Qatar says it is pursuing legal action against Israel at ICC
Qatari State Minister Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi announced in a post on X on Wednesday that Qatar was pursuing legal avenues to “respond to the Israeli aggression against the State of Qat
Qatar plans to pursue legal action against Israel in the International Criminal Court after the IDF struck senior Hamas officials in Doha, officials from the Gulf State said on Wednesday.
Qatari State Minister Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi and other Qatari representatives met with ICC deputy prosecutor Nazhat Khan on Wednesday and held two meetings on avenues to prosecute Israel.
Al-Khulaifi is leading the Qatari legal team to legally challenge Israel for its “aggression against the State of Qatar.”
“During the two meetings, I reaffirmed Qatar’s commitment to supporting the path of international justice and ensuring that those who committed crimes are held accountable and do not escape punishment under the framework of international criminal law,” he wrote.
SMOKE RISES after the blasts from the Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday. (credit: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/REUTERS)
IDF strikes Hamas leaders in Doha
This comes after the IDF struck several Hamas leaders in Doha earlier this month. Hamas says that five of its members died in the strike.
After two years of Qatar hosting negotiations between Israel and Hamas over hostage exchanges and ceasefires, the government reached the decision that killing the remaining Hamas leaders was more important than leaving that diplomatic channel open.
An IDF statement said that the leaders targeted were responsible for the October 7, 2023, massacre of around 1,200 Israelis in the country’s South, as well as managing the terror group’s operations for years before that. Khalil al-Hayya, the leader of Hamas, was one of the key targets of the operation, an Israeli official confirmed to The Jerusalem Post.
Other Israeli sources told the Post that senior Hamas officials were killed in the strike in Doha, estimating that there were between four and eight senior officials in Hayya’s secret apartment at the moment it was bombed.
Notably, several Israeli security officials did not support the airstrike and believed that it would harm negotiations for a hostage deal and a ceasefire in Gaza.
Yonah Jeremy Bob and Amichai Stein contributed to this report.
