ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders
Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Karim Khan said on May 20th that he seeks arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders — including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — declaring them responsible for war crimes during the seventh-month conflict between Israel and Hamas, Arab News and agencies reported.
He believes Netanyahu, his defense minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders — Yehia Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — should be held responsible for their actions in the Gaza Strip as well as Israel.
This is separate from another case Israel faces in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) brought upon by South Africa, who accused Israel of genocide.
The prosecutor must request the warrants from a pre-trial panel of three judges, which could take up to an average of two months. The court does issue arrest warrants, but because Israel is not a member of it, Netanyahu and Gallant do not face any immediate risk of prosecution. Though Khan’s declaration is proof of international criticism of Israel, and the threat of arrest could make travel difficult for those figures.
READ: ICJ rules Israel committed genocide but won’t call Gaza ceasefire
Sinwar and Deif are suspected to be hiding in Gaza whilst Israel tries to hunt them down. Haniyeh, however, the supreme leader of the Islamic militant group, frequently travels between there and Qatar.
At this point in the Israel-Hamas war, approximately 35,000 Palestinians have been killed. Israel also moved forward with heightened violence in Rafah despite international pleas to abandon their offensive pursuits in the region. 80% of Gaza’s population has also been displaced.
Khan condemned Israel’s “use of starvation as a method of warfare,” citing the UN and World Bank’s frequent warnings of impending famine in the region. He added that the effects of doing so are “acute, visible and widely known” and “include malnutrition, dehydration, profound suffering and an increasing number of deaths among the Palestinian population, including babies, other children, and women.”
READ: Environmental experts accuse Israel of ecocide in Gaza
The UN and other aid agencies have repeatedly accused Israel of intentionally hindering aid deliveries throughout the war. Israel has denied these claims. 190 Palestinian UN employees have been killed since the beginning of the conflict, and on May 13th, the UN’s first international worker was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Khan visited the region in December, saying that he saw for himself “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 within a family, the deepest bonds between a parent and a child, were contorted to inflict unfathomable pain through calculated cruelty and extreme callousness,” he added. “These acts demand accountability.”
Arab News and agencies
