Thursday, 27 June 2024 11:15 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 27 June 2024 11:15 PM ]
The Netherlands has summoned the Israeli regime’s ambassador to the country to explain over allegations of Tel Aviv’s spying on the International Criminal Court (ICC), whose seat is in The Hague.
“Israeli ambassador has been asked to report to the [Dutch] Ministry of Foreign Affairs in connection with the allegations,” a spokesman for Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot said on Tuesday.
“The [Dutch] government regards such activities as a form of undesirable foreign interference and considers it totally undesirable,” the ministry also said.
As the host state of the ICC, the Netherlands is obliged under an agreement with the court to protect the safety and security of the ICC’s staff, and ensure that the tribunal is “free from interference of any kind.”
The allegations involving the Israeli regime have blamed it for carrying out a decade-long “war” of espionage against the ICC by intercepting phone calls, messages, emails, and documents pertaining to the court’s officials.
The targeted officials have included Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan and his predecessor Fatou Bensouda.
Khan announced last month that he had applied for arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister for Military Affairs Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
The move by Khan came amid an October-present war by the regime against the Palestinian territory.
At least 37,765 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have died as a result of the brutal military onslaught that began following a retaliatory operation carried out by Gaza’s resistance groups.