THE HAGUE — The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024. Fatou Bensouda served as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court from 2012 to 2021. During her tenure, she opened investigations into situations in Afghanistan, Libya, Myanmar, and the occupied Palestinian territory.

Israel designated six Palestinian rights groups as terrorist organizations in 2021. Israeli forces raided and sealed the offices of these groups in Ramallah in August 2022. Defense for Children International-Palestine gathered affidavits from children who were detained, interrogated, beaten, and shot. Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability director at Defense for Children International-Palestine, said, "Instead of opening an investigation into these allegations, the Israeli authorities raided the DCI office." He added, "Instead of investigating these allegations, there was pressure on the organisation that revealed this information."

Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian center for Human Rights, was exiled to Cairo after his home in Gaza was bombed. "We don't want Gaza to be the graveyard of international law, and we want the Gazans to have justice and dignity," Sourani said.

Fatou Bensouda reported to International Criminal Court security and Dutch authorities after two unidentified men delivered an envelope containing $500 to her home in The Hague. Bensouda said, "They knew where I lived." Phone numbers provided by the visitors traced to Israel.

Bensouda met with Yossi Cohen, then head of Mossad, in a New York hotel. Bensouda stated that Israeli officials pressured her during meetings to halt the International Criminal Court Palestine investigation. The Trump administration imposed personal sanctions on Bensouda in 2020. These sanctions froze her bank account at the U.N. Federal Credit Union, led to the closure of her mortgage bank account, and resulted in the blocking of her son's bank account in The Gambia. "Justice, and those trying to do justice, were sacrificed at the altar of political interests," Bensouda said.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February 2025 imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court. This executive order issued sanctions against International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan and several International Criminal Court judges.