Amal Clooney was in an eight-person panel appointed by the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) prosecutor that reviewed arrest warrants for senior Israeli and Hamas leaders.
The British Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office has warned senior British lawyers that they could face sanctions from the Trump administration after serving as consultants in the ICC’s case against Israel for its offensive on Gaza.
The exterior of the International Criminal Court on March 11, 2025, in The Hague, Netherlands. | Source: Getty Images
In January 2024, ICC prosecutor Kharim Khan convened a panel of legal and academic experts to review his investigation into the alleged crimes committed during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
The panel’s objective was to determine whether the individuals named in the arrest warrant applications had committed crimes within the ICC’s jurisdiction, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan attends a United Nations Security Council meeting on Sudan and South Sudan at the United Nations headquarters on January 27, 2025, in New York City. | Source: Getty Images
Clooney, a prominent British barrister who specializes in international law and human rights, was among the experts who advised Khan. She is also an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School in New York City.
Clooney co-founded a non-profit, Clooney Foundation for Justice, that provides free legal support for human rights abuse victims. She has previously appeared before the ICC and the International Court of Justice where she represented victims of large-scale violence.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) Presecutor Karim Khan KC (C – R) and his Special Adviser on Darfur, Amal Clooney (C – L), are seen after the United Nations Security Council meeting at the United Nations Headquarter on January 25, 2023, in New York. | Source: Getty Images
In the panel, she was joined by Danny Friedman, a barrister at Matrix Chambers; Baroness Helena Kennedy of the Shaws, a Labor peer; former British judge Lord Justice Adrian Fulford; Judge Theodor Meron CMG; and Elizabeth Wilmshurst CMG KC.
In his investigation, Khan named five senior Israel and Hamas leaders: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh.
Participants in the first Jewish-Palestinian-Polish march with the slogan ”NO ONE IS FREE UNTIL EVERYBODY’S FREE!” walk through the city streets on April 13, 2025, in Krakow, Poland. | Source: Getty Images
Following months of “an extensive process of review and analysis,” Clooney and her fellow panel members published a legal report and joint statement via the Financial Times on May 20, 2024, explaining why they “support the ICC’s prosecution for crimes in Israel and Gaza.”
It was in this statement that they announced the panel had unanimously agreed that the evidence collected by Khan was sufficient to charge those leading the conflict.
