Karim Khan says the court has the power to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and Hamas officials over the Gaza war.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has called on judges to rule “urgently” on his request for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others linked to the war in Gaza.
Prosecutor Karim Khan said that “any undue delay in these proceedings undermines the rights of victims.”
In May, Khan requested arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders, for alleged crimes committed during Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza.
Khan stressed in court documents released Friday that the ICC has jurisdiction over Israeli nationals who commit atrocities in the occupied Palestinian territory and asked judges to reject legal challenges filed by several governments and other parties.
He rejected Israel’s claims that it would conduct its own investigations into alleged war crimes.
ICC prosecutors said there were reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant, along with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, military chief Mohammed al-Masri and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, bear criminal responsibility for the alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran in July. The court has since declined to comment on reports of his death. Sinwar, the senior Hamas official in Gaza who orchestrated the October 7 attacks, was later named head of the group.
Israel claimed to have killed al-Masri, known as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in southern Gaza in July, but no confirmation has been received from Hamas.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders have rejected the war crimes allegations, and representatives from both sides have criticized Khan’s decision to seek arrest warrants.
Netanyahu called the prosecutor’s charges against him a “disgrace” and an attack on the Israeli military and all of Israel.
Hamas also denounced Khan’s actions, saying the demand for the arrest of its leaders amounted to “victim and executioner.”
Israel is not a member of the court, so even if the arrest warrants are issued, Netanyahu and Gallant face no immediate risk of prosecution. But the threat of arrest could make it difficult for Israeli leaders to travel abroad.
It is not yet clear when judges will rule on Khan’s request for arrest warrants.
The Gaza Health Ministry announced Saturday that at least 40,334 people have been killed and 93,356 wounded in Israel’s war on the enclave. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel in attacks by Hamas on October 7, and more than 200 were captured.
