ICC seeks arrest warrants for Hamas, Israeli leaders including Netanyahu

The International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for the leaders of Hamas and Israel — including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — for war crimes and crimes against humanity, CNN is reporting.

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The ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement released Monday that in addition to Netanyahu, the organization would be seeking warrants for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The ICC is also hoping to be granted warrants for Hamas leaders Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the leader of the Al Qassem Brigades and better known as Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political leader, according to CNN.

Hamas denounces call for warrants

Update 9:31 a.m. EDT May 20: The Hamas militant group has condemned the ICC prosecutor’s request to seek the arrests of its leaders, the AP is reporting.

In a statement, Hamas accused the prosecutor of trying to “equate the victim with the executioner.” It said it has the right to resist Israeli occupation, including “armed resistance.”

It also criticized the court for seeking the arrests of only two Israeli leaders and said it should seek warrants for other Israeli leaders, according to AP.

Israeli foreign minister: Warrants are ‘historic disgrace’

Update 8:46 a.m. EDT May 20: Israel’s foreign minister says the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court’s decision to seek arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is “a historic disgrace that will be remembered forever,” The Associated Press reported.

Israel Katz said Monday he would form a special committee to fight back against any such action and would work with world leaders to ensure that any such warrants are not enforced.

The charges against Hamas leaders stem from the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and include the charges of include “extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape and sexual assault in detention.”

The full list of charges against Hamas leaders include:

• Extermination as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(b) of the Rome Statute;
• Murder as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(a), and as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
• Taking hostages as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(iii);
• Rape and other acts of sexual violence as crimes against humanity, contrary to Article 7(1)(g), and also as war crimes pursuant to Article 8(2)(e)(vi) in the context of captivity;
• Torture as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(f), and also as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i), in the context of captivity;
• Other inhumane acts as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(l)(k), in the context of captivity;
• Cruel treatment as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i), in the context of captivity; and
• Outrages upon personal dignity as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(ii), in the context of captivity.

Khan called the acts by Hamas on Oct. 7 “calculated cruelty.”

“It is the view of my Office that these individuals planned and instigated the commission of crimes on 7 October 2023, and have through their own actions, including personal visits to hostages shortly after their kidnapping, acknowledged their responsibility for those crimes. We submit that these crimes could not have been committed without their actions. They are charged both as co-perpetrators and as superiors pursuant to Articles 25 and 28 of the Rome Statute.

“During my own visit to Kibbutz Be’eri and Kibbutz Kfar Aza, as well as to the site of Supernova Music Festival in Re’im, I saw the devastating scenes of these attacks and the profound impact of the unconscionable crimes charged in the applications filed today,” Khan went on to say.

“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.”

Israeli leaders would face charges concerning operations in Gaza, Khan told CNN in an exclusive interview Monday.

Those charges include:

• Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Statute;
• Willfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health contrary to article 8(2)(a)(iii), or cruel treatment as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
• Willful killing contrary to article 8(2)(a)(i), or murder as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
• Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime contrary to articles 8(2)(b)(i), or 8(2)(e)(i);
• Extermination and/or murder contrary to articles 7(1)(b) and 7(1)(a), including in the context of deaths caused by starvation, as a crime against humanity;
• Persecution as a crime against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(h);
• Other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(k).

“Famine is present in some areas of Gaza and is imminent in other areas. As UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned more than two months ago, ‘1.1 million people in Gaza are facing catastrophic hunger – the highest number of people ever recorded – anywhere, anytime’ as a result of an ‘entirely manmade disaster’. Today, my Office seeks to charge two of those most responsible, NETANYAHU and GALLANT, both as co-perpetrators and as superiors pursuant to Articles 25 and 28 of the Rome Statute,” Khan said of his request for the arrest warrants.

The Rome Statute established the court, governs its charging of crimes and sets out the crimes falling within its jurisdiction. The countries that have accepted these rules are known as State Parties.

Neither the United States nor Israel is an ICC State Party.

The request for warrants will go before a panel of ICC judges.

Check back for more on this developing story.

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