The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the 7-month war in Gaza.
The prosecutor must request the warrants from a pre-trial panel of three judges who will determine whether the evidence supports the issuing of arrest warrants and that takes on average two months.
Prosecutor Karim Khan says Netanyahu and Gallant bear responsibility for starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, wilfully causing great suffering and wilful killing or murder as a war crime.
And that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, military commander-in-chief Mohammed Al-Masri (widely known as Deif), and the head of Hamas’ Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh bear responsibility for crimes including extermination and murder, the taking of hostages, torture, rape and other acts of sexual violence.
The ICC based in The Hague is the world’s first permanent international war crimes court and its 124 member states are obliged to immediately arrest a wanted person if they are on a member state’s territory.
Israel, the United States, Russia and China are not members of the ICC and the court has no means to enforce arrest warrants.
The ICC has been investigating Israel’s actions in the occupied territories for the past three years and more recently the actions of Hamas and the war in Gaza.
So even if the arrest warrants are issued, Netanyahu and Gallant do not face any immediate risk of prosecution.
Both Sinwar and Deif are believed to be hiding in Gaza as Israel tries to hunt them down and Haniyeh is based in Qatar but frequently travels across the region.
Prosecutor Khan’s announcement could deepen Israel’s diplomatic isolation as it presses ahead with its war, and the threat of arrest could make it difficult for the Israeli leaders to travel abroad.
Netanyahu recently called the prospect of senior Israel figures joining the ICC’s wanted list “an outrage of historic proportions” and other major Israeli politicians have denounced the action as has Hamas.
The prosecutor was advised in his decision to seek arrest warrants by a panel of international humanitarian law and international criminal law experts largely based in the UK with a mandate to determine if an application for arrest warrants met the standard provided in Article 58 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
At least 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry, and aid agencies have warned of widespread hunger and dire shortages of fuel and medical supplies.
Israel says 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack.
ICC chief prosecutor seeks arrest warrants – Reuters
ICC chief prosecutor seeks arrest warrants – AP
ICC chief prosecutor seeks arrest warrants – Al Jazeera
Reaction to ICC action – Reuters
Coverage of ICC action – FT
International Criminal Court statement on arrest warrants
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Expert advisory panel report
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