After an "independent and impartial" investigation by his office, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan filed arrest warrant applications for three Hamas leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, charging them with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Khan said that the Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (Deif), and Ismail Haniyeh — bear primary responsibility for the October 7 attacks that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and resulted in some 250 hostages being taken to Gaza. As for Israel, Khan said Netanyahu and Gallant have prosecuted a war in Gaza that has, by willful design, killed more than 35,000 Palestinians and put millions more at risk of starvation.
"Notwithstanding any military goals they may have, the means Israel chose to achieve them in Gaza — namely, intentionally causing death, starvation, great suffering, and serious injury to body or health of the civilian population — are criminal," Khan said in a statement announcing the warrants.
ICC action on this issue has been anticipated for several months, as the death toll from Israel's military offensive rises and the fate of the hostages still held in Gaza remains uncertain. Both the Israeli government and opposition parties predictably voiced disdain for a warrant that they say should not equalize the two belligerents' violations. "Drawing parallels between the leaders of a democratic country determined to defend itself from despicable terror to leaders of a bloodthirsty terror organization [sic] is a deep distortion of justice and blatant moral bankruptcy," said Israeli war cabinet member and Netanyahu rival Benny Gantz.
In a mirror image of the Israeli reaction, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Wasel Abu Yousself called the dual warrants a "confusion between the victim and the executioner."
The application filing is one of many steps required to issue the actual warrants. A pre-trial panel of three judges, who take an average of two months to consider the evidence, will decide whether or not the proceedings will move forward. While Israel is not a member of the ICC and is highly unlikely to comply with any prosecution of its leaders, the announcement by Khan is yet another signal of Israel's deepening isolation on the world stage.
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