20th May 2024
The International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, and Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the October 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.
The courtโs chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, told CNNโs Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview on Monday.
Khan said the ICC was also seeking warrants for Israelโs Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as two other top Hamas leaders โ Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the leader of the Al Qassem Brigades who is better known as Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamasโ political leader.
The warrants against the Israeli politicians mark the first time the ICC has targeted the top leader of a close ally of the United States.
The decision puts Netanyahu in the company of Russian President, Vladimir Putin, for whom the ICC issued an arrest warrant over Moscowโs war on Ukraine, and the Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, who was facing an arrest warrant from the ICC for alleged crimes against humanity at the time of his capture and killing in October 2011.
By applying for arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders in the same action, Khanโs office risks attracting criticism that it places a terror organization and an elected government on an equivalent footing.
A panel of ICC judges will now consider Khanโs application for the arrest warrants.
Khan said the charges against Sinwar, Haniyeh and al-Masri included โextermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape and sexual assault in detention.โ
“The world was shocked on the 7th of October when people were ripped from their bedrooms, from their homes, from the different kibbutzim in Israel,โ Khan told Amanpour, adding โpeople have suffered enormously.โ
The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include โcausing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict,โ Khan told Amanpour.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, at left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at right, are pictured.
When reports surfaced last month that the ICC chief prosecutor was considering this course of action, Netanyahu said that any ICC arrest warrants against senior Israeli government and military officials โwould be an outrage of historic proportions,โ and that Israel โhas an independent legal system that rigorously investigates all violations of the law.โ
Asked by Amanpour about the comments made by Netanyahu, Khan said: โNobody is above the law.โ
He said that if Israel disagreed with the ICC, โthey are free, notwithstanding their jurisdiction objections, to raise a challenge before the judges of the court and thatโs what I advise them to do.โ
Israel and the United States are not members of the ICC.
However, the ICC claims to have jurisdiction over Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank after Palestinian leaders formally agreed to be bound by the courtโs founding principles in 2015.
The ICC announcement on Monday is separate from the case that is currently being heard by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over an accusation from South Africa that Israel [quote]was committing genocide in its war against Hamas following the October 7 attacks.
While the ICJ considers cases that involve countries and nations, and the ICC is a criminal court, which brings cases against individuals for war crimes or crimes against humanity.
Mondayโs announcement is not the first time that the ICC acted on Israel. In March 2021, Khanโs office launched an investigation into possible crimes committed in the Palestinian territories since June 2014 in Gaza and the West Bank.
Located in The Hague, Netherlands, and created by a treaty called the Rome Statute first brought before the United Nations, the ICC operates independently. Most countries โ 124 of them โ are parties to the treaty, but there are notable exceptions, including Israel, the US and Russia.
That means that if the court grants Khanโs application and issues arrest warrants for the five men, any country that is a member would have to arrest them and extradite them to The Hague.
Under the rules of the court, all signatories of the Rome Statute must cooperate fully with its decisions. This would make it extremely difficult for Netanyahu and Gallant to travel internationally, including to many countries that are among Israelโs closest allies โ including Germany and the United Kingdom.