ICC Chief Requests Arrest Warrants For Netanyahu, Hamas Leaders

Karim Khan wrote in a statement on Monday that there is "reason to believe" that the man is being held responsible for "war crimes and crimes against humanity" in Gaza and Israel.

Prosecutors worked with Netanyahu to arrest Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant. The wanted Hamas leaders, including the head of the Palestinian armed group Yahya Sinwar, the head of the military wing of the Qassam Brigades Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, and the head of the political office of Hamas, Ibrahim al-Masri, read a statement by prosecutor Smail Hania.

Khan said that Netanyahu and Galante are accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, such as deliberate attacks on civilians, killing and endangering life, using hunger as a means of war, "extermination and/or murder" and so on. "evil act".

Prosecutors said the wanted Hamas leader was responsible for murder, rape and other acts of violence, hostage-taking, torture and other "criminal acts." Karim Khan said the Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister and Hamas leaders were accused of war crimes.

On October 7, Hamas forces attacked Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and injuring 250. The Israeli government responded to the attack by launching a massive military operation in Gaza that continues. 35,456 people died and 79,476 were injured, according to the Palestinian regional health department.

Israel is not a member of the ICC and does not recognize the jurisdiction of the UN court, but the government of Palestine joined the organization in 2015. All countries are obliged to arrest them if they go over their limits. Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's three-member war cabinet, said Khan's decision to request arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galante was a "historical crime." In a statement, they said that comparing its senior officials to Hamas leaders was "a distortion of justice and moral bankruptcy".

The country's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, "Never since the Nazis have we seen the hypocrisy and hatred of the Jews that occurred in the Hague trials." National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a right-wing cabinet member, urged Israel's prime minister and defense minister to "ignore civilian prosecutors and order the fight hard against Hamas until it is gone."

In April, when news broke of Netanyahu's arrest, the prime minister accused the ICC of "depriving Israel of its ability to defend itself" during the shooting. "anti-Israel fires."

Axios reported earlier this month that a group of Republican lawmakers in the US House of Representatives sought to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court to prevent the court to try the leaders of Israel. The United States, Israel's main ally, is not a party to the Rome Statute, which created the ICC in 2002.