ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Netanyahu
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court stated Monday he’s searching for arrest warrants for leaders of Israel and Hamas, together with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over actions taken throughout their seven-month warfare.
Karim Khan stated that he believes Netanyahu, his protection minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders — Yehia Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — are liable for warfare crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity within the Gaza Strip and Israel.
A panel of three judges will contemplate the prosecutor’s proof and decide whether or not to problem the arrest warrants and permit a case to proceed.
Israel just isn’t a member of the courtroom, so even when the arrest warrants are issued, Netanyahu and Gallant don’t face any speedy threat of prosecution. But Khan’s announcement deepens Israel’s isolation because it presses forward in Gaza, and the specter of arrest may make it tough for the Israeli leaders to journey overseas.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz stated the chief prosecutor’s determination to hunt arrest warrants in opposition to Israel’s leaders is “a historic disgrace that will be remembered forever.”
He stated he would kind a particular committee to combat again in opposition to any such motion and would work with world leaders to make sure that any such warrants aren’t enforced on Israel’s leaders.
The Hamas militant group denounced the ICC prosecutor’s request to hunt the arrests of its leaders.
Benny Gantz, a former navy chief and member of Israel’s War Cabinet with Netanyahu and Gallant, harshly criticized Khan’s announcement, saying Israel fights with “one of the strictest” ethical codes, respects worldwide legislation and has a strong judiciary able to investigating itself.
“The State of Israel is waging one of the just wars fought in modern history following a reprehensible massacre perpetrated by terrorist Hamas on the 7th of October,” he stated. “The prosecutor’s place to use for arrest warrants is in itself a criminal offense of historic proportion to be remembered for generations.
Other Israeli leaders, together with opposition chief Yair Lapid, additionally condemned the ICC prosecutor.
In an announcement, Hamas accused the prosecutor of making an attempt to “equate the victim with the executioner.” It stated it has the precise to withstand Israeli occupation, together with “armed resistance.”
It additionally criticized the courtroom for searching for the arrests of solely two Israeli leaders and stated it ought to search warrants for different Israeli leaders.
Both Sinwar and Deif are believed to be hiding in Gaza as Israel tries to hunt them down. But Haniyeh, the supreme chief of the Islamic militant group, relies in Qatar and often travels throughout the area.
The newest warfare between Israel and Hamas started on Oct. 7, when militants from Gaza crossed into Israel and killed some 1,200 individuals, principally civilians, and took 250 others hostage.
The Israeli offensive has killed over 35,000 Palestinians, no less than half of them ladies and youngsters, in response to the newest estimates by Gaza well being officers. The Israeli offensive has additionally triggered a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, displacing roughly 80% of the inhabitants and leaving a whole bunch of 1000’s of individuals on the point of hunger, in response to U.N. officers.
Speaking of the Israeli actions, Khan stated in an announcement that “the effects of the use of starvation as a method of warfare, together with other attacks and collective punishment against the civilian population of Gaza are acute, visible and widely known. … They include malnutrition, dehydration, profound suffering and an increasing number of deaths among the Palestinian population, including babies, other children, and women.”
The United Nations and different help companies have repeatedly accused Israel of hindering help deliveries all through the warfare. Israel denies this, saying there aren’t any restrictions on help getting into Gaza and accusing the United Nations of failing to distribute help. The U.N. says help employees have repeatedly come underneath Israeli hearth, and likewise says ongoing combating and a safety vacuum have impeded deliveries.
Of the Hamas actions on Oct. 7, Khan, who visited the area in December, stated that he noticed for himself “the devastating scenes of these attacks and the profound impact of the unconscionable crimes charged in the applications filed today. Speaking with survivors, I heard how the love within a family, the deepest bonds between a parent and a child, were contorted to inflict unfathomable pain through calculated cruelty and extreme callousness. These acts demand accountability.”
After a quick interval of worldwide assist for its warfare, Israel has confronted growing criticism because the warfare has dragged on and the loss of life toll has climbed.
Israel can be going through a South African case within the International Court of Justice, the U.N.’s prime courtroom, accusing Israel of genocide. Israel denies these prices.
The ICC was established in 2002 because the everlasting courtroom of final resort to prosecute people liable for the world’s most heinous atrocities — warfare crimes, crimes in opposition to humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression.
The U.N. General Assembly endorsed the ICC, however the courtroom is unbiased.
Dozens of nations don’t settle for the courtroom’s jurisdiction over warfare crimes, genocide and different crimes. They embody Israel, the United States, Russia and China.
The ICC turns into concerned when nations are unable or unwilling to prosecute crimes on their territory. Israel argues it has a functioning courtroom system.
The ICC accepted “The State of Palestine” as a member in 2015, a 12 months after the Palestinians accepted the courtroom’s jurisdiction.
The courtroom’s chief prosecutor on the time introduced in 2021 that she was opening an investigation into potential crimes on Palestinian territory. Israel typically levies accusations of bias at U.N. and worldwide our bodies, and Netanyahu condemned the choice as hypocritical and antisemitic.
In 2020, then U.S. President Donald Trump approved financial and journey sanctions on the ICC prosecutor and one other senior prosecutor. The ICC employees have been wanting into U.S. and allies’ troops for potential warfare crimes in Afghanistan.
U.S. President Joe Biden, whose administration has supplied essential navy and political assist for the Gaza offensive, lifted the sanctions in 2021.
Last 12 months, the courtroom issued a warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on prices of duty for the abductions of youngsters from Ukraine. Russia responded by issuing its personal arrest warrants for Khan and ICC judges.
Other high-profile leaders charged by the courtroom embody ousted Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir on allegations together with genocide in his nation’s Darfur area. Former Libyan chief Moammar Gadhafi was captured and killed by rebels shortly after the ICC issued a warrant for his arrest on prices linked to the brutal suppression of anti-government protests in 2011.
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Molly Quell in Delft, Netherlands, and Mike Corder in Ede, Netherlands, contributed.
Josef Federman, The Associated Press
