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The member states of the International Criminal Court voted Friday to fire Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor who brought the court to new levels of visibility - and controversy - by attempting to try Israeli leaders over the conduct of the war in Gaza, for alleged sexual misconduct, according to news reports.
The court's top prosecutor since 2021, Khan sought and secured warrants for the arrests of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza.
Shortly before requesting the warrants in May 2024, Khan was accused by a staff member of sexual assault. The accusation became public that October, and Khan took voluntary leave pending an investigation. A second person, an unpaid intern, accused Khan of sexual misconduct in 2025.
Khan, 56, has denied any wrongdoing.
The accusations quickly became entangled in the court's Gaza investigation. Israel last year asked the court to disqualify Khan and dismiss the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, arguing that Khan sought the warrants only to draw attention away from the accusations against him.
The ICC's oversight body investigated the accusations and suspended Khan in June, but did not disclose its findings.
Khan, a British lawyer with experience in tribunals for the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and other countries emerging from war, was elected to a nine-year term as chief prosecutor in February 2021. Before his suspension, he secured warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of Hamas and the Taliban.
But the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were the ones that drew the most attention. Supporters of Israel have denounced them; critics have cheered them. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani this week urged federal authorities to arrest Netanyahu when he visits in September for the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly.
Neither Israel nor the United States are members of the ICC. They do not recognize its jurisdiction over their citizens or military troops. (The ICC in 2020 opened an investigation into alleged crimes in Afghanistan potentially involving U.S. forces.)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio this month called the court an "intolerable threat to U.S. sovereigntyā€¯ and announced a ā€¯diplomatic campaignā€¯ to dismantle it "brick by brick."
The Trump administration has imposed economic sanctions on Khan and other senior ICC leaders.
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