International Criminal Court Strikes Massive Blow: Arrest Warrants Requested for Israeli and Hamas Leaders
The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague has requested five arrest warrants for Netanyahu, one of his ministers, as well as Hamas chief Sinwar and two other leaders
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jewish State Defense Minister Yoav Gallant deserve to be arrested and tried. This opinion was expressed by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Karim Ahmad Khan (pictured), who said that he had gathered evidence showing war crimes and crimes against humanity. The prosecutor decided to put the Netanyahu-Gallant tandem in the fine company of the Hamas trio of leaders: three more arrest warrants were requested simultaneously for the same criminal responsibility, for the head of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, the commander-in-chief of Hamas’s military wing known as the Al-Qassam Brigades, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (known as Deif), and the head of Hamas’s political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh.
“Based on the evidence collected and examined by my office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are criminally responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the territory of the State of Palestine and particularly in the Gaza Strip since at least October 8, 2023,” Karim Ahmad Khan told the Pre-Trial Chamber. Netanyahu and Gallant are charged with crimes such as “willful extermination of starving civilians,” “willful murder,” and “extermination and/or murder.”
The charges against Hamas leaders include “extermination,” “rape and other forms of sexual violence,” and “hostage-taking as a war crime.”
International arrest warrants may be issued at the request of the prosecutor. The request is then considered by the three judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber. The Chief Prosecutor may request an arrest warrant if, in the course of an ongoing investigation, there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that international crimes prohibited by the Statute of the Court have been committed. The Hague court is not recognized by the USA, China, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, and many other countries around the world, which have called the international body “a tool of political pressure.”
Israeli Military Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz called the request for arrest warrants for the country’s prime minister and defense minister “a crime of historic proportions.”
“The parallel between the leaders of a democratic country determined to protect itself from despicable terror and members of a bloodthirsty terrorist organization (Hamas – ed.) is a profound distortion of justice and a clear moral failing,” Gantz said.