On 19 May 2026, Israel’s Finance Minister ⁠Bezalel Smotrich claimed that he was the subject of an application for an arrest warrant at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which he described as ‘a declaration of war’ and to which he responded with a threat of signing ‘an order to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar’, further entrenching Israel’s settler colonial apartheid regime.

On 17 May 2026, following media reports that the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) had requested the approval of additional arrest warrants against Israeli government officials, the Court clarified that said reports were ‘not accurate’ and stated that no new arrest warrants had been issued. It is important to recall that since November 2025, the regulations governing arrest warrant applications at the ICC require that all such applications must remain secret and can only be made public with the permission of the judges. Despite recent media reports, there have been no notifications from the judiciary officially revealing the existence of any such applications.

Al-Haq has repeatedly called on the Office of the Prosecutor to submit further requests for arrest warrants concerning Israeli officials and military commanders responsible for crimes committed against the Palestinian people, including but not limited to, the war crime of transfer of civilians of the Occupying Power into occupied territory, crimes related to the establishment of settlements, crimes committed against Palestinian prisoners and detainees, the crime against humanity of apartheid, and genocide.

Following the 24 May 2018 decision of the Israeli Supreme Court authorising the Israeli military’s destruction and displacement of Khan al-Ahmar, Al-Haq warned that the forcible transfer of civilians from Khan al-Ahmar is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions, and that the destruction of the occupied population’s private property is a violation of Article 46 of the Hague Regulations.

In October 2018, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda also issued a warning as to Israel’s efforts at forcibly displacing Khan al-Ahmar: ‘I have been following with concern the planned eviction of the Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar, in the West Bank. Evacuation by force now appears imminent, and with it the prospects for further escalation and violence. It bears recalling, as a general matter, that extensive destruction of property without military necessity and population transfers in an occupied territory constitute war crimes under the Rome Statute.’

In addition to war crimes and crimes against humanity, forced displacement may amount to genocide. As Al-Haq revealed in ‘How to Hide a Genocide’, international jurisprudence makes crystal clear that beyond leading to the underlying acts of genocide,¹ forced displacement may constitute evidence of genocidal intent, including in cases where affected members of the group are not transferred to a place where they are subjected to conditions leading to their death or destruction.²

Smotrich has consistently acted to pursue annexation, regardless of international opinion, satisfied that Israeli leaders enjoy total impunity for their conduct. Prior to the 2024 Palestine Advisory Opinion of the ICJ, which reaffirmed the illegality of Israel’s settlements and recognising the illegality of the occupation, Smotrich demanded that Israel’s response should be to apply full sovereignty over the West Bank, demands he has repeated with respect the Gaza Strip.

Whether or not reports of applications for arrest warrants for additional Israeli officials at the ICC are accurate, it is absolutely clear, not least by Smotrich’s response, that the issuing and enforcement of arrest warrants is urgent. Al-Haq’s comprehensive timeline outlining Palestine’s history with the ICC makes this abundantly clear. The guarantee of impunity is central to the capacity of Israeli officials, military personnel, and illegally transferred in settlers to perpetuate escalating criminality against the Palestinian people.

The international community, while recognising and condemning such violations, has nevertheless abandoned the Palestinian people, permitting their forcible displacement, dispossession, and destruction. The imperative is now urgently upon all States to reframe their approach to international law in order to abide by their legal obligations, as outlined by the International Court of Justice in its 19 July 2024 Palestine Advisory Opinion. The modalities by which states and international organisations are to give effect to such legal obligations have previously been detailed in UN General Assembly resolution ES-10/24 of September 2024, yet remain unenforced.

In light of this catastrophic failure to enforce the most fundamental provisions of international law and recognise the crucial imperative of prioritising the Palestinian right to self-determination, Al-Haq once again calls upon all States to take immediate, meaningful and effective action and protect Palestinians across the OPT from collective punishment, including when taken in retaliation for ICC proceedings, and including in Khan al-Ahmar:

• Dismantle Israel's settler-colonial apartheid regime on both sides of the Green Line;

• End Israel’s unlawful occupation and escalating annexation of Palestine and avoid recognising, aiding or assisting the unlawful situation. This includes (i) Implementing a full arms embargo; (ii) Cutting diplomatic and trade relations; (iii) Imposing comprehensive diplomatic, military and economic sanctions; (iv) Ensuring businesses domiciled in their territory or under their jurisdiction do not engage with Israel’s genocidal settler-colonial apartheid regime in any way;

• Reject UN Security Council Resolution 2803 and President Trump’s 20- point plan, along with any other plan which does not incorporate views of the Palestinian people and egregiously violates international law;

• Centre accountability for Israel's historic and ongoing mass atrocity crimes, including support for the establishment of an international, impartial and independent mechanism to investigate crimes committed against the Palestinian people;

• Investigate and prosecute nationals, or those present on their territory, who have committed international crimes in the OPT;

• Cooperate with the ICC, including by closing access to land, air, and sea to Netanyahu and Gallant for transit to international travel, and to ensure their arrest and transfer to the Hague;

• To work collectively to protect the ICC as an institution, as well as lawyers representing Palestinian victims and NGOs working with the Court, from attack, including the unlawful use of sanctions.