Brussels – Netanyahu is like Putin and like the leaders of Hamas. The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim A.A. Khan, asked the court in The Hague to issue arrest warrants against the Israeli prime minister and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, for “war crimes and crimes against humanity.” Along with them – and on the same charges – are three of the top leaders of the terrorist group that rules the Gaza Strip: Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, and Ismail Haniyeh.
According to the British lawyer, who has been the chief prosecutor of the ICC since 2021, Netanyahu and Gallant would be responsible for starving the Palestinian civilian population as a method of warfare, intentionally causing “great suffering, serious injury to body or health, or cruel treatment,” for “intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population.” All offenses that are in the Rome Statute of the ICC constitute war crimes. But the Israeli PM and Defense Minister would also be guilty of crimes against humanity: “extermination, persecution, and other inhumane acts.” Crimes that the Office of the Prosecutor says “continue to this day.”
In parallel, the three Hamas leaders are accused of committing a series of crimes against humanity: “extermination, rape, and other acts of sexual violence, torture, and other inhumane acts.” And “hostage-taking, rape, cruel treatment, and outrages upon personal dignity,” which constitute war crimes.
“Today we once again underline that international law and the laws of armed conflict apply to all,” Khan stressed, also recalling that his office is pursuing further investigations, including those related to allegations of sexual violence during the October 7 attacks and in connection with the large-scale bombings that have caused and continue to cause so much death, injury, and civilian suffering in Gaza.
If the Pre-Trial Chamber of the Hague Tribunal validates the arrest warrants, the 123 countries that signed the Rome Statute will have to comply with the ICC decision and arrest the culprits if they are on their territory. Just like in the case of Vladimir Putin in March 2023, found guilty of war crimes for the illegal deportation and transfer of population from the occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. At that point, Netanyahu, like the Russian leader, could no longer move freely. Not in Europe, at least, despite the support that some EU leaders – primarily European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen – have shown him so far. But nothing would prohibit him from traveling to the home of U.S. allies, who have never ratified the ICC’s founding Rome Statute.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
