What to Know About the I.C.C. Prosecutor’s Request for Warrants for Israeli and Hamas Leaders

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on Monday that he had requested arrest warrants for war crimes and crimes against humanity for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and the leaders of Hamas. Here’s a closer look at the court and the warrants.
The prosecutor is accusing both sides of war crimes.

The court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, said in a statement that he was applying for arrest warrants for Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas because he had “reasonable grounds to believe” that they were responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, which included “the killing of hundreds of Israeli civilians” in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, and the taking of at least 245 hostages.

Mr. Khan said that the Hamas officials “planned and instigated the commission of crimes” on that day, and that they “have acknowledged their responsibility for those crimes” through their actions, such as personal visits to hostages shortly after their kidnapping.

The prosecutor cited accusations of murder, extermination, hostage-taking, and acts of sexual violence. He also said he had reasonable grounds to believe the officials were responsible for acts of torture and cruel treatment.

Mr. Khan also said that he had requested arrest warrants for Mr. Netanyahu and Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, because there were reasonable grounds to believe that they bore responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the starvation of civilians as a weapon of war and “intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population.”

Mr. Khan said that these crimes were committed “as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population.” He also said that in his office’s view, some of the crimes “continue to this day.”

The International Criminal Court was set up under a 1998 treaty, but the U.S. and Israel didn’t sign.

The International Criminal Court is an international court that has jurisdiction to prosecute people for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

It was established in 2002 as a standing body to investigate those crimes under a 1998 treaty known as the Rome Statute. Previously, the United Nations Security Council had set up ad hoc tribunals to address atrocities in specific places, like the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

The I.C.C. is based in The Hague, a Dutch city that has long been a center for international law and justice. It is separate from the International Court of Justice, an international tribunal also in The Hague which is an arm of the United Nations and handles civil disputes between countries. The latter is currently weighing a claim brought by South Africa that Israel is conducting a genocide in Gaza. Israel has strongly denied the accusation.

Many democracies joined the International Criminal Court, including close American allies like Britain. The court has recognized Palestine as a member since 2015.

But neither Israel nor the United States is a member. The United States, which conducts numerous military operations abroad, has taken the position that the court should not exercise jurisdiction over citizens from countries that are not parties to the treaty.

That position, however, has been tested by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia is not a member, but Ukraine is. Last year, the court issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir V. Putin and another Russian official, saying they bore individual criminal responsibility for the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. After a lengthy internal debate, President Biden ordered the U.S. government to share evidence of Russian war crimes with the court.

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