ICC seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leaders and Israel’s Netanyahu | Int'l Criminal Court

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, Karim A. A. Khan today (20 May) issued applications for arrest warrants for three senior leaders of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab, and Ismail Haniyeh, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant for crimes committed on and after 7 October 2023.

Khan said, “I can also confirm today that I have reasonable grounds to believe on the basis of evidence collected and examined by my office, that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Joav Galant bear criminal responsibility for the following international crimes committed on the territory of the state of Palestine from at least the 8th of October 2023. The crimes include starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, willfully causing great suffering, serious injury to body or health or cruel treatment,
willful killing or murder, and intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, as well as crimes against humanity of extermination and /or murder, persecution, and allegations of crimes of committing other inhuman acts. It's alleged that these crimes were committed in the context of the ongoing armed conflict and as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza,
pursuant to a state policy. Unfortunately, these crimes continue to this day. My office submits that these individuals, through a common plan, have systematically deprived the civilian population of Gaza of objects indispensable to human survival.”

On the Israeli leadership, he said, “I can also confirm today that I have reasonable grounds to believe on the basis of evidence collected and examined by my office, that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Joav Galant bear criminal responsibility for the following international crimes committed on the territory of the state of Palestine from at least the 8th of October 2023. The crimes include starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, willfully causing great suffering, serious injury to body or health or cruel treatment, willful killing, or murder, and intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, as well as crimes against humanity of extermination and /or murder, persecution, and allegations of crimes of committing other inhuman acts. It's alleged that these crimes were committed in the context of the ongoing armed conflict and as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza, pursuant to a state policy. Unfortunately, these crimes continue to this day. My office submits that these individuals, through a common plan, have systematically deprived the civilian population of Gaza of objects indispensable to human survival.”

The ICC Prosecutor stressed that “Israel, like all states, has the right to defend its population. It has every right to ensure the return of hostages that have been criminally and callously taken. Those rights, however, do not absolve Israel of its obligations to comply with international humanitarian law, intentionally causing death, starvation, injury, and suffering to the civilian population, including so very many women and children. are criminal means to achieve military and political goals.”

He said, “no foot soldier, no commander, no civilian leader, no one can act with impunity. Nothing on earth can justify willfully depriving human beings, including women, women and children, babies, the old and the young, of the basic necessities required for life. Nothing, nothing on earth can justify hostage taking or the targeting and killing of civilians. The independent judges of this International Criminal Court are the sole arbiters as to whether the necessary standard for the issuance of warrants of arrest have been met. The judges of the International Criminal Court must be now given the space to do their work and to dispassionately and objectively review the evidence that we have submitted.”

To conclude, Khan said, “it's my strong conviction that if we do not demonstrate our willingness to apply the law equally, if it is seen as being applied selectively, we will be creating the conditions for its complete collapse. And in doing so, we would be loosening the remaining bonds that hold us together, the stabilizing connections between all communities, all individuals, the safety net to which all victims look to in times of suffering. This is the true risk we face at this perilous moment. Now more than ever, we must collectively demonstrate that international humanitarian law, the foundational baseline for human conduct during conflict, applies to all individuals and applies equally across situations addressed by my office and by the court. This is how we will prove, tangibly, in real terms, for all victims, that the lives of all human beings, wherever they may be, have equal value.”