The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC)Karim Khan, has requested this Monday from the court to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuthe Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, and several senior officials of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the wake of the October 7 attacks by the Islamist group and Israel’s subsequent war in the Gaza Strip.

Karim Khan has stated in a statement that the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant derive from the “reasonable grounds” to believe that “they have criminal responsibility” for war crimes and crimes against humanity “committed in the territory of the State of Palestine, in the Gaza Strip, at least since October 8.”

Likewise, he has detailed that the arrest warrants also affect the head of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar; andThe head of the group’s military wing, Mohamed Diab al Masri, known as ‘Abú Deif’; and the head of the political arm of the formation, Ismail Haniye, for “criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Israel and the State of Palestine” since October 7, which includes “the murder of hundreds of Israeli civilians” in attacks carried out by Hamas and other armed groups, as well as “the taking of at least 245 hostages.”

Likewise, the prosecutor requests two arrest warrants against Israeli rulers, Netanyahu and Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed “in the territory of the State of Palestine (Gaza Strip) since at least October 8, 2023,” it is That is, the day after Hamas attacked Israel and date of the beginning of the current Israeli war in Gaza.

“Intentional murder” of civilians

Among the crimes for which both Israeli officials are held responsible is the use of hunger as “method of war” against civilians and the “aintentional murder.”My office maintains that the evidence we have collected, including interviews with survivors and witnesses, authenticated video, photo and audio material, satellite images and statements from the group of alleged perpetrators, show that Israel has intentionally and systematically private to the civilian population in all parts of Gaza with items essential for human survival,” Khan argued.

Furthermore, he stressed that the requests presented this Monday to the judges are “result of an independent and impartial investigation” From his office. “Guided by our obligation to investigate incriminating and exculpatory evidence alike, my office has worked meticulously to separate factual claims and present sober, evidence-based conclusions to the Pre-Trial Chamber,” she explained.

The ICC prosecutor, based in The Hague (Netherlands), has been investigating since 2021 allegations of war crimes allegedly committed since 2014 by the Israeli Army and all Palestinian militias in the occupied Palestinian territories, which includes the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent Israeli war in Gaza.

This Court has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression. It has 124 members, among which is not Israel, which does not recognize the investigation into the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. Faced with fears that Karim Khan will issue arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials, US House of Representatives Mike Johnson in recent weeks described these alleged arrest warrants as “shameful” and “illegal.”

Israel called them an “anti-Semitic hate crime” and “an abuse,” and Republican lawmakers are working on legislative retaliation against the ICC.