International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan said Monday that he was filing applications for arrest warrants at the ICC for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, in addition to three leaders of Hamas. The Hamas leaders listed by Khan are the group’s overall political leader Ismail Haniyeh, its military commander in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar and the overall leader of the group’s military wing, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri.
The applications will be reviewed by ICC judges, who will determine whether the standard for the issuance of arrest warrants has been met.
“Today we once again underline that international law and the laws of armed conflict apply to all,” Khan said in a statement. “No foot soldier, no commander, no civilian leader — no one — can act with impunity. Nothing can justify wilfully depriving human beings, including so many women and children, the basic necessities required for life. Nothing can justify the taking of hostages or the targeting of civilians.”
The warrants come after a months-long investigation into both Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel and Israel’s military response in the Gaza Strip. Hamas, long designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and Israel, has ruled over Gaza for almost two decades.
Hamas killed about 1,200 people in its unprecedented assault and kidnapped roughly 240 others, about 100 of whom are still believed to be alive and held hostage inside Gaza. Health officials in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory say Israel’s aerial and ground operation in Gaza since Oct. 7 has killed more than 35,000 people, most of them women and children.
Netanyahu has acknowledged a death toll in Gaza of 30,000 people, but says about half of those killed have been militants.
