A panel of pre-trial judges will determine whether evidence supports issuing of arrest warrants
\n THE HAGUE
\nThe International Criminal Court\u2019s prosecutor said on Monday he had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence chief and three Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes.
\nICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement issued after over seven months of war in Gaza that he had reasonable grounds to believe that the five men \u201cbear criminal responsibility\u201d for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
\nHe said he had applied for an arrest warrant for Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant as well as for Netanyahu. They have overseen Israel\u2019s offensive against Hamas in Gaza since the Palestinian group\u2019s deadly Oct. 7 raid on Israel.
\nHe has also applied for arrest warrants for Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar; Mohammed Al-Masri, the commander-in-chief of the military wing of Hamas who is widely known as Deif; and Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas\u2019 Political Bureau.
\nA panel of pre-trial judges will determine whether the evidence supports the issuing of arrest warrants, but the court has no means to enforce such warrants and its investigation into the Gaza war has been opposed by the United States and Israel.
\nIsrael and Palestinian leaders have dismissed allegations of committing war crimes, and representatives of both sides criticised Khan\u2019s decision.
\nThe ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2023 over alleged war crimes in the Ukraine war, but Monday\u2019s step was the first time Khan has sought to intervene in the conflict in the Middle East.
\n\u201cIsrael, like all States, has a right to take action to defend its population,\u201d Khan said. \u201cThat right, however, does not absolve Israel or any state of its obligation to comply with international humanitarian law.\u201d
\nHe said crimes against humanity allegedly carried out by Israel were part of \u201ca widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population pursuant to State policy.\u201d
\n\u201cThese crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day,\u201d he said.
\nEvidence his office collected showed Israel had systematically deprived civilians of \u201cobjects indispensable to human survival,\u201d including restricting food, water, medicine and energy, he said. Netanyahu and Gallant bore responsibility, he said, for Israel wilfully causing great suffering and for killing as a war crime.
\nThe Hamas leaders face allegations of bearing responsibility for crimes committed by Hamas including extermination and murder, the taking of hostages, torture, rape and other acts of sexual violence.
\nWar crimes allegations
\nThe ICC is the world\u2019s first permanent international war crimes court. It 124 member states are obliged to immediately arrest the wanted person if they are on a member state\u2019s territory but the court has no means to enforce arrest warrants.
\nA court of last resort, the ICC steps in only when a state is unwilling or genuinely unable to do so itself. Israel has said alleged war crimes in Gaza are being investigated domestically.
\nIsrael and its main ally the United States are not members of the ICC, along with China and Russia.
\nMember states have in the past failed to hand over suspects who entered their territory, including Sudanese former President Omar Bashir, wanted since 2005 for war crimes and genocide.
\nBut if warrants are issued against Israeli leaders, court members including nearly all European Union countries could be put in a diplomatically difficult position.
\n\u201cThis is a watershed event in the history of international justice,\u201d said Reed Brody, a veteran war crimes prosecutor. \u201cThe ICC has never, in over 21 years of existence, indicted a western official. Indeed, no international tribunal since Nuremberg (against representatives of Nazi Germany) has done so.\u201d
\nIsraeli ministers and Palestinian representatives denounced the prosecutor\u2019s moves.
\n\u201cDrawing parallels between the leaders of a democratic country determined to defend itself from despicable terror to leaders of a blood-thirsty terror organisation (Hamas) is a deep distortion of justice and blatant moral bankruptcy,\u201d Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A panel of pre-trial judges will determine whether evidence supports issuing of arrest warrants THE HAGUE The International Criminal Court\u2019s prosecutor said on Monday he had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence chief and three Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes. ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement issued […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-408305","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n