I can't get no satisfaction!

What if Ismail Haniyeh had been arrested, tried, and duly condemned?

I have a lot of sympathy for what happened to Ismail Haniyeh - my reptilian brain, so to speak, is rewarded - justice has been served. However, I can't get no satisfaction. Another part of me - perhaps my higher brain - keeps asking one question: what if Haniyeh had been arrested, tried, and duly condemned? This question opens the path to consider a timeline - a story - of what should have happened to make this possible and, based on this timeline, what the reactions might have been, both earthly and moral.

First, an international arrest warrant would have needed to be issued - solely for him, not diluted by other considerations. This is already hard to imagine, isn’t it? Why?
Since you and I are waiting for the ICC warrant to be issued and are opening ourselves to questions, let’s ponder this: why doesn’t a country hosting such a person preemptively act and detain him? You know, just in case! Lack of legal basis or proof? May I remind you of the events of October 7th and, perhaps even more sadly relevant, Haniyeh's public expression of his opinions on the act and his "vision" for the future shortly after. There is absolutely no way in my rational mind to find any valid excuse for not acting - I tried hard. I will spare you my conclusions about why this was possible and continue with my story.

Let’s assume that, in one way or another, the ICC or the countries hosting Haniyeh had acted in a timely manner, i.e., right after October 7th or right after Haniyeh’s inglorious speech (October 8th?), and issued an arrest warrant. How would people, especially the Israeli people, have felt, receiving genuine support from the international community and its legal entities? How would the state of Israel have reacted to such a clear sign? Don’t you think this would have had a strong effect, like a flame being ignited and ready to be carried by others?

Let's go one step further into this hypothetical scenario. The act of arresting him would have had to be fulfilled. It would have been quite a spectacle to see which countries would adopt or reject this action, particularly those claiming support and involvement in the so-called peace process. Some alliances would have had to be broken for the sake of this endeavor. In my story, this spectacle is of secondary nature - it happens in the background in fast motion. The arrest act is in the foreground, by an act of Deus Ex Machina - the arrest happens immediately (just in case you doubt this intervention - his address was well known). This means that not only has the flame been ignited and passed on, but the cauldron of justice has now been lit! What a strong sign for the world and the Israeli people. It radiates like an active memorial - its light is comforting; its heat prevents the coldness of being and having to act alone.

In The Hague, the trial is conducted expeditiously - doesn’t it sound like fiction given the practicalities? Again, let’s skip the nitty-gritty of legal paragraphs and some imposed time constraints, but there's no way, at least in my story here, that Haniyeh wouldn't have been condemned for planning and supporting a modern genocide against the Israeli people. That would have been an act! Imagine the reaction of the Israeli people: the rationale wins - justice is served.

Now, I also hear you saying, "but." There is no "but" here; just take the simplicity of my story and add a speedy element to it - in fact, this would have had to happen within days because "Never again is now" means that the now is not to be postponed by any means. Postponing the now is imposing a dead-end highway to a deadly terminal station, enforcing but at the same time condemning the creation of moral detours for survival and blatantly failing to ignite the flame of hope that, by now, we should have understood! That is why I still can’t get no satisfaction!