ICC Announces Applications for Arrest Warrants
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the October 7 attacks on Israel and the ensuing conflict in Gaza.
Khan announced that the ICC is also seeking warrants for Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as two other prominent Hamas leaders—Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, known as Mohammed Deif, the head of the Al Qassem Brigades, and Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
This marks the first instance in which the ICC has targeted the top leader of a nation closely allied with the United States. Netanyahu now joins Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom the ICC issued an arrest warrant over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
A panel of ICC judges will review Khan’s request for the arrest warrants.
According to Khan, the charges against Sinwar, Haniyeh, and al-Masri include “extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape, and sexual assault in detention.”
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