The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced on Monday that he had formally requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence commander, and three Hamas leaders in connection with alleged war crimes.
After more than seven months of conflict in Gaza, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan stated in a statement that he had “reasonable grounds” to assume that the five men “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
He stated that he had submitted an application for an arrest warrant for both Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Their oversight of Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza has been ongoing since the Palestinian militant group’s fatal assault on Israel on October 7.
Khan has also submitted arrest warrants for Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas chief; Mohammed Al-Masri, the commander-in-chief of the military wing of Hamas, who is commonly referred to as Deif; and Ismail Haniyeh, the director of Hamas’ Political Bureau.
Whether the arrest warrants are supported by the evidence will be determined by a panel of pre-trial judges. However, the court is unable to enforce these warrants, and the United States and Israel have opposed its inquiry into the Gaza war.
Representatives from both Israel and Palestine have criticised Khan’s decision, and allegations of war crimes have been refuted by their respective leaders.
“I reject with disgust the comparison of the prosecutor in the Hague between democratic Israel and the mass murderers of Hamas,” Netanyahu stated, describing the initiative as a “complete distortion of reality.”
The legal move was dubbed “outrageous” by US President Joe Biden, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that it would endanger talks on a truce and hostage agreement.
According to senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri, the prosecutor’s decision to request warrants for the three Hamas leaders “equates the victim with the executioner.” Hamas requested that the arrest warrant request for its leaders be revoked.
NETANYAHU ACCEPTS ‘CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY’
Khan attempted to intervene in the Middle East conflict for the first time on Monday, despite the fact that the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2023 for alleged war crimes committed during the Ukraine war.
“Israel, like all States, has a right to take action to defend its population,” Khan asserted. “That right, however, does not absolve Israel or any state of its obligation to comply with international humanitarian law.”
He alleges that Israel’s purported crimes against humanity were part of “a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population pursuant to state policy.”
“These offenses, in our opinion, persist to this day,” he stated.
According to the evidence gathered by his office, Israel routinely deprives residents of “objects fundamental to human survival” such as food, water, medication, and energy. Netanyahu and Gallant, he added, bore culpability for Israel’s deliberate infliction of enormous pain and slaughter as a war crime.
The Palestinian territories were accepted as a member state in 2015, although neither Qatar nor Israel are members of the International Criminal Court. The International Criminal Court would depend on its member nations to execute arrests in the event that warrants were issued.
There has never been a time when the ICC issued an arrest warrant for the head of a democracy in the West. If Mr. Netanyahu becomes the first, it will seriously worry Israel and its allies and put the ICC’s authority to the test.
Additionally, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a statement in which he rejected the International Criminal Court’s announcement, asserting that the court “has no jurisdiction over this matter” in US eyes.
The Hamas officials are accused of holding responsibility for Hamas’ crimes, which include genocide and murder, captive taking, torture, rape, and other acts of sexual violence.
“Drawing parallels between the leaders of a democratic country determined to defend itself from despicable terror and the leaders of a blood-thirsty terror organisation (Hamas) is a deep distortion of justice and blatant moral bankruptcy,” Benny Gantz, the Israeli war cabinet minister, stated.
