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Al Jazeera
10 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Threats and intimidation stalling top ICC prosecutor's Israel case: Report
New details have emerged about a series of intimidation campaigns, including threats to safety as well as possible sanctions, directed at the British chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as he pursues an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israeli officials in Gaza. Karim Khan has also been subjected to intense pressure from top British and United States public officials for The Hague court to withdraw the arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, the Middle East Eye (MEE) news website reported. The latest report followed an earlier revelation by the London-based online publication in July that Khan and the ICC were threatened with being 'destroyed' if they pursued the case against Israel. According to the MEE report published on Friday, Khan was 'privately threatened' by then-British Foreign Secretary David Cameron in April 2024 that the UK would defund and withdraw from the ICC if it issued warrants against the Israeli leaders, which it did so in November. In May 2024, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also 'threatened' Khan with sanctions if he applied for the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, the MEE reported. Since then, the administration of US President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on Khan and four ICC judges. Khan also received a security briefing warning him that Israel's Mossad intelligence agency 'was active in The Hague and posed a potential threat' to him, the MEE reported. Khan, who is currently on indefinite leave amid allegations of sexual misconduct, was also reportedly told by his female accuser in text messages that there were 'games being played' and attempts to make her a 'pawn in some game I don't want to play', according to the MEE. The ICC investigations into Khan's alleged behaviour were later closed after the female witness refused to cooperate with them, but a separate United Nations probe remains. Khan has strenuously denied all the allegations against him. Two weeks before he was forced to go on leave in May 2025, Khan also reportedly met with Nicholas Kaufman, a British-Israeli defence lawyer at the ICC, to discuss the Israel investigation, the MEE report said. In a note of the meeting on file at the ICC, Kaufman reportedly told Khan that if the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant were not dropped, 'they will destroy you, and they will destroy the court.' The report said some ICC lawyers have privately 'expressed doubts' about the allegations against Khan, which emerged after the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant were issued. The ICC issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and Israel's subsequent war in Gaza. Deif has since been confirmed killed in an Israeli attack. The Israeli defendants remain internationally wanted suspects, and ICC member states are under a legal obligation to arrest them. Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 60,430 Palestinians and wounded 148,722. In recent months, Israel has been accused of committing new war crimes after reports that Israeli forces intentionally shot and killed hundreds of unarmed Palestinian civilians waiting to collect humanitarian aid from GHF food distribution points.
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
US authorities investigating ex-Trump prosecutor Jack Smith
Officials in the United States have launched an investigation into Jack Smith, the former special prosecutor who led two cases against Donald Trump, US media outlets are reporting. The Associated Press, NBC News and other US news outlets confirmed on Saturday that the Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal agency, has opened an investigation into Smith on allegations of illegal political activity. Without offering any evidence of wrongdoing, Trump and his Republican allies, including Senator Tom Cotton, have accused Smith of violating the Hatch Act, a federal law that bans certain public officials from engaging in political activity. In a social media post this week, Cotton accused Smith of being a 'partisan Democrat who weaponized the law' against Trump in the lead-up to the 2024 US presidential election that he ultimately won. 'I've asked the Office of Special Counsel to investigate his actions that likely violated the law to influence the election,' Cotton wrote on X on Wednesday. Smith was named as special counsel to investigate Trump by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022. He led two federal cases into the Republican leader's alleged mishandling of classified government documents and his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump had denied any wrongdoing, claiming US prosecutors were politically motivated. Smith ultimately dropped the cases — neither one had gone to trial — after Trump was re-elected in November 2024, which would have shielded him from prosecution under a longstanding Justice Department practice. Smith then resigned from the department shortly before Trump was inaugurated in January. US prosecutors said in a report at that time that if Trump had not won the 2024 race, he would have been convicted for 'criminal efforts to retain power' following the 2020 election. The White House had no immediate comment on the Office of Special Counsel's investigation into Smith, AP said on Saturday.
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
Why is Trump moving nuclear submarines after spat with Medvedev?
Donald Trump has ordered the repositioning of two United States nuclear submarines to 'appropriate regions' relative to Russia, as the US president grows frustrated over stalling peace talks aimed at bringing an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. On Friday, Trump exchanged heated words with Dmitry Medvedev, Moscow's military leader and former president. The day before, Trump had issued an ultimatum to Russia: If it does not agree to a ceasefire by next Friday, August 8, he will impose a package of economic sanctions. The next day, Medvedev posted on social media, describing Trump's threat as 'a step towards war'. He wrote that Trump was 'playing the ultimatum game with Russia'. In a post on Truth Social, Trump responded: 'Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.' What has Trump done? On Friday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he had ordered two US 'Nuclear Submarines' to be repositioned to 'appropriate regions'. Trump cited what he regarded as threatening comments made by former Russian President Medvedev, now deputy chair of Russia's Security Council. He called Medvedev's statements 'highly provocative', adding that his actions were a precaution. 'I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,' Trump wrote. In the run-up to his presidential campaign, Trump promised to end Russia's war in Ukraine within 24 hours; however, several discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin have since not yielded any results. What do we know about the submarines Trump says he will reposition? Not much – and we do not know which submarines Trump is referring to. Trump did not say if he had ordered the repositioning of submarines with nuclear engines or submarines carrying nuclear missiles. Trump did not reveal the location of the submarines, either, as mandated by US military protocol. However, Trump's statement is so far being viewed as a rhetorical threat, rather than a military one, as security analysts noted that the US already has nuclear-powered submarines that are deployed and capable of striking Russia as a deterrent. What prompted Trump's submarine move? Mostly, his frustration over the lack of progress of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. But, in this case, the social media spat with Medvedev seems to have tipped him over into action. Trump and the Russian military leader have been engaged in mud-slinging on social media platforms for some time. Earlier, responding to Trump's new deadline for a ceasefire in Ukraine, Medvedev wrote in a post on X that Trump was playing an 'ultimatum game' with Russia. 'Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country. Don't go down the Sleepy Joe road!' Medvedev had said. Earlier in the week, while announcing trade tariffs for India – along with an extra penalty for buying Russian oil – Trump stated that he did not care if India and Russia 'take their dead economies down together'. In a Telegram post on Thursday, Medvedev wrote that Trump should 'revisit his favourite movies about the living dead and recall just how dangerous the mythical 'Dead Hand' can be'. Russia's 'Dead Hand system' is a Cold War-era automatic nuclear retaliation mechanism designed to launch a counterstrike even if the Russian leadership is wiped out in a first strike. Trump replied: 'Tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he's still President, to watch his words. He's entering very dangerous territory!' Speaking to reporters after his post about the nuclear submarines, Trump said on Friday: 'We just have to be careful. And a threat was made and we didn't think it was appropriate, so I have to be very careful. 'A threat was made by a former president of Russia, and we're going to protect our people.' Who has more nuclear power: Russia or the US? Combined, the US and Russia account for nearly 87 percent of the world's total nuclear arsenal. The geopolitical rivals control about 83 percent of the nuclear warheads actually deployed or ready for operational use. Despite significant post-Cold War reductions, global nuclear arsenals remain at a 'very high level', according to a report by the Federation of American Scientists. As of January 2025, just nine countries are estimated to possess a total of approximately 12,241 nuclear warheads. Today, according to the nonprofit Arms Control Association, the US deploys 1,419 and Russia deploys 1,549 strategic warheads on several hundred bombers and missiles. The US conducted its first nuclear test explosion in July 1945; the following month, it dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Four years later, the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test explosion. As of 2025, the US Navy operates 71 submarines, all nuclear‑powered, making it the largest undersea force. This fleet includes 14 Ohio‑class ballistic missile subs (SSBNs), four Ohio‑class converted guided‑missile submarines (SSGNs) loaded with Tomahawk missiles for strikes or special operations, and about 53 fast‑attack submarines designed for intelligence gathering, anti‑submarine warfare and cruise‑missile support. By comparison, the Russian Navy fields fewer than 30 nuclear‑powered submarines, including approximately 10 strategic SSBNs, a mix of modern Borei and older Delta IV classes, that carry Bulava missiles. It also operates several strategic‑missile cruise boats and about six Akula‑class attack submarines equipped for anti‑ship and multi‑role missions. Russia is investing in modern fleet expansion through the Yasen‑M class. Has Russia responded to Trump's submarine manoeuvre? No. Neither the Kremlin nor Medvedev has publicly responded to Trump's order to move two nuclear submarines following their war of words. Viktor Vodolatsky, a senior Russian lawmaker and deputy chairman of the State Duma's committee on Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) affairs, however, stated that Russia possesses 'significantly more nuclear submarines in the world's oceans' than the US, claiming US subs have 'long been under their control' and, therefore, no specific response is required. Last month, the US President said he was 'disappointed' with Putin. 'We'll have a great conversation. I'll say: 'That's good, I'll think we're close to getting it done,' and then he'll knock down a building in Kyiv,' he told the BBC in an interview. On Friday, in an apparent reference to Trump's comment, Putin said: 'As for any disappointments on the part of anyone, all disappointments arise from inflated expectations. This is a well-known general rule.' On a ceasefire with Kyiv, Putin said he wants a 'lasting and stable peace' in Ukraine; however, he has not given any indication that Russia is willing to achieve it any quicker. In 2017, during his first term as US president, Trump announced that he had sent two nuclear submarines to the Korean peninsula. Soon afterwards, he held a meeting with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. Whether this latest move will lead to a new meeting with Putin is yet to be seen, however.
