The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has requested arrest warrants for senior Israeli and Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said Monday that his office had requested arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders for alleged crimes committed during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Hamas. Israel and the Israeli war against Gaza that followed.
Khan announced that his office had “reasonable grounds” to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for “war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Khan also requested arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders – Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri (also known as Deif) – for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Here are some reactions to the announcement:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Netanyahu said the ICC decision was a disgrace and an attack on Israel.
“I reject with disgust the comparison made by the Hague prosecutor between democratic Israel and the mass murderers of Hamas,” Netanyahu said.
“How boldly do you compare Hamas, which murdered, burned, massacred, beheaded, raped and kidnapped our brothers and sisters, and the soldiers (of the Israeli army) waging a just war?
Israeli President Isaac Herzog
Herzog said that “any attempt to draw parallels between these atrocious terrorists and a democratically elected Israeli government – striving to fulfill its duty to defend and protect its citizens in full respect of the principles of international law – is outrageous and cannot be accepted by anyone. “.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich
Smotrich compared the ICC prosecutor’s announcement regarding the request for arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials to Nazi propaganda.
“We have not seen such a display of hypocrisy and hatred of Jews as that of the Hague Tribunal since the Nazi propaganda,” Smotrich said on X.
Hamas
Hamas denounced the decision of the ICC prosecutor to request arrest warrants against its leaders, accusing Karim Khan of trying to “equate the victim with the executioner”.
The group said it demanded the request be rescinded, adding that Khan’s request for an arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Gallant came “seven months too late.”
The government media office in Gaza welcomed the ICC’s decision to seek arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, and also denounced the decision to seek arrest warrants against Hamas leaders.
“We appreciate the decision of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for two Zionist war criminals,” a statement from the office begins.
“We consider the publication of these memorandums as a legal step in the right direction, even if they arrived late,” he continues.
The office also said it “deplores the fact that this measure was accompanied by the taking of similar decisions against some of the leaders of our people,” referring to requests for arrest warrants against several Hamas officials.
Wasel Abu Yousef, member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
Yousef said the Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves.
“The ICC is required to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials who are pursuing crimes of genocide in the Gaza Strip,” he said.
Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative
Barghouti said the ICC’s approach affirms “that no one is safe from international law.”
“We consider this to be the first step towards condemning the crimes of genocide committed by the leaders and army of Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza and holding them accountable for committing these crimes in accordance with the international law and international humanitarian law,” Barghouti said. A declaration.
US President Joe Biden
In a statement, Biden called the request for an arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Gallant “scandalous.”
“Let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor may imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas,” he said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
Blinken said in a statement that the United States rejects the ICC prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants against Israeli officials and Hamas.
He reiterated President Biden’s position and said: “We reject the prosecutor’s equivalence between Israel and Hamas. »
France
France said it had long warned of the consequences of violating international humanitarian law, particularly regarding the “unacceptable” number of civilians killed in Gaza, as well as “insufficient humanitarian access.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it supported the ICC, “its independence and the fight against impunity in all situations”.
But the statement does not explicitly say that France supports Khan in his demand for arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders.
The statement added that France supports a “lasting political solution in the region”, believing that this is the only way to “end the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians”.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
The British prime minister’s spokesperson said the ICC decision “is not helpful in achieving a pause in fighting, the release of hostages or the arrival of humanitarian aid.”
“The United Kingdom, like other countries, does not yet recognize Palestine as a state and Israel is not a state party to the Rome Statute,” which defines the areas of jurisdiction of the ICC, added the spokesperson.
UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories
Francesca Albanese said she understood that for the people of war-torn Gaza, the ICC prosecutor’s decision may seem too little, too late.
But “for me it’s a historic day,” Albanese told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“It is no small matter that the ICC prosecutor (is seeking) arrest warrants against two Israeli leaders and it is not just for war crimes… it is for crimes that were committed intentionally and willfully – the policy of all states that has driven this campaign against the people of Gaza is being called into question,” she said.
“Without condoning or justifying the crimes committed by Hamas, these crimes should have been investigated and prosecuted. This should not have given Israel the opportunity to start a war that turned into a genocidal war against the entire Palestinian population.
“Palestine was a litmus test for the credibility of the Court and of this prosecutor in particular. And after October 7, after October 8, he was forced to act,” she added.
Hadja Lahbib, Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Lahbib said any crimes committed in Gaza must be prosecuted at the highest level.
“The request by the Court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, to obtain arrest warrants against both Hamas and Israeli officials is an important step in the investigation into the situation in Palestine,” he said. -she writes about X.
“Belgium will continue to support the essential work of international justice to ensure that those responsible for all crimes are held accountable,” added the minister.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer
Chancellor Nehammer said Austria fully respected the independence of the ICC, but said the decision to simultaneously seek arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas officials was “incomprehensible.”
“The fact that the leader of the terrorist organization Hamas, whose stated goal is the extinction of the State of Israel, is mentioned at the same time as the democratically elected representatives of that State is incomprehensible,” he said. -he declares.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala
“The ICC Attorney General’s proposal to issue an arrest warrant against representatives of a democratically elected government as well as leaders of an Islamist terrorist organization is appalling and completely unacceptable,” Fiala said.
“We must not forget that it was Hamas that attacked Israel in October and killed, injured and kidnapped thousands of innocent people. It was this completely unprovoked terrorist attack that led to the current war in Gaza and the suffering of civilians in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon.
Palestinian rights groups
Rights organizations Al-Haq, Al Mezan and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said Khan’s decision was “a crucial step” toward ending impunity in Israel’s war on Gaza.
In a statement, the three groups said the ICC’s announcement followed “relentless efforts by Palestinian and international civil society organizations demanding the issuance of arrest warrants” against members of Israel’s war cabinet.
“While we welcome accusations of crimes against humanity, there is also a public catalog of declarations of genocidal intent aimed at destroying Palestinians in Gaza, including through the intentional withholding of aid,” they said.
“For these reasons, genocide as an additional crime should be included in an amendment to the charges. »
Israeli rights group
B’Tselem, a leading Israeli human rights group, said: “The era of impunity for Israeli decision-makers is over.
“The international community is signaling to Israel that it can no longer continue its policy of violence, murder and destruction without accountability. Likewise, the request for arrest warrants against Hamas leaders for the crimes of October 7 is important and draws a red line regarding the harm caused to civilians,” he said in a statement.
“The intervention of the ICC and the decisions of the ICJ are a chance for us Israelis to realize what we should have understood a long time ago: that the maintenance of a regime of supremacy, violence and oppression necessarily implies crimes and serious human rights violations. »
UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing
Balakrishnan Rajagopal welcomed requests for Khan’s arrest warrant and said he believed the accusations against Israeli leaders were “likely to endure.”
“On the ICC prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants: against Hamas, the hostage-taking and murder charges are likely to be upheld but not the others,” Rajagopal posted on X.
“Against the Israeli leaders, all the accusations are likely to persist. And missing charges include attacks on various civilian properties, including homes! »
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
The international rights organization welcomed the ICC’s decision.
“Victims of serious abuses in Israel and Palestine have faced a wall of impunity for decades. This first principled step by the prosecutor opens the door for those responsible for the atrocities committed in recent months to answer for their actions in a fair trial,” HRW said.
“ICC member countries should be prepared to resolutely protect the ICC’s independence, as hostile pressure is likely to intensify while ICC judges consider (Prosecutor Karim) Khan’s request.”
