The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court 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.
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.”
Israel has denied committing war crimes in the Gaza war, triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
Of the Hamas actions on that day, he 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.”
Khan said the leaders on both sides named in the statement are in violation of articles in the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty. In regards to Hamas, he said the crimes included sexual violence and torture.
It will be up to the court’s pre-trial judges to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to issue warrants.