said.
Mr Al Khulaifi heads the team appointed by Qatar's cabinet to pursue legal action over the attack that targeted the residences of Hamas political leaders as they were discussing a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The strike was a significant escalation of Israeli military action in a region shaken by conflict since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks that ignited the Gaza war.
Hamas said the Israeli strike killed five of its members, including a son of its exiled Gaza chief, but its leadership survived. One Qatari security agents also died.
Qatar has called the Israeli attack “cowardly and treacherous”, but said it would not be deterred from its role as a mediator, alongside Egypt and the US, to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to attack Hamas leaders “wherever they are” during a media conference with visiting US Secretary of State Marc Rubio on Monday.
The heads of Arab and Islamic states held a summit in Doha on Monday to express support for Qatar.
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim opened the summit by accusing Israel of not caring about its hostages in Gaza and instead working to ensure the enclave “is no longer liveable”.
“If Israel wishes to assassinate the Hamas leaders, why then engage in negotiations?” Sheikh Tamim said. “If you wish to insist on the liberation of hostages, why then do they assassinate all negotiators?
“There is no room to deal with such a party that’s cowardly and treacherous.
“Those who work consistently to assassinate the party in these negotiations will certainly do everything to ensure the failure of these negotiations. When they claim that they seek the liberation of hostages, that’s a mere lie.”
He also denounced Israel over what he called the “genocide” it is committing in Gaza – an assessment supported by the findings of UN investigators.
Israel denies it is committing genocide. It says Hamas is prolonging the war by not surrendering and releasing the hostages.
The war in Gaza was triggered by a rampage into southern Israel by Hamas-led militants who killed about 1,200 people and captured about 240 hostages. Israel responded with an assault that has killed more than 65,100 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Mr Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Spain's top prosecutor on Thursday announced the formation of a team that will probe “human rights violations in Gaza” to assist the ICC.
The team's mission will be to “gather evidence and make it available to the competent body, thereby fulfilling Spain's obligations regarding international co-operation and human rights”, attorney general Alvaro Ortiz's office said.
“Faced with the current situation in the Palestinian territories, all evidence, direct or indirect, that can be gathered in our country” on “crimes committed” in Gaza “must be included” for potential use in the ICC case, it added.
Spain has also joined a case before another world court, the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of genocide.
