Israel, Hamas In Unusual Agreement, Reject ICC Warrant

Israel and Hamas on Monday both angrily rejected moves to arrest their leaders for war crimes made before the International Criminal Court, ICC as heavy fighting raged on in the Gaza Strip.

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor Karim Khan said he had applied for arrest warrants against top Israeli and Hamas leaders over the bloody conflict.

Israel slammed as a “historical disgrace” the demand targeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, while the Palestinian militant group Hamas said it “strongly condemns” the move.

Khan said in a statement that he was seeking warrants against the Israeli leaders for crimes including “wilful killing”, “extermination and/or murder” and “starvation”.

In the war started by Hamas’s October 7 attack, he said, Israel had committed “crimes against humanity” as part “of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population”.

He also said that the leaders of Hamas, including Qatar-based Ismail Haniyeh and Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, “bear criminal responsibility” for actions committed during the October 7 attack.

These included “taking hostages”, “rape and other acts of sexual violence” and “torture”, Khan added.

“International law and the laws of armed conflict apply to all,” he added. “No foot soldier, no commander, no civilian leader – no one – can act with impunity.”

If granted by the ICC judges, the warrants would mean that technically any of the 124 ICC member states would be obliged to arrest Netanyahu and the others if they travelled there, but the court has no mechanism to enforce its warrants.

GWG.ng reports that the unusual common stance by Israel and Hamas on the ICC order flows from the fact that the arrest warrant was not directed solely at each of the fighting parties.

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