ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Hamas leaders for war crimes

International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan has requested the issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, among others, for alleged war and terrorist crimes. It hurts humanity. This request marks a critical moment in investigations into the conflicts in the Palestinian territories.

Khan indicated in a statement that he has processed arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, on charges such as “deliberately starving civilians,” “intentional homicide” and “extermination and/or murder.” In addition, the prosecutor requests authorization to issue arrest warrants against Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri, known as Deif and commander of the Al Qassam Brigades, and against Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political office.

During a press conference at the ICC headquarters in The Hague, Khan argued: “The evidence we have collected, including interviews with survivors and witnesses, authenticated video, photo and audio material, satellite images and statements from the group of alleged perpetrators , show that Israel has intentionally and systematically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of objects indispensable for human survival. He stressed that the requests are the result of an independent and impartial investigation.

International Reactions

The announcement has generated criticism on both sides of the conflict. Members of the Israeli government and Hamas have expressed their disagreement. Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, noted that the decision “equates the victim with the executioner” and encourages Israel to continue its “war of extermination” in Gaza.

On the other hand, Benny Gantz, Minister of the Israeli War Cabinet, stated that “drawing parallels between the leaders of a democratic country determined to defend itself from despicable terrorism and the leaders of a bloodthirsty terrorist organization is a profound distortion of justice.” . Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called the announcement a “display of hypocrisy and hatred of Jews.”

Even Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid described the decision as “a disaster.” The US House of Representatives has called the potential arrest warrants “shameful” and “illegal.”

Republican lawmakers in the US are considering legislative retaliation against the ICC. Israel has called the possible arrest warrants an “anti-Semitic hate crime” and “an abuse.”

Since 2021, the ICC has been investigating allegations of war crimes allegedly committed since 2014 by the Israeli Army and all Palestinian militias in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent war in Gaza. The ICC, with jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression, has 124 members, among which is not Israel, which does not recognize the investigation into the situation in the Palestinian territories.