ICC Prosecutor Wants Israeli And Hamas Leaders Arrested For War Crimes

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan KC, has applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, for war crimes.

Karim Khan KC said there were reasonable grounds to believe that both men bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity from the day of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 onwards.

Also listed for arrest for war crimes are the Israeli Defence minister, Yoav Gallant and Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh as well as the group’s military chief, Mohammed Deif.

The ICC, based in The Hague, has been investigating Israel’s actions in the occupied territories for the past three years – and more recently the actions of Hamas as well.

Mr Netanyahu recently called the prospect of senior Israel figures joining the ICC’s wanted list “an outrage of historic proportions.”

The ICC judges will now decide whether they believe the evidence is sufficient to issue arrest warrants – something which could take weeks or months.

Khan also accused the Hamas leaders of having committed crimes including extermination, murder, hostage taking, rape and sexual violence, and torture.

In the words of Khan; “The crimes against humanity charged were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Israel by Hamas and other armed groups. Some of these crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day”.

He said that Hamas had inflicted “unfathomable pain through calculated cruelty and extreme callousness, adding that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defence minister. Yoav Gallant were suspected of crimes including starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, murder, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, and extermination.

Khan also said that his office had evidence that Israel had “intentionally and systematically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of objects indispensable to human survival”.

He said that Israel has a right to defend itself but not by “intentionally causing death, starvation, great suffering, and serious injury to body or health of the civilian population which were criminal acts.

However, the Israeli war cabinet minister, Benny Gantz – a political rival of Mr Netanyahu has denounced the prosecutor’s decision.

According to him; “Drawing parallels between the leaders of a democratic country determined to defend itself from despicable terror to leaders of a bloodthirsty terror organisation is a deep distortion of justice and blatant moral bankruptcy”.

…Source: BBC