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The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, has requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and three leaders of the Palestinian Hamas movement.
< p>This is stated in a document published on the website of the International Criminal Court.
Netanyahu, Galant and the leaders of Hamas are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Khan said that Based on the evidence collected, he has reason to believe that Netanyahu and Galant are criminally responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip since at least October 8, 2023.
The charges against them:
The charges against them:
- War crimes: starvation of civilians as a method of warfare; intentionally causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health or cruel treatment; premeditated murder or murder; deliberate attacks against civilians;
- Crimes against humanity: extermination (genocide) and/or murder, including in the context of deaths caused by famine; the pursuit; other inhumane acts.
— We allege that the alleged crimes against humanity were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against Palestinian civilians in accordance with State policy. These crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day— stated the prosecutor.
According to him, the evidence collected is based on interviews with survivors, satellite images, video, photo and audio materials. Khan said Israel was “deliberately and systematically” deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of facilities necessary for human survival.
As for Hamas leaders, Khan requested arrest warrants for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Hamas military wing commander Mohammed Deif, and terrorist politburo chairman Ismail Ghaniya.< /p>
The charges they face:
- Crimes against humanity: extermination (genocide); murder as a crime against humanity contrary to the Rome Statute; hostage taking; rape and other acts of sexual violence; torture; other inhumane acts.
- War crimes: ill-treatment (in the context of captivity); attack on personal dignity (in the context of captivity).
The ICC prosecutor said there are reasonable grounds to believe that Sinwar, Deif and Hanieh are criminally responsible for the murder of hundreds of Israeli civilians during attacks carried out by Hamas and other armed groups on October 7, 2023, and for taking at least 245 hostages.
BAGNET recalls that on October 7, 2023, Hamas militants attacked Israel. The attack was accompanied by massive shelling of the southern and central regions of Israel. Then hundreds of civilians were killed and hostages were taken.
In response, Israel launched a counter-terrorism operation, and then — ground operation in the Gaza Strip. In early December, Israel expanded its military operation to the entire Gaza Strip.
Prepared by: Sergey Daga