Italian PM says she’s been accused of complicity in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians at the ICC – National & International News – TUE 7Oct2025
Italy’s PM Giorgia Meloni says that she, members of her government, and the chief of a weapons manufacturer have been denounced at the ICC for complicity in Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Italy is not the first state whose leaders have been accused.
Italian PM says she’s been accused of complicity in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians at the ICC
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a TV interview today that she and other members of her government had been accused at the ICC of complicity in Israel’s acts of genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. The complaint also targeted Meloni’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. She believed the complaint also named Roberto Cingolani, head of Italian weapons manufacturer Leonardo.
The complaint was apparently brought by an advocacy group for Palestinians. In a filing dated October 1, the group accuses Meloni et al. of complicity in “the ongoing genocide” against the Palestinians, “particularly through the supply of lethal weapons” to Israel.
The 1948 Genocide Convention requires all state parties not only to refrain from supporting acts of genocide by another state, but also to act to prevent genocide.
In December 2023, South Africa accused Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN court which is separate from the ICC. While the ICJ is unlikely to make an official determination in the case for at least a year or two, the ICJ found it plausible that Israel was committing genocide. The court issued preliminary orders to restrain Israel from increasing the danger of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has ignored all of these orders.
In October 2024, Nicaragua brought an ICJ case accusing Germany of complicity in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians through the supply of weapons. Germany is Israel’s second-largest weapons supplier after the US. At the time, Nicaragua announced their intention to bring similar cases against the UK, the Netherlands and Canada.
What happens now?
Although the complaint has been submitted to the ICC against Meloni et al., it’s unknown whether the ICC prosecutor’s office is actively investigating or seeking an indictment. Last May, ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan announced he was seeking arrest warrants against Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Khan also charged two Hamas leaders whom Israel has since assassinated. The announcement immediately made Khan and the ICC targets for Israel and its allies. The court has since made it policy not to publicize charges before issuing an arrest warrant.
So far, the court has not indicted any member of the Israeli government for genocide. The ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant issued in November 2024 accuse them of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but there was no charge of genocide. Because of the new policy, it’s unknown whether the prosecutor has since submitted genocide charges against them.
It’s unlikely there is any forward movement at the court at all at present. The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on Khan and other ICC court officers to punish them for charging Israeli officials. These sanctions have made it difficult for the court to carry out its work. Moreover, Karim Khan took indefinite leave in May while the UN investigates accusations of sexual misconduct brought against him in October 2024.
In his statement denying the allegations, Khan noted that he and the court had suffered “a wide range of recent attacks and threats” since issuing indictments against Israeli leaders. Khan did not explicitly accuse Israel of being behind the allegations. However, The Guardian revealed last year that Israel had carried out a decades-long campaign of threats and intimidation against the ICC.
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