Tel Aviv [Israel], May 20 (ANI/TPS): International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan announced that he is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders for war crimes, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A statement posted on the ICC website specified Hamas’s Gaza strongman Yahya Sinwar, overall commander Mohammed Deif, and politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh. Among the crimes they are accused of are murder, taking hostages, rape and other acts of sexual violence, torture and “extermination as a crime against humanity.”
The statement also said there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for war crimes and crimes and crimes against humanity, including starvation as a method of warfare, willfully causing great suffering, murder, intentionally attacking civilians.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 128 remaining hostages, some 40 are believed dead. (ANI/TPS)