After months of gathering evidence, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, has requested arrest warrants for senior Israeli and Hamas leaders.
Khan issued a statement on Monday explaining that he had “reasonable grounds” to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are guilty of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip since the start of Israel’s war against Gaza. during which he killed more than 35,000 Palestinians.
Both are accused of using starvation as a method of warfare against Palestinians in Gaza, as well as “intentionally directing attacks” against civilians and overseeing the “extermination and/or murder” of Palestinians in Gaza.
Khan also accused senior Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohamed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri (also known as Mohamed Deif) and Ismail Haniyeh of overseeing crimes against Israeli communities on October 7, when 1,139 people were killed. were killed and 250 captured in southern Israel.
They may be charged with crimes such as “murder and extermination,” “hostage-taking,” and supervision of torture and other inhumane acts.
The announcement that Khan is targeting Netanyahu and Gallant is perhaps the most significant, given that it will be the first time a chief ICC prosecutor has attempted to indict the leaders of a U.S. ally.
This is everything you need to know about Khan’s announcement:
Will the ICC grant Khan’s request?
Over the coming months, a panel of judges from the ICC’s pre-trial chamber will review Khan’s arrest warrant request.
Alonso Gurmendi, an international law specialist at King’s College London, told Tel Aviv Tribune that requests had been refused in the past, although this was rare. He hopes the indictments of Israeli and Hamas leaders will be approved.
Gurmendi explained that the pre-trial chamber must establish that there are “reasonable grounds” that the persons in question committed a crime falling within the jurisdiction of the ICC.
The ICC gained jurisdiction over all crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territory in 2015.
“(What is happening in Gaza) is such a visible act of criminality. What is described (by Khan) is what we see. … I just don’t see any difference between the conduct of the accused and the warrant itself,” Gurmendi told Tel Aviv Tribune.
He added that there are fears that Israel’s allies will try to pressure judges to refuse the arrest warrants issued by Khan against Israeli leaders.
Balkees Jarrah, associate director of the international justice program for Human Rights Watch, shares a similar concern.
“ICC member countries should be prepared to resolutely protect the independence of the ICC, as hostile pressures are likely to increase while ICC judges consider Khan’s request,” she said in a statement. sent to Tel Aviv Tribune.
How did Hamas and Israel react?
Hamas leaders asked Khan to rescind his requests for an arrest warrant against its leaders. In a statement, the group said the attorney general was equating “the victim with the executioner.”
Israeli politicians, including Netanyahu, have also rejected these demands. “I reject with disgust the comparison made by the Hague prosecutor between democratic Israel and the mass murderers of Hamas,” the prime minister said.
Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz and far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir also attacked Khan, with Smotrich and Ben-Gvir accusing Khan of anti-Semitism. However, Gurmendi said the accusation rings hollow.
“A very important thing that the ICC did was submit these arrest warrants against Israel and the Hamas leaders. This prevents the logical accusation that Khan or the ICC are anti-Semitic and pro-Hamas. This clearly refutes this hypothesis,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune.
The United States supported Israel in rejecting requests for an arrest warrant while South Africa, which is pursuing a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over its actions in Gaza, supported the Khan’s decision.
What will be the consequences of Khan’s decision?
Any arrest warrant could have real and symbolic consequences for the defendants, including possible arrest if they travel to ICC member countries. However, neither Hamas nor Israeli leaders will face trial unless detained by the court, and the ICC does not have a force under its authority with the power to arrest anyone.
Sinwar and Deif are hiding in Gaza while Haniyeh is in Qatar, which is not a member of the ICC.
Israel has so far ignored international legal rulings.
In 2004, an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, which is a United Nations agency, ruled that Israel’s separation wall was illegal. Two decades later, Israel has failed to comply with ICJ interim measures issued in January, which ordered increased aid to civilians in Gaza.
Regardless of Israel’s reaction if arrest warrants are issued, Gallant and Netanyahu will not be able to travel as widely outside Israel.
As prime minister, Netanyahu does not risk arrest if he visits the United States, which is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC.
Some observers fear that ICC members allied with Israel, such as Germany and the United Kingdom, may also be unable to arrest a visiting Netanyahu or Gallant, violating their obligations under the Rome Statute.
“This is a decisive moment. This is the definitive trial by fire for the international criminal justice project,” Gurmendi said. “To what level of hypocrisy are Western states willing to sink to enable what Israel is doing in Gaza?
“The West really has to choose. Is international criminal justice something she wants to defend or is it all about realpolitik?