The Court’s judges must now determine whether the conditions for issuing these warrants have been met, accusing the individuals concerned of ‘war crimes’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ in the Gaza Strip

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced on Monday 20 May that he had requested an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu for ‘war crimes’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ committed in the Gaza Strip.

‘On the basis of the evidence gathered and examined by my office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that Benyamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav Gallant, Minister of Defence of Israel, are criminally responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the territory of the State of Palestine since 8 October 2023’, said the ICC Prosecutor, based in The Hague, Netherlands.

The application also concerns three senior Hamas leaders: Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, and Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The ICC prosecutor believes that they are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Israel and the State of Palestine from 7 October 2023, the date of the Hamas attack on Israel. The charges include ‘starvation’, ‘intentional attacks against civilians’ and ‘extermination and/or murder’.

It is now up to the judges of the International Criminal Court to decide whether the conditions are met for issuing the arrest warrants requested by the Attorney General.