International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan looked steely eyed on Monday afternoon, flanked at a podium by two members of his staff, as he looked into the camera and read out a charge sheet that is sure to shake the world as it continues to struggle with a war in Gaza that has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians.
Mr Khan began by noting that his offices are seeking arrest warrants from the court’s judges for top officials of Hamas, responsible for the October 7 attack that led to at least 1,200 Israeli deaths. But far more consequential is what he said after that.
“I have reasonable grounds to believe, on the basis of evidence collected and examined by my office, that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant bear criminal responsibility,” Mr Khan said, for a range of grave offences against international humanitarian law allegedly committed by Israeli soldiers in Gaza.
Mr Khan has cited several possible charges, all of them within the scope of two of the four crimes the ICC deals with: crimes against humanity and war crimes. The other two, genocide and aggression, were not included.
As predicted by many international law experts ever since rumours of these charges arose last month, the first crime Mr Khan mentioned was “starvation as a method of warfare”, a war crime under Article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the court’s founding document, the Rome Statute. It was predictable because there is overwhelming, publicly available evidence that the Israeli military has, for much of its ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, denied Gazans as a whole access to humanitarian supplies, including food and water.
Palestinians wait for food distribution in Rafah. The first crime the ICC's Karim Khan mentioned on Monday was 'starvation as a method of warfare'. AP
It is telling that Khan, in his warrant application, has cited starvation not only as a war crime, but as a crime against humanity
Starvation, moreover, is easier to prove compared to other war crimes – such as targeting or disproportionately killing civilians – because the evidence needed to prove them is often more subjective. That said, this case stands out because it could be the first time the charge is prosecuted at the ICC.
And Mr Gallant appears particularly at fault. On October 9, the day after Israel began its military response to Hamas’s October 7 massacre of Israeli civilians, he essentially recorded his own confession tape. Sitting in a meeting room in Israel’s Southern Command, he told a group of officers in a video that was subsequently published by his own forces: “We are putting a complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no petrol. It’s all closed. We’re fighting human animals, and we’re acting accordingly.”
Mr Khan elaborated that order in his statement: “The siege also included cutting off cross-border water pipelines from Israel to Gaza – Gazans’ principal source of clean water – for a prolonged period beginning 9 October 2023, and cutting off and hindering electricity supplies from at least 8 October 2023 until today. This took place alongside other attacks on civilians, including those queuing for food; obstruction of aid delivery by humanitarian agencies; and attacks on and killing of aid workers, which forced many agencies to cease or limit their operations in Gaza.”
Mr Netanyahu’s connection to the charge will presumably rest on the likelihood that he, as Prime Minister, directed Mr Gallant in such a manner, as well as any other statements or orders he has made further supporting it.
If the warrants are issued and Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant choose to defend themselves in court, their lawyers may rely on a narrow reading of Article 8(2)(b)(xxv). The text, in full, reads: “intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including wilfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions.”
“Objects indispensable” include sustenance, like food and water. When it comes to war crimes, however, the narrow reading means withholding these objects from civilians is only a crime if it is done with the specific purpose (i.e. intentionally) of inducing starvation of civilians as a weapon (i.e. a method of warfare).
According to Karim Khan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant 'bear criminal responsibility'. Reuters
But what if the intention was not to weaponise starvation? What if starvation of civilians is a byproduct of the real intention, which is to deprive enemy combatants of their sustenance?
Israeli military lawyers are highly practised in the argument of “military necessity”, a well-established principle of international humanitarian law. They might argue that in the highly urbanised environment of Gaza, it is impossible to deprive Hamas of sustenance without doing the same to civilians. The purpose, they would say, is not to weaponise the starvation of civilians.
Tom Dannenbaum, an associate international law professor at Tufts University, has argued forcefully that such an interpretation of the law is fundamentally incorrect, on the basis that even the military necessity principle is overridden by the greater imperative to protect civilian lives whenever possible. He compares wholesale starvation of the population to carpet-bombing the same population. “Why would it be any different if what we’re looking at is deprivation directed at that population as a whole as compared to a kinetic attack directed at that population as a whole?” In the latter scenario, stating that the intent is to target militants wouldn’t hold up – carpet-bombing a population of predominantly civilians is clearly prohibited in all instances.
It is telling that Mr Khan, in his warrant application, has cited starvation not only as a war crime, but as a crime against humanity. Using the same underlying facts to charge two separate crimes is a contentious move, and lawyers will debate the merits of that: if Israel’s starvation of Gazans is deemed not to have been a war crime, then could it be a crime against humanity?
As Mr Khan says, the starvation allegations also support charges of murder and extermination. The latter is a crime against humanity specifically involving “the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population”. That bar will be a high one to clear because of the necessity to prove Israel’s blockades were a calculated effort to destroy Gazans.
It is unlikely that all of Mr Khan’s charges against Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant will stick. The Prosecutor makes calculations of his own, and part of that is casting his legal net as widely as possible.
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities. Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids. Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister. "We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know. “All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.” It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins. Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement. The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
When: December 6-16 Where: Games to take place at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi and Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain Defending champions: Real Madrid
GAC GS8 Specs
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The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre Power: 150hp Torque: 250Nm Price: From Dh139,000 On sale: Now
Company profile
Date started: Founded in May 2017 and operational since April 2018
Founders: co-founder and chief executive, Doaa Aref; Dr Rasha Rady, co-founder and chief operating officer.
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: Health-tech
Size: 22 employees
Funding: Seed funding
Investors: Flat6labs, 500 Falcons, three angel investors
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024. It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine. Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages]. The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts. With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians. Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved. Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world. The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
- Dh300 million set aside to train 18,000 jobseekers in new skills
- Managerial jobs in government restricted to Emiratis
- Emiratis to get priority for 160 types of job in private sector
- Portion of VAT revenues will fund more graduate programmes
- 8,000 Emirati graduates to do 6-12 month replacements in public or private sector on a Dh10,000 monthly wage - 40 per cent of which will be paid by government
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), EsekaiaDranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), JaenBotes (Exiles), KristianStinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), EmosiVacanau (Harlequins), NikoVolavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), ThinusSteyn (Exiles)
