Suspense Crime Sach Ka Dam
The Hague: A woman judge hearing the arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who attacked Gaza after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, has recused herself from the bench. The woman has cited health reasons behind this. It is being told that the presiding judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has withdrawn from hearing the Israel-Hamas case on medical grounds. She was one of the three judges on the bench who is considering the request to issue an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defense minister, and senior Hamas leaders.
The court published its decision on Friday, accepting the request of Romanian judge Yulia Motoc, in which she had requested to withdraw from the case “on medical grounds and the need to protect the proper administration of justice”. The court did not give details of the decision and said that “Judge Motoc’s medical condition is entitled to confidentiality”. Slovenian judge Betty Hohler has been included in the bench in place of Motoc. She was elected to the post of ICC judge last year. Earlier, she worked as a ‘trial’ lawyer in the prosecution office of the court.
Hearing on Netanyahu’s case will be delayed.
The woman judge’s decision is likely to further delay the decision at the request of the court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan. In May this year, Khan had requested the issuance of a warrant, saying that Netanyahu, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and three Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammad Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh should be tried in the Gaza Strip and Israel for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Netanyahu called the prosecutor’s allegations against him “outrageous” and an attack on the Israeli army and the whole of Israel. At the same time, other accused in this case, Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Mohammad Deif have been killed in Israeli attacks.
