On Monday, May 20, the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced that he is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders, namely Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif.

In a statement announcing the move, Khan said that he had reasonable grounds to believe that all five men “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In regards to the Hamas leaders, the prosecutor said they were “criminally responsible” for killing hundreds of Israeli civilians on October 7 and taking over 245 hostages. Moreover, he said that the group Hamas was guilty of extermination, murder, taking hostages, rape and other acts of violence and torture.

Explaining why he was also seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the prosecutor stated: “The crimes against humanity charged were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population”.

Moreover, Khan said he collected evidence that Israel had systematically deprived civilians of “objects indispensable to human survival” including food, water, medicine and energy. He added that Netanyahu and Gallant bore responsibility for Israel’s use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, extermination and crimes against humanity.

Into the dock with Netanyahu, Gallant. Next, all the war criminals in the Israeli government and military. https://t.co/Et2DRKFlOm

— IPSC (@ipsc48) May 20, 2024

After the announcement, a panel of pretrial judges will analyse the evidence, however the court has no means to enforce the arrest warrants. Moreover, their investigation has been opposed by Israel and the US, which are not members of the court.

The International Criminal Court is the world’s first permanent war crimes court and has a total of 124 member states. The members are obliged to immediately arrest the wanted person if they’re on their territory, which could lead to diplomatically difficult positions.

According to veteran war crimes prosecutor Reed Brody, “this is a watershed event in the history of international justice,” as “the ICC has never, in over 21 years of existence, indicted a Western official. Indeed, no international tribunal since Nuremberg (against representatives of Nazi Germany) has done so.”

Netanyahu and Gallant are wanted by the ICC for starvation and extermination. The ICJ is investigating Israel for genocide. Yet again we ask what will it take for the Irish government to sanction this criminal, apartheid state?

— IPSC (@ipsc48) May 20, 2024

Reacting to the announcement that the International Criminal Court was seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu, the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign wrote on X: “Into the dock with Netanyahu, Gallant. Next, all the war criminals in the Israeli government and military.”

They then added, “Netanyahu and Gallant are wanted by the ICC for starvation and extermination. The ICJ is investigating Israel for genocide. Yet again we ask what will it take for the Irish government to sanction this criminal, apartheid state?”

Since Israel launched its genocidal military attacks in October 2023, over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip. Roughly 90% of the population has been forced to flee their homes to avoid being killed in airstrikes which have targeted residential buildings, shelters, and hospitals.