The Hague is treading heavily in the investigation into the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and the terrorist attacks of October 7. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, yesterday requested the judges to issue arrest warrants against the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, as well as against the head of the Islamic terrorist organization, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The White House described the Prosecutor’s Office’s decision as “scandalous” and attacked its “implications” of “equivalence” between Israel and Hamas. If he accedes to the request, the international position of the Hebrew State would be seriously damaged in order to continue the military offensive and obtain weapons. Although Israel does not recognize the authority of the court, the 123 countries that do recognize it would be obliged to arrest their leader if he were to travel to their territory.
The outcome of these requests, now in the hands of the pre-trial chamber, will determine the future of international justice, says prosecutor Khan. The Prosecutor’s Office, which has been investigating the situation in Gaza since 2021, says it has evidence and “reasonable grounds” to think that Netanyahu and Gallant have “criminal responsibility” for “war crimes and crimes against humanity” committed in the Palestinian territory since 8 of October for events that include “deliberate starvation among civilians as a method of war”, “intentional homicides” and “deliberate attacks against the civilian population”.
These crimes are part of “a plan” and have been committed “in continuation of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population” and, in some cases, “are still being committed”, says the prosecutor before recalling the dramatic humanitarian situation in the strip and his repeated calls to allow aid to arrive. The evidence analyzed includes interviews with victims, direct witnesses, audiovisual documents, satellite images and statements from members of groups that have committed the crimes.
The tone of the statement is serious. Khan – who consulted his team’s conclusions with a stellar panel of international lawyers, who endorsed them “unanimously” – is well aware of the weight of his decision. He reiterates that the Prosecutor’s Office “acts within its mandate under the Rome Statute” and that its work has been guided by “the obligation to investigate equally the incriminating and exculpatory evidence” and the desire to “separate the ·legations of the facts”.
“International law and the laws of armed conflict apply to everyone in the same way. No ordinary soldier, no commander, no civilian leader, no one can act with impunity,” he says. And, despite the fact that Israel has the right to defend its population, “this does not absolve it of its obligations under international humanitarian law and the “chosen means” to achieve the military objectives “are criminal”.
In the same statement, the Prosecutor’s Office announced that it has also requested international arrest warrants against Yahya Sinwar, the military leader of Hamas in Gaza; Muhammad Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, commander-in-chief of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of the organization, and Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political office of Hamas, to whom he attributes “criminal responsibility” for several “crimes of war and against humanity” committed in the territory of Israel and the State of Palestine since October 7, 2023, the date of the brutal attack that cost the lives of 1,200 citizens of the Jewish State and the seizure of about 245 hostages. The request for arrest warrants is based on facts that include the killing of hundreds of civilians, kidnappings, rapes and other forms of sexual violence and torture.
“During my visit to the villages of Beeri and Kfar Aza and the site of the Supernova music festival, I was able to see the devastation caused by these attacks and the deep repercussions of these unthinkable crimes,” Khan said in the statement, published in English, French , Arabic and Hebrew, in which the prosecutor claims in emotional terms that “these cruel and inhuman acts cannot go unpunished”.
Yesterday, the Prosecutor’s Office launched a profound allegation in defense of international justice. “If our application of the law is perceived as selective, we will have contributed to its collapse. It is the real risk we face at this crucial moment”, advises Khan, who calls to demonstrate “collectively” that the international humanitarian law “applies impartially to all parties to an armed conflict in all situations submitted to my Prosecutor’s Office and the Court. This way we will be able to show that all human lives are worth the same”.