The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said Monday he is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in connection with their actions during the seven-month war.
Karim Khan said that he believes Netanyahu, his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders — Yehya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
The prosecutor must request the warrants from a pre-trial panel of three judges, who take on average two months to consider the evidence and determine if the proceedings can move forward.
Israel is not a member of the court, and even if the arrest warrants are issued, Netanyahu and Gallant do not face any immediate risk of prosecution. But Khan’s announcement deepens Israel’s isolation as it presses ahead with the war, and the threat of arrest could make it difficult for the Israeli leaders to travel abroad.
The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court said on Monday it had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence minister and three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. It will be up to a pre-trial panel of three judges to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to issue warrants.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the chief prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants against Israel’s leaders is “a historic disgrace that will be remembered forever.”
He said he would form a special committee to fight back against any such action and would work with world leaders to ensure that any such warrants are not enforced on Israel’s leaders.
‘Reprehensible massacre’ on Oct. 7
Benny Gantz, a former military chief and member of Israel’s war cabinet with Netanyahu and Gallant, harshly criticized Khan’s announcement, saying Israel fights with “one of the strictest” moral codes and has a robust judiciary capable of investigating itself.
“The State of Israel is waging one of the just wars fought in modern history following a reprehensible massacre perpetrated by terrorist Hamas on the 7th of October,” he said.
“The prosecutor’s position to apply for arrest warrants is in itself a crime of historic proportion to be remembered for generations.”
The Hamas militant group denounced the ICC prosecutor’s request to seek the arrests of its leaders.
Hamas asserts right to ‘armed resistance’
In a statement, Hamas accused the prosecutor of trying to “equate the victim with the executioner.” It said it has the right to resist Israeli occupation, including “armed resistance.”
It also criticized the court for seeking the arrests of only two Israeli leaders and said it should seek warrants for other Israeli leaders.
Both Sinwar and Deif are believed to be hiding in Gaza as Israel tries to hunt them down. But Haniyeh, the supreme leader of the Islamic militant group, is based in Qatar and frequently travels across the region.
Israel launched its war in response to an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas that killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 others hostage. The Israeli offensive has killed over 35,000 Palestinians, at least half of them women and children, according to the latest estimates by Gaza health officials. The Israeli military operation has also triggered a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, displacing roughly 80 per cent of the population and leaving hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of starvation, according to UN officials.
The world reacts
Reactions to Khan’s announcement came swiftly from the international community.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a statement saying the United States rejects the ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants for Israeli officials and Hamas.
“Let me be clear: Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas,” U.S. President Joe Biden also said in a statement.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) called it a “principled first step” by the prosecutor.
“Victims of serious abuses in Israel and Palestine have faced a wall of impunity for decades,” HRW said.
“This … opens the door to those responsible for the atrocities committed in recent months to answer for their actions at a fair trial. ICC member countries should stand ready to resolutely protect the ICC’s independence as hostile pressure is likely to increase while the ICC judges consider Khan’s request.”
‘Profound suffering’ among Palestinians
Speaking of the Israeli actions, Khan said in a statement that “the effects of the use of starvation as a method of warfare, together with other attacks and collective punishment against the civilian population of Gaza are acute, visible and widely known. … They include malnutrition, dehydration, profound suffering and an increasing number of deaths among the Palestinian population, including babies, other children, and women.”
The United Nations and other aid agencies have repeatedly accused Israel of hindering aid deliveries throughout the war. Israel denies this, saying there are no restrictions on aid entering Gaza and accusing the United Nations of failing to distribute aid. The UN says aid workers have repeatedly come under Israeli fire, and also says ongoing fighting and a security vacuum have impeded deliveries.
Of the Hamas actions on Oct. 7, Khan, who visited the region in December, said that he saw for himself “the devastating scenes of these attacks and the profound impact of the unconscionable crimes charged in the applications filed today. Speaking with survivors, I heard how the love within a family, the deepest bonds between a parent and a child, were contorted to inflict unfathomable pain through calculated cruelty and extreme callousness. These acts demand accountability.”
The top court for the United Nations on Friday ordered Israel to prevent possible genocide in its war in Gaza. While the International Court of Justice stopped short of calling for a ceasefire, ‘it’s very clear if those orders are to be complied with, the level of violence that we’ve seen waged on Gaza is no longer possible,’ said Mark Kersten, assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of the Fraser Valley.
After a brief period of international support for its war, Israel has faced increasing criticism as the war has dragged on and the death toll has climbed.
Israel is also facing a South African case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocide. Israel denies those charges.
Khan’s request for warrants in the Israel-Gaza conflict comes 14 months after the court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for abductions of children from Ukraine.
The Hague in the Netherlands is home to the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
ICJ cases involve disputes between countries, while the ICC can prosecute individuals for offences in accordance to the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty.