On Monday, the ICC declared the intention to file warrants against the Israeli and Hamas leaders on account of the current situation in Gaza.
In a statement published on the International Criminal Court's website and social media, prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan announced the institution has opened procedures to apply for arrest warrants against the top figures involved in the Gaza conflict, due to various war crimes and crimes against humanity.
ICC Statement
In his declaration, Khan states "Yahya Sinwar (Head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (“Hamas”) in the Gaza Strip), Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, more commonly known as DEIF (Commander-in-Chief of the military wing of Hamas, known as the Al-Qassam Brigades), and Ismail Haniyeh (Head of Hamas Political Bureau) bear criminal responsibility" for a series of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Israel and the State of Palestine from at least 7 October 2023.
Those crimes include, among others, extermination, murder, hostage taking and sexual violence.
On the Israel side, Khan named Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav Gallant, the Minister of Defence of Israel for "war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 8 October 2023".
Some of the charges include intentional attacks against civilians, extermination, persecution, starvation, cruel treatment and other inhumane acts.
This is a developing story and will be updated as new details emerge.
