JERUSALEM

Israeli State Prosecutor Amit Aisman is seeking to open a criminal investigation into National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for allegedly inciting violence against Palestinians in Gaza in order to show the International Criminal Court (ICC) that it is holding Israeli officials to account for such actions, local media reported Tuesday.

In May, ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant, holding them responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Calls for further action have grown, with Palestinian and international human rights groups calling for an additional warrant against Ben-Gvir due to his repeated inflammatory remarks. Most recently, he advocated for “shooting Palestinian prisoners in the head instead of giving them more food.”

The official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) reported that Aisman has asked Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara for permission to open a criminal investigation into Ben-Gvir.

The report said the decision now rests with Baharav-Miara, and the matter remains under discussion. However, it is unlikely that formal charges will be filed against Ben-Gvir even if an investigation is initiated.

“The investigation will result in an indictment,” the report cited an unnamed source inside the Attorney General’s office as saying.

Observers believe that the probe is an attempt to show the ICC that Israel is abiding by its directives to look into and punish any individual or group that violates the Genocide Convention's ban on inciting genocide.

KAN also noted that externally, there are considerations related to “pacifying” the ICC and demonstrating that Israel’s judicial system investigates those accused of incitement.

Ben-Gvir, the leader of the far-right Jewish Power Party, responded to the news.

“Unbelievable! The state prosecutor is trying to make an Israeli minister stand trial for ‘incitement’ against citizens of an enemy state,” he said.

“Instead of the Shin Bet and the state prosecutor carrying out assassinations in Gaza, they are trying to assassinate an Israeli minister. It won’t succeed.”

Throughout the war on Gaza, Ben-Gvir has consistently targeted Palestinians, advocating for forced displacement and even proposing legislation in the Knesset (parliament) to execute Gazan prisoners by gunshot to the head.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

More than 37,900 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and around 87,141 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio