Extermination, murder and persecution. These are the reasons for the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to request an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister. He says they bear criminal responsibility for alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza. The Prosecutor is clear. Now it will be the judges who make the final decision. When it arrives it can have very relevant consequences.

Could Netanyahu leave Israel without being arrested?

At the moment it is only a request from the chief prosecutor, there is still no firm sentence against the two Israelis. It is the judges of the court in The Hague who will decide whether to issue that order against the PM and his Minister of Defense. The investigation by the International Criminal Court includes a multitude of evidence since October 7, 2023.

If they do, then they will both be in danger of being arrested if they set foot in any of the 124 countries that recognize the International Criminal Court. Because they will be obliged to arrest them and hand them over.

Against whom has the order been requested?

The request does not only include Netanyahu and Gallant. Also to three Hamas leaders: Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyya.

What are they accused of?

The charges against Hamas include extermination, murder, hostage taking, rape and torture. In the case of the Israeli prime minister and his defense minister, they are accused of starving civilians as a weapon of war, directing intentional attacks against the population, and persecution.

How have they reacted?

Netanyahu does not understand how it can be compare Hamas monsters to the most moral army in the world. He calls it new anti-Semitism. The Israeli Finance Minister has compared the petition to Nazi propaganda. For Hamas, the prosecutor is comparing the victim to the executioner. The president of the United States has also spoken out. He says the order against Israel is shameful.

Who has requested the arrest?

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, after a long investigation in which they have compiled interviews with survivors and witnesses, videos, photographs and audios of everything that happened in Gaza since October 7. The Rome Statute is the founding treaty of the ICCsubscribed by 124 countries, but not by Israel.