The International Criminal Court (ICC)’s prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan has demanded the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and 3 Hamas leaders accusing them of War Crimes.
“Today I am filing applications for warrants of arrest before Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Situation in the State of Palestine,” said Karim Khan in his statement.
The ICC is an international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. The ICC has the right to warrant and try individuals charged with the gravest of crimes.
The ICC has been in the process of trying the Israel-Hamas conflict leading to several human rights violations. Both Israel and Hamas were accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the October 7 attacks and in the counterattacks thereafter.
The charges of hostage-taking and killing are “likely to stand” against Hamas but not others while all charges against Israeli leaders are “likely to stick”, according to Balakrishnan Rajagopal, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.
On the request by the ICC Prosecutor for warrants: against Hamas, the charges of hostage taking and killing likely to stand but not others. Against Israeli leaders, all charges likely to stick. And missing charges include attacks against various civilian objects including homes!
— UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing (@adequatehousing) May 20, 2024
The decision now stands in front of the judges of the court to decide whether an arrest warrant can be issued or not.
124 countries who have joined the ICC are under legal obligation to enforce the orders of the court. However, the US and Israel aren’t the members of the ICC. The ICC can still give orders for Palestine and the area under its jurisdiction. This is after April 2015, when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed the treaty to join the ICC.
What are the charges in ICC against Israel and Hamas?
From the sides of Hamas, the prosecutor has named Yahya Sinwar (Head of the Islamic Resistance Movement in the Gaza Strip), Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (Commander in chief of the military wing of Hamas) and Ismail Haniyeh (Head of Hamas Political Bureau).
The prosecutor held them accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The charges include taking hostage as a war crime, rape and violence against humanity, outrage of personal dignity as a war crime, etc.
“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 organisational policies. Some of these crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day.”
The prosecution held these members responsible for violence in the Supernova Music Festival and other six major attack locations in total.
We are currently in Israel at the site of the Supernova Sukkot Gathering music festival. This is where the massacre took place, and Hamas terrorists flew over the border, shooting down killing hundreds innocent Israeli people.
This land is now a memorial where people come to pay… pic.twitter.com/6bhzYm91bS
— Rep. Mark Alford (@RepMarkAlford) April 3, 2024
“My Office also submits there are reasonable grounds to believe that hostages taken from Israel have been kept in inhumane conditions and that some have been subject to sexual violence, including rape while being held in captivity. We have reached that conclusion based on medical records, contemporaneous video and documentary evidence, and interviews with victims and survivors.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defence, Yoav Gallant are also held responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The charges against them include starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury, persecution as a crime against humanity, etc.
“The siege also included cutting off cross-border water pipelines from Israel to Gaza – Gazans’ principal source of clean water – for a prolonged period beginning 9 October 2023, and cutting off and hindering electricity supplies from at least 8 October 2023 until today. This took place alongside other attacks on civilians, including those queuing for food; obstruction of aid delivery by humanitarian agencies; and attacks on and killing of aid workers, which forced many agencies to cease or limit their operations in Gaza.”
“Israel, like all States, has a right to take action to defend its population. That right, however, does not absolve Israel or any State of its obligation to comply with international humanitarian law.”
