THE International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking an arrest warrant for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of war crimes.
The ICC has also said it is seeking a warrant for the arrest of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as well as Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant and two other key Hamas figures – Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri and Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
It means that Netanyahu has been put in the company of Vladimir Putin (below), for who the ICC issued an arrest warrant over the war on Ukraine.
A panel of ICC judges will now consider court chief prosecutor Karim Khan’s application for the arrest warrants.
The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include “causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict", Khan said.
When reports surfaced that the ICC was considering this, Netanyahu said any warrants against senior Israeli figures “would be an outrage of historic proportions,” and that Israel “has an independent legal system that rigorously investigates all violations of the law”.
Khan has said the charges against Sinwar, Haniyeh and al-Masri include “extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape and sexual assault in detention”.
“The world was shocked on October 7 when people were ripped from their bedrooms, from their homes, from the different kibbutzim in Israel," Khan said, adding that “people have suffered enormously”.
The news on the warrants come after Amal Clooney, wife of Hollywood actor George, announced the conclusions of the Panel of Experts in International Law, which had been convened by Khan to support his investigation into the “situation in the state of Palestine”.
The panel’s unanimously endorsed that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that individuals named in the arrest warrants have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity within the court’s jurisdiction.
In a piece for the Financial Times, the group explained it had “carefully examined each of the applications for arrest warrants”.
The article said: "It is important to understand that the charges have nothing to do with the reasons for the conflict.
"The charges concern waging war in a manner that violates the long-established rules of international law that apply to armed groups and the armed forces in every state in the world. And, of course, the warrant applications announced today are just the first step.
"We hope that the prosecutor will continue to conduct focused investigations including in relation to the extensive harm suffered by civilians as a result of the bombing campaign in Gaza and evidence of sexual violence committed against Israelis on October 7."
Israel's response
Following the news, Israel's foreign minister has announced a special command centre will be established in the wake of the announcement from the ICC.
Israel Katz says the group will be set up to fight against the ICC's decision, which he says is intended to tie the hands of Israel and deny it the right to self-defence.
He called the move an "unrestrained frontal assault" on the victims of the October 7 attacks and a "historical disgrace that will be remembered forever".
Katz also said he plans to speak to his counterparts around the world to ensure they oppose the prosecutor's decision.
