ICC Prosecutor Khan on application for arrest warrants in the situation in the State of Palestine
The charges are related to the October 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, which Khan alleges constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The charges against Sinwar, Haniyeh, and al-Masri include “extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape and sexual assault in detention”, while the charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include “causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict,” said Khan in his statement.
The ICC’s decision to target Netanyahu marks the first time the court has sought an arrest warrant for the top leader of a close US ally, placing him in the same category as Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is also facing an ICC arrest warrant over the war in Ukraine.
A panel of ICC judges will now consider Khan’s application for the arrest warrants.
When reports of the potential ICC action surfaced last month, Netanyahu called it “an outrage of historic proportions” and asserted that Israel has an independent legal system that thoroughly investigates all violations of the law. In response to Netanyahu’s comments, Khan stated, “Nobody is above the law,” and advised Israel to raise a challenge before the court’s judges if they disagree with the ICC’s jurisdiction.
Although Israel and the United States are not members of the ICC, the court claims jurisdiction over Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank after Palestinian leaders formally agreed to be bound by the court’s founding principles in 2015.
Detailed charges against Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh:
- 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.
Detailed charges against Netanyahu, Gallant:
- 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).