Karim Khan: Israel threatened my family for pursuing warrants

International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan has said that Israel threatened his wife and children if he persisted in pursuing warrants for its genocidal leaders.

Speaking to AlArabiya English, Khan also said that a 5,000-page report by the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services had cleared him of all wrongdoing. Moreover, the ICC’s ‘Bureau’ – the ICC’s main oversight body – appointed three judges to digest the report. The judges confirmed on 21 March 2026 that there was not a single piece of evidence suggesting any misconduct by Khan.

Despite the comprehensive findings, Khan has again been suspended by the ICC after US vassal states ganged together to force through a vote on the ICC’s 21-member ‘Bureau’ against him.

Intimidate and vilify Karim Khan

Additionally, the US has imposed sanctions on Khan, as well as other ICC and UN officials who have spoken out against Israel’s crimes in Gaza. The Starmer government is moving to make it a criminal offence to defend international law when Israel is involved. UK spy firms have surveilled ICC officials, all part of the US-Israel campaign to intimidate and vilify officials who refuse to turn a blind eye to Israel’s terrorism. Continuing UK collusion, the Bar Standards Board has now also suspended Khan’s licence to practice as a barrister.

Karim Khan said that he thought the report and the judges’ ruling:

would be the end of it, Why appoint judges if you’re going to reject their findings and their advice? … I think it’s astonishing, it’s unwarranted, and it’s unlawful.

He clearly underestimated the extent to which state governments and institutions have been suborned and subordinated by the US and Israel. But Khan said that, in case he was in any doubt just how much Israel controls many politicians, twelve US senators got in touch to threaten his family:

12 senators wrote and they said, “If you target Israel, we will target you and your family. You have been warned.” Uh, that’s almost a verbatim quotation. And so, one can say in this area at least, they are truthful and they’ve made good on their promises.

Khan says that his family has stood firm with him and his faith in God has sustained him. But he says he will not stop fighting the forces arrayed against him:

we have to just keep fighting on all the fronts that uh um I’m being attacked on and uh I’ll do my best even though it’s extremely difficult. And I hope it’s not the end of my career.

But I’ll simply say this, I won the legal case. I have the decision of three independent judges. Um I’m a simple person. I know a little bit about the law. I won in that forum. Where I’m a bit out of my depth is uh amongst big powerful states that have the full apparatus of ambassadors all over the world and some of them are very vociferous and organized in their lobbying for a particular outcome.

And an individual you know, on a on a like me, it it’s difficult to deal with that because I’m not a politician. I’m a
international public servant. But I’ll do my best and we leave it to God and leave it to states to decide what they want to do…

The future um is not in in my hands. All I can do is keep making the arguments and hope as the panel of judges did, they will see that there was no misconduct or abuse of authority established and reject this majority decision by the Bureau of the Assembly of State Parties.

And from what people are saying it seems they got one more vote than they required. And I hope when all states
are there and they’re properly and more equitably represented uh some sanity and fairness can prevail but that’s not under my control.

Watch the full interview below: