US think-tank urges International court to investigate Trump

The concept of international law, rescued from the post-war wreckage of Europe, is now being made to earn its spurs. It there any place for the ideals dreamt up 80 years ago at the cuff of cataclysm, or does unchecked might once again rule the international order?

A US-based think-tank has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate US President Donald Trump for crimes against humanity, revealed exclusively in an interview with Maghrebi.

Democracy for the Arab World (DAWN) has condemned Trump’s Gaza ‘Riviera’ plan to remove Palestinian’s from their homes and transform the territory into a holiday resort for elites.

The blueprint, which was finally rejected by Arab leaders, might have legal implications however towards Trump himself.

Raed Jarrar, Dawn’s advocacy director, said: “His plan to forcibly displace all Palestinians from Gaza should also merit ICC investigation—not just for aiding and abetting Israeli crimes but for ordering forcible transfer, a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute.”

“Trump isn’t just obstructing justice; he’s trying to burn down the courthouse to prevent anyone from holding Israeli criminals accountable.”

DAWN was founded by Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, shortly before he was brutally assassinated in a Saudi consulate in Turkey.

The Qatar friendly non-profit organisation believes that democracy is the only road to long-term peace and the protection of human rights in North Africa and the Middle East.

While Jarrar told Maghrebi.org that they had received no communications from the new US administration, Trump’s rhetoric has been markedly more extreme than his predecessor.

According to the International Bar Association (IBA), Sara Elizabeth Dill, Co-Vice Chair at the IBA’s War Crime Committee said: “The idea that permanent displacement does anything positive for Gaza’s people is an absolute farce and utterly contrary to international law.”

“Aside from blatant disregard for sovereignty and the interests of the Palestinians, as well as gut-wrenching disregard for the illegality of Israel’s continued occupation, there are immediate – sadly only slightly facetious – questions around who Trump would be paying and whether this would include damages or compensation for destruction caused by Israeli bombardment – and US weaponry,” she said.

Trump’s “Riviera” plan could destroy crucial evidence pertaining to Israeli war crimes in Gaza, choking-off the spigot of damning proof and loosening the judicial net around complicit leaders.

In February DAWN made public their call for the ICC to investigate former US President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Anthony Blinken for “aiding and abetting” Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

They submitted a 172 page report to the international court in January, detailing the US administration’s deliberate decisions to facilitate violations of international law.

“There are solid grounds to investigate Joe Biden, Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin for complicity in Israel’s crimes,” said Reed Brody, DAWN board member.

“The bombs dropped on Palestinian hospitals, schools and homes are American bombs, the campaign of murder and persecution has been carried out with American support. US officials have been aware of exactly what Israel is doing, and yet their support never stopped.”

During Biden’s presidency over $17.9bn of weapons and other military and political aid was transferred to Israel, despite allegedly knowing that this bankrolling would enable abuses.

Following the ICC’s arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, DAWN’s dossier builds upon the existing evidence to link the US administration to the crimes.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of DAWN, said: “Not only did Biden, Blinken and Secretary Austin ignore the overwhelming evidence of Israel’s grotesque and deliberate crimes, overruling their own staff recommendations to halt weapons transfers to Israel, they doubled down by providing Israel with unconditional military and political support to ensure it could carry out its atrocities.”

“They provided Israel not only with essential military support but equally essential political support by vetoing multiple ceasefire resolutions at the UN Security Council to ensure Israel could continue its crimes.”

The ICC was created in 2002 to hold individuals account on violations of international law, a power not held by the United Nations body, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which can only prosecute governments.

Many African leaders that we not previously accountable under international law were put on trial in the international court, helping to stabilise the region.

DAWN’s report details how President Biden invoked his authority to bypass congressional review of more than $250m in weapons sales to Israel, the exact same weapons that were used in 2024 to kill civilians, including killing six-year-old Hind Rajab and two paramedics.

In April 2024 Biden personally altered existing legal frameworks to allow the unrestricted transfer of weaponry from a parts of US stockpiles, later making an extra $3.5bn available to Tel Aviv in September 2025.

Both Biden and Blinken are further implicated for the dereliction of their responsibility to monitor the use of US weapons, and the lending of their political support to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

With this logic, the report implicates US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Blinken’s subordinates, Bonnie Jenkins, the Under Secretary of Arms Control and International

Security, and Stanley L. Brown, Assistant Secretary Political-Military Affairs.

Speaking exclusively with Maghrebi, Editor-in-Chief of the International Interest Sami Hamdi said: “I think there are solid grounds for an ICC investigation. Biden has spoken openly about the fact that he knew what the Israelis intended in Gaza, and the consistent flow of US weapons to Israel despite reports from the US government itself that they might be being used for war crimes is well documented.”

“Add to that the extensive list of former officials and whistle-blower who have been vocal about the failure to adhere to due process and protocol regarding the use of US weapons by Israel, and it becomes clear that there are solid grounds for an investigation.”

The opposition to DAWN’s case in America is vast, and though they have documented breaches of domestic US laws, DAWN have failed to secure a case.

Raed Jarrar, Dawn’s advocacy director, said: “We have tried every possible venue in the US to stop the flow of US weapons to Israel and contacting and lobbying officials and working with Congress and filing a lawsuit.”

“None of these actions by any of our partners have led to any measures of accountability or suspended arms being sent to Israel. We were only left with the option of resorting to the ICC.”

With this latest appeal, the impartiality of the ICC is being put to the test.

Though the international court has indicted powerful leaders such as Vladimir Putin and more recently Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, only African officials and military heads have successfully been arrested and put on trial.

To prosecute a former leader of the US, especially given many view that the ICC is Western-aligned, would be unprecedented.

DAWN, Middle East Eye, IBA, Maghrebi