By John Ikani
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has filed for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza, over allegations of war crimes.
Karim Khan KC announced there are substantial grounds to believe both leaders are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity following Hamas’s assault on Israel on October 7.
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, along with Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and military chief Mohammed Deif, are also targeted for arrest.
Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar remain in Gaza with undisclosed locations, while Ismail Haniyeh is in Qatar.
ICC judges will now review the evidence to decide on issuing arrest warrants, a process that may take weeks or months.
Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, criticized Mr. Khan’s action as an “unrestrained frontal assault” on the victims of the October 7 attacks, calling it a “historical disgrace”.
Katz revealed a special command centre would be established to counter the decision, claiming it aims to undermine Israel’s right to self-defence.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that the move to seek arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders “equates the victim with the executioner”.
He argued that the decision emboldened Israel to continue what he termed a “war of extermination”.
Mr. Khan has accused Hamas leaders of crimes including extermination, murder, hostage-taking, rape, sexual violence, and torture.
He stated, “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.”
He added that some of these crimes “continue to this day.”
According to Khan, Hamas has caused “unfathomable pain through calculated cruelty and extreme callousness.”
The Israeli prime minister and defence minister are accused of crimes such as using starvation of civilians as a warfare tactic, murder, and deliberately attacking civilian populations.
Mr. Khan’s office claims to have evidence showing Israel “intentionally and systematically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of essential survival resources.”
While acknowledging Israel’s right to defend itself, he asserted that this does not justify “intentionally causing death, starvation, great suffering, and serious injury to body or health of the civilian population,” which he described as criminal acts.
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, a political adversary of Netanyahu, condemned the prosecutor’s decision.
He stated, “Drawing parallels between the leaders of a democratic country defending itself from despicable terror and leaders of a bloodthirsty terror organization is a gross distortion of justice and blatant moral bankruptcy.”
The charges against the leaders stem from the October 7 attacks when Hamas gunmen infiltrated Israel, resulting in approximately 1,200 deaths and 252 hostages taken to Gaza. This triggered the ongoing conflict, with at least 35,500 Palestinians reported dead in Gaza according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
While neither Israel nor Qatar are ICC members, the Palestinian territories have been recognized as a member state since 2015. Should warrants be issued, the ICC would rely on member nations to enforce arrests.
Issuing an ICC arrest warrant for a leader of a Western-style democracy would be unprecedented. If Netanyahu becomes the first, it will alarm Israel and its allies and test the ICC’s authority and effectiveness.
