Photo: Emmanuel Dunand Agence France-Presse AFP ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement he was seeking arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes including “deliberately starving civilians”, “intentional homicide” and “extermination and/or murder”.
France Media Agency in The Hague
Posted at 8:32 a.m. Updated at 2:17 p.m.
- Middle East
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz quickly denounced a “scandalous decision”, “a historic dishonor” for the court based in The Hague.
Hamas Palestinian said it “strongly condemns” the decision to request arrest warrants against its leaders and denounced “the attempts of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to equate the victim with the executioner”, according to a press release.
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If the ICC judges decide to issue the arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, this means that in theory, any of the 124 member states of the ICC would be obliged to arrest him if he visits their country. territory.
But even if the arrest warrant could complicate some of Mr. Netanyahu's travels, the court has no police force to enforce its warrants and relies on the willingness of member states to play the game.
Prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement that he was seeking arrest warrants against Mr. Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes including “deliberate starvation of civilians”, “intentional homicide” and “extermination and/or murder”.
< p>“We affirm that the crimes against humanity referred to in the petitions were a continuation of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the Palestinian civilian population in pursuit of the policy of an organization. According to our findings, some of these crimes continue to be committed,” said Mr. Khan, referring to MM. Netanyahu and Gallant.
The accusations against Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinouar, the leader of the movement in the Gaza Strip and alleged mastermind of the attack on 7 October, include “extermination,” “rape and other forms of sexual violence,” and “hostage-taking as a war crime.”
The other two Hamas leaders targeted are Ismail Haniyeh, who can be described as the leader of Hamas, and Mohammed Deif, the leader of the al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.
“We affirm that the crimes against humanity referred to in the petitions were a continuation of a widespread and systematic attack carried out by Hamas and other armed groups in pursuit of the policies of an organization,” is it written in the press release.
The ICC opened an investigation in 2021 into Israel, but also Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, for possible crimes of war in the Palestinian territories.
She then extended it “to the escalation of hostilities and violence since the attacks of October 7, 2023” perpetrated by the Hamas on Israeli soil.
Mr. Khan has repeatedly called for the release of all Gaza hostages and warned of an Israeli military operation in Rafah.
“All wars have rules and the laws applicable to armed conflict cannot be interpreted in a way that makes them hollow or meaningless,” Khan said in February.
< p>Legal experts told AFP that Hamas and Israel could be accused of war crimes over the conflict.
“Significant volume”
Rumors had been circulating for several weeks, notably in the Israeli media and in the United States, according to which the court was about to act .
The Israeli Prime Minister was the first to react to these rumors. Israel “will never accept” the “scandalous” decisions of the ICC, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on X. “We will not bend” before the court, Mr. Netanyahu added.
“The ICC will not affect Israel's actions, but it would set a dangerous precedent that would threaten the soldiers and leaders of all democracies fighting against brutal terrorism and wanton aggression,” he said.< /p>
The court in The Hague issued a warning at the beginning of May to “individuals who threaten (it) with reprisals” – it or its staff –, affirming that such actions could constitute an “attack on the administration of justice.”
In mid-November, five countries requested an ICC investigation into the war between Israel and the Hamas, with Khan saying his team had gathered a “significant volume” of evidence on “relevant incidents.”
The war was triggered by the bloody attack carried out by Hamas in southern Israel, which resulted in the death, on the Israeli side, of more than 1,170 people, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data. .
In response, Israel launched an all-out offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has already left more than 35,000 dead, according to data from the Ministry of Health of the Hamas-led Gaza government.
The ICC made headlines in March 2023 when it issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accused of the war crime of illegal expulsion of Ukrainian children.