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The senior prosecutor for the International Criminal Court said on Monday that the leaders of the Hamas terrorist army and Israel’s top government officials each committed war crimes during their 7-month-old war.
Karim Khan, a British lawyer who has served as the ICC’s chief prosecutor since 2021, accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, along with three Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif — of responsibility for crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
“My office submits that the war crimes alleged in these applications were committed in the context of an international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine, and a non-international armed conflict between Israel and Hamas (together with other Palestinian armed groups) running in parallel,” Mr. Khan said.
The ICC prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for the Hamas and Israeli leaders.
Israeli wartime Cabinet member Benny Gantz issued a rebuke.
“Placing the leaders of a country that went into battle to protect its citizens in the same line with bloodthirsty terrorists is moral blindness and a violation of its duty and ability to protect its citizens,” Mr. Gantz, a noted political opponent of Prime Minister Netanyahu, said on social media.
The ICC prosecutor said the Hamas leaders bore criminal responsibility for the Oct. 7 rampage that resulted in the deaths of “hundreds of Israeli citizens” and the abductions of at least 245 hostages. Israeli officials said more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed by Hamas that day. Mr. Khan said his staff interviewed victims and survivors, examined security video footage and audiotapes, and went through the statements made by Hamas members accused of taking part in the attack.
“I saw the devastating scenes of these attacks and the profound impact of the unconscionable crimes charged in the applications filed today,” Mr. Khan said. “Speaking with survivors, I heard how the love within a family [and] the deepest bonds between a parent and a child were contorted to inflict unfathomable pain through calculated cruelty and extreme callousness. These acts demand accountability.”
Mr. Khan said there are reasonable grounds to believe that hostages taken from Israel are being kept in inhumane conditions inside Gaza and that some have been subject to sexual violence, including rape. The ICC also continues to investigate reports of sexual violence committed during the Hamas attack inside Israel.
The ICC prosecutor is alleging that Israel’s war crimes are part of a “widespread and systemic attack” against Palestinian civilians as an element of state policy.
“Israel has intentionally and systematically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of objects indispensable to human survival,” Mr. Khan said. “These crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day.”
The ICC, of which Israel is not a member, accused the Netanyahu government of imposing a total siege over Gaza that involved completely closing three border crossing points for extended periods only to arbitrarily restrict the transfer of essential supplies such as food and medicine after they were reopened.
Mr. Khan also charged Israel with routinely shutting off the water pipelines to Gaza, the principal source of clean water in the Palestinian enclave, and hindering the supply of electricity for the civilians.
“This took place alongside other attacks on civilians, including those queuing for food; obstruction of aid delivery for humanitarian agencies; and attacks on and killing of aid workers, which forced many agencies to cease or limit their operations in Gaza,” the ICC prosecutor said.
Although the Israeli leaders are unlikely to face arrest, the ICC move could further isolate them in the international community. Even the Biden administration has openly criticized Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip and restricted the supply of certain ammunition that could be used there.
Mr. Gantz said Israel’s military aims in Gaza are justified after a terrorist massacre against its citizens.
“The State of Israel fights in the most moral way in history, adhering to international law, and has an independent and strong judicial system,” he said. “Accepting the position of the prosecutor would be a historical crime that will not be denied.”
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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