The International Criminal Court is seeking warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders
LONDON — The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague said Monday he will seek arrest warrants for top leaders from both Israel and Hamas.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan has asked for warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as well as the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, and two other senior Hamas officials.
Khan has submitted an application with the ICC’s panel of judges to issue the warrants. He says Hamas’ attacks of last Oct. 7 and the ensuing violence since are the basis for these warrants he’s requesting from the court.
He said that an initial investigation by his prosecutorial team has indicated that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed, and continue to be committed, by both sides in the Gaza conflict.
The charges Netanyahu and Gallant could face for their role in Israel’s current Gaza military campaign include international attacks on a civilian population, murder, persecution, and starvation. Khan said the Israeli state under Netanyahu and its military under Gallant have deprived civilians in Gaza of all objects indispensable to human survival.
