The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Monday announced he has “formally applied” for arrest warrants for the top political and military leaders of Hamas as well as the Israeli government on “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” charges related to the October 7 attack by Palestinian militants and the brutal assault on the people of Gaza that Israel unleashed in response.
In a world exclusive carried by CNN, the ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan told correspondent Christiana Amanpour that arrest warrants are being sought for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for their role “in the crimes of causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, [and] deliberately targeting civilians in conflict.”
“Nobody is above the law,” said Khan.
Khan and his team also announced the charges formally in a statement as well as a video address.
Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC:
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) May 20, 2024
Based on the evidence collected and examined by my Office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that Benjamin NETANYAHU, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav GALLANT, the Minister of Defence of Israel, bear criminal… pic.twitter.com/0FpcRtv8ED
“Israel, like all States, has a right to take action to defend its population,” said Khan in his statement. “That right, however, does not absolve Israel or any State of its obligation to comply with international humanitarian law. Notwithstanding any military goals they may have, the means Israel chose to achieve them in Gaza — namely, intentionally causing death, starvation, great suffering, and serious injury to body or health of the civilian population — are criminal.”
In Khan’s application, the official “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” alleged — based on “evidence collected and examined” by his office — include:
- Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Statute;
- Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health contrary to article 8(2)(a)(iii), or cruel treatment as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
- Wilful killing contrary to article 8(2)(a)(i), or Murder as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
- Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime contrary to articles 8(2)(b)(i), or 8(2)(e)(i);
- Extermination and/or murder contrary to articles 7(1)(b) and 7(1)(a), including in the context of deaths caused by starvation, as a crime against humanity;
- Persecution as a crime against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(h);
- Other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(k).
“There’s no spinning this one: Israel’s President and Minister of Defense are formally accused at the ICC of ‘exterminating’ Palestinians in the course of a starvation campaign,” said Alonso Gurmendi, a lecturer on international relations at Kings College, London, in response to the announcement.
Beatrice Fihn, former head of the Nobel Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolition Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and an expert on international law, called the development “absolutely massive.”
“The Prime Minister of Israel is a war criminal,” Fihn said on social media, “and the impact of this will be very significant for all western countries that sell weapons to Israel.”
In addition to the Israeli officials, Khan also announced arrest warrant applications for three Palestinian leaders: Yahya Sinwar, head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (“Hamas”) in the Gaza Strip, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (also known as Deif), Commander-in-Chief of the Al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas’ military arm), and Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ Political Bureau based in Doha, Qatar.
Also based on “evidence collected,” Khan’s specific charges against the Hamas officials include:
- Extermination as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(b) of the Rome Statute;
- Murder as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(a), and as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
- Taking hostages as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(iii);
- Rape and other acts of sexual violence as crimes against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(g), and also as war crimes pursuant to article 8(2)(e)(vi) in the context of captivity;
- Torture as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(f), and also as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i), in the context of captivity;
- Other inhumane acts as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(l)(k), in the context of captivity;
- Cruel treatment as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i), in the context of captivity; and
- Outrages upon personal dignity as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(ii), in the context of captivity.
Khan alleged in his statement that Sinwar, Deif, and Haniyeh are each “criminally responsible for the killing of hundreds of Israeli civilians in attacks perpetrated by Hamas (in particular its military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades) and other armed groups on 7 October 2023 and the taking of at least 245 hostages.”
Watch Amanpour’s interview with Khan:
World exclusive: In major breaking news, International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor @KarimKhanQC tells me @IntlCrimCourt is seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others on charges of war crimes and crimes against… pic.twitter.com/WOeWeGmy0o
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) May 20, 2024
Khan emphasized that the charges against both Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the case were based on documented evidence and that the charges simply follow on the mandates set by international law and legal standards that must be administered equally, regardless of the identity of the alleged perpetrator.
“Let us today be clear on one core issue: if we do not demonstrate our willingness to apply the law equally, if it is seen as being applied selectively, we will be creating the conditions for its collapse,” Khan said. “In doing so, we will be loosening the remaining bonds that hold us together, the stabilizing connections between all communities and individuals, the safety net to which all victims look in times of suffering. This is the true risk we face in this moment.”
“Now, more than ever,” he continued, “we must collectively demonstrate that international humanitarian law, the foundational baseline for human conduct during conflict, applies to all individuals and applies equally across the situations addressed by my Office and the Court. This is how we will prove, tangibly, that the lives of all human beings have equal value.”
The application for the warrants by Khan does not mean they have been issued, a determination that will be made by the panel of ICC judges who oversee such decisions for the court.
Heidi Matthews, assistant professor at Harvard Law School with a focus on the law of war, said Monday “will go down in the history of international law” because of what Khan and his team have done.
Citing the Rome Statute, Matthews explained that the Pre-Trial Chamber at the ICC “must now consider the prosecutor’s evidence to assess whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have committed the alleged crimes.”
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy