According to an exclusive interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Monday, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court(ICC), Karim Khan, stated that arrest warrants are being sought for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the October 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent conflict in Gaza.
According to Khan, the International Criminal Court is additionally pursuing arrest warrants for Yoav Gallant, the Defence Minister of Israel, and Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the commander of the Al Qassem Brigades and better known as Mohammed Deif.
Khan told Amanpour, “The world was shocked on the 7th of October when people were ripped from their bedrooms, from their homes, from the different kibbutzim in Israel.” He further stated that people have endured tremendous suffering.
Khan informed Amanpour that Netanyahu and Gallant are accused of “causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict.”
The ICC’s indictment of the Israeli politicians signifies an unprecedented development in that it targets the highest-ranking official of a close ally of the United States. The decision aligns Netanyahu with Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom an arrest warrant was issued by the International Criminal Court in relation to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
At this time, a panel of ICC judges will evaluate Khan’s request for arrest warrants. Khan stated that Sinwar, Haniyeh, and al-Masri are accused of “extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape, and sexual assault while in detention.”
When the earlier reports of this course of action had first come to light, Israeli PM Netanyahu said it would be an outrage of historic proportions. Israel and USA are not a part of the ICC however, Palestinian leaders had formally agreed to be bound by its rules in 2015.
-Namit Pandey