Today the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim A.A. Khan KC, has filed applications for warrants of arrest before a pre-trial chamber of the court.
These concern both sides of the conflict in Palestine:
On the basis of evidence collected and examined by my Office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that 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 the following war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Israel and the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 7 October 2023:
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All three persons are already under threat of assassination by Israel. They do not travel and stay out of the public. Even if arrest warrants are granted against them they are unlikely to be concerned by that.
On the other side of the conflict that may well be a different issue:
On the basis of evidence collected and examined by my Office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that Benjamin NETANYAHU, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav GALLANT, the Minister of Defence of Israel, bear criminal responsibility for the following 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:
- 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).
Should the arrest warrants against Netanyahoo and Galant be granted they will have to end all travel to or through those many countries which are member states of the Rome statute. (The U.S., Israel, Russia and Sudan have signed the Rome statute but did not become member states.)
Member states are under obligation to fulfill arrest warrants should the ICC prosecutor have valid ones. There is also a stigma coming with the warrants that will prevent pro-Zionist politicians from Europe and elsewhere from meeting with Netanyahoo or other involved persons.