Hebrew media: The Netherlands summons the Israeli ambassador over charges of spying on the International Criminal Court

Hebrew media: The Netherlands summons the Israeli ambassador over charges of spying on the International Criminal Court

Hebrew media reported on Wednesday evening that the Netherlands summoned the Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands over a journalistic investigation that confirmed that the Mossad had spied on senior officials at the International Criminal Court in the Dutch city of The Hague.

The official Hebrew Broadcasting Corporation stated that “Israel’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Modi Ephraim, was summoned to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to reprimand him,” explaining that the reason was “a press investigation in which it was stated that Israel is spying and threatening senior officials at the International Criminal Court in The Hague,” noting that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Israeli newspaper refused to comment on the news.

On May 28, the British newspaper The Guardian published an investigation in which it confirmed that the Mossad spied on former international criminal prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and threatened her in order to push her to work for the benefit of Israel. It also spied on the current prosecutor general of the court, Karim Khan, and dozens of people who were... Associated with proceedings against Israel in court, including Palestinian lawyers, diplomats and activists.

While the Hebrew Broadcasting Corporation and private Hebrew newspapers, including “Israel Hayom” and Maariv, said that Ambassador Ephraim was summoned on Wednesday, the Guardian newspaper reported that the summoning was not today, without specifying its exact date, noting that this summoning was revealed by Dutch officials. In response to questions raised by a number of representatives in Parliament regarding this issue.

She added that the spokesman for the Dutch Foreign Minister said on Tuesday that Ambassador Ephraim was asked to respond to the accusations reported by The Guardian in its journalistic investigation, while the spokesman refused to discuss the details, citing the confidentiality of the diplomatic talks.

In February 2021, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court published a decision confirming that the court has jurisdiction over the occupied Palestinian territories, and the following month Bensouda announced the opening of a criminal investigation into Israel committing “war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Palestinian territories.”

Three months after this step, Bensouda completed her nine-year term at the International Criminal Court, leaving the investigation to her successor, Karim Khan. On May 20, Karim Khan announced that he had requested the issuance of arrest warrants against Netanyahu, his defense minister, and three leaders of the movement. Hamas is accused of committing "war crimes" in Gaza.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a war on Gaza that has left about 124,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that has claimed the lives of dozens of children.

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