World News
JERUSALEM (AP) — The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Monday he’s looking for arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in reference to their actions throughout the seven-month war between Israel and Hamas.
Karim Khan said he believes Netanyahu, his defense minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders – Yehia Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh – are liable for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel.
The prosecutor must apply for the arrest warrants to a pre-trial panel of three judges, which takes a mean of two months to look at the evidence and judge whether the case can proceed.
Israel shouldn’t be a member of the court, and even when arrest warrants are issued, Netanyahu and Gallant are in no immediate danger of prosecution. However, Khan's announcement deepens Israel's isolation because the country continues its war, and the specter of arrest could make it difficult for Israeli politicians to travel abroad.
Both Sinwar and Deif are believed to be hiding in Gaza as Israel attempts to hunt them down. But Haniyeh, the militant Islamic group's supreme leader, lives in Qatar and travels steadily through the region.
Benny Gantz, a former military chief and member of Israel's war cabinet with Netanyahu and Gallant, sharply criticized Khan's announcement, saying Israel contends with “one of the strictest” moral codes and has a sturdy judiciary able to investigating itself.
“The State of Israel is waging one of the most just wars in modern history following the reprehensible massacre by Hamas terrorists on October 7,” he said. “The prosecutor's ability to request arrest warrants is in itself a crime of historic proportions that will be remembered for generations to come.”
Israel launched its war in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7 that killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 hostage. According to recent estimates by Gaza health authorities, over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed within the Israeli offensive, a minimum of half of them women and youngsters. The Israeli offensive has also triggered a humanitarian crisis in Gaza that has displaced around 80 percent of the population and pushed tons of of 1000’s of individuals to the brink of starvation, in line with UN officials.
In an announcement on Israel's actions, Khan said: “The impact of using starvation as a way of war, in addition to other attacks and collective punishments against the civilian population of Gaza, is acute, visible and widely known. … They include malnutrition, dehydration, profound suffering and a rising variety of deaths among the many Palestinian population, including babies, other children and ladies.”
The United Nations and other aid organizations have repeatedly accused Israel of obstructing aid deliveries throughout the war. Israel disputes this, saying there are not any restrictions on the entry of aid into Gaza and accuses the United Nations of failing to distribute aid. The United Nations says aid employees have repeatedly come under Israeli fire and that ongoing fighting and a security vacuum have hampered deliveries.
Commenting on Hamas' actions on October 7, Khan, who visited the region in December, said he had seen firsthand “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 inside a family, the deepest bonds between parent and child, were distorted by calculated cruelty and extreme callousness to inflict unimaginable suffering. These actions demand accountability.”
After a temporary period of international support for Israel's war, it has faced increasing criticism because the war is delayed and the death toll rises.
Israel can also be facing a South African case before the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide. Israel denies these charges.
Khan's request for arrest warrants in Israel-Gaza conflict comes 14 months after the court issued an arrest warrant Arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes and accuses him of non-public responsibility for the kidnapping of kids from Ukraine.
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