The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has applied for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes in Gaza.
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday applied for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes in Gaza.
Karim Khan said he was seeking warrants against the top Israeli officials over “starvation”, “wilful killing”, and “extermination and/or murder” in relation to Israel’s ongoing war in the besieged enclave, which has killed over 34,500 people since 7 October – most of whom were women and children.
“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,” said Khan in reference to Netanyahu and Gallant.
The ICC was also seeking arrest warrants against Hamas leaders including Yahya Sinwar, the head of the movement in Gaza, and Ismail Haniyeh, the movement’s political chief, including “extermination”, “rape and other acts of sexual violence”, and “taking hostages as a war crime”.
“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,” said the ICC statement.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Wasel Abu Youssef said ICC’s prosecutor’s office requesting arrest warrants for Hamas leaders was a “confusion between the victim and the executioner”.
“The ICC is required to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials who continue committing genocide crimes in the Gaza Strip,” he added.
Since October 7, Israel has killed at least 35,456 people in Gaza, including more than 15,000 children.
Unlike the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the ICC operates independently of the United Nations system. Also based in The Hague, the ICC prosecutes individuals for serious crimes under the Rome Statute, distinguishing it as a criminal tribunal, whereas the ICJ functions as a civil tribunal.
Israel, like Russia and the United States, is not a member of the ICC.
The ICC has jurisdiction over Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank since Palestinian leaders accepted the court’s founding principles in 2015.
The ICC’s announcement on Monday is unrelated to the ongoing case at the ICJ, where South Africa has accused Israel of violating the Genocide Convention during its war in Gaza.
The ICJ—the highest UN legal body—began hearing the case in January and subsequently issued several provisional measures, which Israel has largely disregarded.
In May, the ICJ considered South Africa’s request for additional emergency measures regarding Israel’s actions in Rafah, a southern Gaza city that has become a refuge for over a million displaced Palestinians due to the ongoing genocide.
Both Israel and South Africa are signatories of the United Nations Genocide Convention, granting the ICJ jurisdiction to adjudicate disputes arising from the treaty.
Signatory states are obligated to prevent and punish acts of genocide, defined as actions intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
