War Crimes Prosecutor Calls for Arrest of Israeli and Hamas Leaders: Israel-Hamas

JERUSALEM (AP) — The chief prosecutor of the world’s top war crimes court sought arrest warrants Monday against leaders of Israel and Hamas, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over actions taken during their seven-month war.

While Netanyahu and his defense minister Yoav Gallant face no imminent arrest, the announcement by the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor was a symbolic blow that deepened Israel’s isolation over the war in Gaza.

The court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, accused Netanyahu, Gallant and three Hamas leaders – Yehia Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh – of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel.

Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders condemned the move as disgraceful and anti-Semitic. US President Joe Biden also criticized the prosecutor and supported Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas.

A Jury consisting of three jurors will decide whether the arrest warrants will be issued and whether the proceedings can continue. It usually takes judges two months to make such decisions.

Israel is not a member of the court, so Netanyahu and Gallant are in no immediate danger of prosecution even if the arrest warrants are issued. But the threat of arrest could make it difficult for Israeli leaders to travel abroad.

Netanyahu called the prosecutor’s accusations against him a “disgrace” and an attack on the Israeli military and all of Israel. He promised to advance Israel’s war against Hamas.

President Biden said the attempt to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant over the war in Gaza was “outrageous,” adding: “Whatever this prosecutor may suggest, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.”

Hamas also condemned the ICC prosecutor’s actions, saying that calling for the arrest of its leaders “equates the victim with the executioner.”

Netanyahu is under intense pressure at home to end the war. Thousands of Israelis have joined weekly demonstrations calling on the government to reach a deal to bring Israeli hostages home from Hamas captivity, fearing that time is running out.

In recent days, the other two members of his war cabinet, Gallant and Benny Gantz, have threatened to resign if Netanyahu does not present a clear postwar vision for Gaza.

But on Monday, Netanyahu received widespread support as politicians across the spectrum condemned the ICC prosecutor’s move. They included Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his two main political rivals, Gantz and opposition leader Yair Lapid.

It is unclear what impact Khan’s move will have on Netanyahu’s public image. The possibility of an arrest warrant against Netanyahu could give him a boost as Israelis rally behind the flag. But his opponents could also accuse him of bringing a diplomatic disaster to the country.

Yuval Shany, an international law expert at the Hebrew University and the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank, said it was far more certain that Netanyahu’s already problematic international standing could be further weakened.

“This will make Netanyahu an outsider and his ability to move around the world will be seriously jeopardized,” Shany said. Even if the ICC does not issue the arrest warrant, other countries may now be more reluctant to provide support and assistance, he said.

Hamas is already considered an international terrorist group in the West. Both Sinwar and Deif are believed to be hiding in Gaza. But Haniyeh, the militant Islamist group’s supreme leader, is based in Qatar and travels frequently through the region. Like Israel, Qatar is not a member of the International Criminal Court.

The latest war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7 when militants entered Israel from Gaza, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 250 others hostage.

Since then, Israel has waged a brutal campaign to dismantle Hamas in Gaza. According to the latest estimates from Gaza health authorities, more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, at least half of them women and children.

According to U.N. officials, the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis in Gaza that has displaced about 80% of the population and pushed hundreds of thousands of people to the brink of starvation.

Regarding Israel’s actions, Khan said: “The impact of using starvation as a method of war along with other attacks and collective punishment against the civilian population of Gaza is acute, visible and widely known.”

The United Nations and other aid organizations have repeatedly accused Israel of obstructing aid deliveries during the war. Israel disputes this, saying there are no restrictions on aid imports into Gaza and accuses the United Nations of failing to distribute aid.

Speaking about Hamas’ actions on October 7, Khan, who visited the region in December, said he had personally seen “the devastating scenes of these attacks and the profound impact of the unacceptable crimes.”

During their rampage, Hamas militants shot scores of revelers at a dance party and killed entire families huddled in their homes. “These actions require accountability,” Khan said.

International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney was a member of a five-member expert panel that advised Khan. She said the panel unanimously agreed that there were “reasonable reasons” to believe that both Hamas and Israeli leaders had committed war crimes, according to a statement.

South Africa, which is conducting a genocide trial against Israel at the United Nations World Court, welcomed Khan’s announcement calling for the arrest of Israeli and Hamas leaders. “To uphold the international rule of law, the law must apply equally to all,” President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said.

The ICC was established in 2002 as a permanent court of last resort to prosecute individuals responsible for the world’s most heinous atrocities – war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression.

The UN General Assembly has endorsed the International Criminal Court, but the court is independent.

Dozens of countries do not accept the court’s jurisdiction over war crimes, genocide and other crimes. These include Israel, the United States, Russia and China.

The ICC admitted “the State of Palestine” as a member in 2015, a year after the Palestinians accepted the court’s jurisdiction.

Then US President in 2020 Donald Trump approved economic and travel sanctions through the ICC prosecutor and another senior prosecutor. The ICC staff investigated the troops of the USA and its allies possible war crimes in Afghanistan. President Biden lifted sanctions in 2021.

Last year the court issued an arrest warrant against the Russian president Wladimir Putin because of responsibility for the abduction of children from Ukraine. Russia responded by issuing its own arrest warrants against Khan and ICC judges.

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Molly Quell in Delft, Netherlands, and Mike Corder in Ede, Netherlands contributed.