section_path: Background
section_name: Background
paragraph_text: Background
  
  The ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression when member states are unwilling or unable to do so. It can also prosecute crimes committed by nationals or on territory of any of its 124 member states. It currently is also investigating crimes committed in Ukraine, Uganda, and others. The Palestinian territories were admitted as a member state in 2015, allowing for the investigation even though Israel is not a member and does not recognize its jurisdiction.
  
  All of the 124 member states of the ICC are obliged by their agreements to the courts founding statute to arrest and hand over any individual with an active ICC arrest warrant, if they are identified in their territory. The ICC does not have a way of directly implementing an arrest, with no authority over any police force. The ICC can sanction a non-cooperative member state.
  
  On 20 December 2019, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced an investigation into war crimes allegedly committed in Palestine by members of the Israel Defense Forces or Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups since 13 June 2014. Since the investigation was opened in 2015, Israel used its intelligence agencies to surveil, pressure, and threaten senior ICC staff.