Panel of Judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will consider Attorney General Karim Khan's request to issue arrest warrants for a number of high-ranking Israeli and Hamas officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This is what CNN is reporting.
In an interview with CNN today, Karim Khan accused Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the October 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.
Additionally, he wants arrest warrants issued for Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, as well as two other senior Hamas leaders - Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, leader of the Al Qassem Brigades and better known as Mohammed Deif. and Ismail Haniyeh, political leader of Hamas.
In a statement on the ICC website, Khan said the charges against Sinwar, Haniya and Al-Masri included: "extermination, murder, hostage-taking, rape and sexual assault while in custody". Meanwhile, charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include: "causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including denying humanitarian aid supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict.
When reports emerged last month that the ICC's chief prosecutor was considering this course of action, Netanyahu said any ICC arrest warrants against senior Israeli government and military officials would be considered a "scandal of historic proportions" and that Israel "has an independent legal system that rigorously investigates all violations of the law".
Regarding Netanyahu's comments, the chief prosecutor of the ICC is adamant that "no one is above the law". Karim Khan also pointed out that if Israel disagrees with the ICC, "they are free, regardless of their objections to the jurisdiction, to raise a challenge before the judges in court and that is what I advise them to do.
The Attorney General's statement against Israeli politicians marks the first time the ICC has targeted a leader of a close US ally. The decision could put Netanyahu in the company of Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom the ICC issued an arrest warrant over the invasion of Ukraine.
Last year, South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti asked the ICC to open an investigation into the situation in the Palestinian territories.
We also remind you that Israel and the USA are not members of the ICC. However, the ICC claims jurisdiction over Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank after Palestinian leaders formally agreed to be bound by the court's founding principles in 2015.