ICC vs Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
On October 7, 2023 Hamas led a coordinated attack on Israeli territory that involved the launching of 2200 missile rockets that would unfortunately go on undetected, causing severe damage to its country and population. This assault took the lives of 1200 people, and consequently triggered an armed conflict against both parties that would go on for months.
When war crimes are committed, who will be there to speak up?
As tensions rose, a call for action was needed. That’s when the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a detrimental prosecution against the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, charged for 4 counts of war crimes and 2 counts of crimes against humanity. Some of them go as following: Starvation of civilians article 8(2)(b)(XXV), Willfully causing great suffering and causing cruel treatment as war crime article 8(2)(a)(I), and intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime article 8(2)(e)(i).
With this in mind, delegates must prosecute Israeli’s prime minister in order to solve this pressing issue, as there’s a constant pressure on making sure justice to the victims is made, while they work hard on being the best knowledgeable defendants and prosecutors they can be at the time of being in court.
In this first session, delegates were expected to appear in court already prepared and loaded with evidence in order to find a viable and concise prosecution against Netanyahu. In this committee delegates are going to break into two teams and discuss their gathered evidence in order to prepare a proper argument and opening statement.They’ll be either trying to prove how the accused is scandalously guilty for their crimes, or trying to show a lighter version of it on how the accused feels regret towards their actions. In this demanding committee, delegates are focused on working towards their argumentative, persuasive, and analytical skills as they focus on convincing the jury, and as they strive to go towards what they think is right.
