THE HAGUE, May 20. /TASS/. Karim Khan, a prosecutor with the International Criminal Court (ICC), has requested to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister of Israel Yoav Gallant, the ICC press office said in a statement on Monday.
"Today I am filing applications for warrants of arrest before Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court in the Situation in the State of Palestine," the statement reads quoting Prosecutor Khan as saying.
"On the basis of evidence collected and examined by my Office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav Gallant, the Minister of Defense of Israel, bear criminal responsibility for… war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 8 October 2023," according to the statement.
Among the accusations pressed against the Israeli prime minister and defense minister are "Wilful Killing… or Murder as a war crime," "Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime," "Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare as a war crime," "Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health," and other counts.
"My Office submits that the war crimes alleged in these applications were committed in the context of an international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine, and a non-international armed conflict between Israel and Hamas (together with other Palestinian Armed Groups) running in parallel," the statement cited Khan as saying.
"We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population pursuant to State policy. These crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day," the prosecutor continued.
ICC Prosecutor Khan also asked the Pre-Trial Chamber to issue arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders.
The ICC statement reads that the Prosecutor's Office has "reasonable grounds to believe" that Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, commander of the movement's military wing, and Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh "bear criminal responsibility for <…> war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Israel and the State of Palestine from at least October 7, 2023."
"My Office submits that the war crimes alleged in these applications were committed in the context of an international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine, and a non-international armed conflict between Israel and Hamas running in parallel," the ICC statement reads.
"We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Israel by Hamas and other armed groups pursuant to organizational policies. Some of these crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day," Prosecutor Khan added.
Among the pressed accusations against three Hamas leaders are ‘Extermination as a crime against humanity; Murder as a crime against humanity; Taking hostages as a war crime; Rape and other acts of sexual violence as crimes against humanity; Torture as a crime against humanity’ and other counts.
"My Office submits there are reasonable grounds to believe that Sinwar, Deif and Haniyeh are criminally responsible for the killing of hundreds of Israeli civilians in attacks perpetrated by Hamas (in particular its military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades) and other armed groups on 7 October 2023 and the taking of at least 245 hostages," the ICC prosecutor stated.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly.
Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.
In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, up to 35,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 77,600 injured since tensions escalated on October 7, 2023.