Qatar Pursues ICC Action Against Israel Following Strike on Its Territory

TDT | Doha

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Qatar has initiated legal steps against Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC) after what it described as an “unlawful and unprecedented” strike on its territory last week.

Qatar’s chief negotiator, Mohammed al-Khulaifi, met on Wednesday in The Hague with ICC President Judge Tomoko Akane to discuss avenues for accountability. The move comes as Doha seeks “every available legal and diplomatic channel” to address the attack, a Qatari official confirmed to AFP.

The Israeli strike, which targeted senior Hamas leaders residing in Qatar, sent shockwaves across the Gulf region. Hamas announced that while members of its political bureau survived, five of its members were killed in the attack, along with an officer from Qatar’s internal security force.

“This was an unlawful act that constitutes grave violations of international humanitarian law,” the Qatari official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks.

Although Qatar, as an ICC observer state, lacks the authority to directly refer cases, the incident has spurred wider regional action. Following emergency consultations in Doha, Arab and Islamic blocs urged member states to take “all possible legal and effective measures” to prevent further Israeli strikes.

Khulaifi, writing on X after his meeting with Judge Akane, described his visit as part of efforts by a special task force to “explore legal responses to Israel’s illegal armed attack against the State of Qatar.”

The ICC has already opened a case against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Israel’s war in Gaza, including accusations of deliberately targeting civilians and using starvation as a weapon of war.