ICC prosecutor seeks arrest of Israeli and Hamas leaders | DW News

we start with breaking news from the international criminal court concerning the Israeli Hamas conflict the ICC prosecutor says there are reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Bears responsibility Bears criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity the prosecutor therefore says he’s seeking an arrest warrant for Mr Netanyahu has also applied for arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders Hamas carried out the October 7 attacks in Israel and is designated a terrorist organization by many countries here is the icc’s chief prosecutor talking about those arrest warrants that I have reasonable grounds to believe on the basis of evidence collected and examined by my office that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and minister of defense yuav galand bear criminal responsibility for the following International crimes committed on the territory of the State of Palestine from at least the 8th of October 2023 the crimes include starvation of civilians as a method of warfare willfully causing great suffering Serious injury to body or health or cruel treatment willful killing or murder and intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as well as crimes against humanity of extermination and or murder persecution and allegations of crimes of committing other inhumane acts it’s alleged that these crimes were committed in the context of the ongoing armed conflict and as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza pursuant to a state policy my office submits that there are reasonable grounds to believe that these three Hamas leaders are criminally responsible for the killing of Israeli civilians in attacks perpetrated by Hamas and other armed groups on the 7th of October 2023 The Taking of hostages and the other crimes alleged in our applications my office has diligently collected evidence and interviewed survivors and eyewitnesses at the scene of at least six major attack locations the applications rely upon evidence such as CCTV footage authenticated audio photographs and video material expert evidence and statements by Hamas and the members of other armed groups including by the alleged perpetrators themselves so that’s the icc’s uh Chief prosecutor Karim Khan speaking a little earlier let’s go to uh Jerusalem now where Rebecca RS our correspondent there is following this story welcome Rebecca um what reaction if any uh from Israel well there hasn’t been any yet from the two men involved Benjamin Netanyahu and uh the defense minister yav Galant we have heard from uh the opposition leader y Leed who’s called the decision a design master and we just recently heard from Benny gance also a member of the war cabinet but not in Benjamin netanyahu’s party he slammed uh the decision as a crime of historic proportions now that uh is echoing words that we heard from Benjamin Netanyahu himself last month when it was announced that the ICC may be pursuing uh this angle uh he said in response if the ICC sought arrest warrants it would be a scandal of historic proportions he called it um what would be an anti atic hate crime so you can probably gauge what the response is going to be and that is certainly the response we’re hearing kind of across the board from people in Israel an unnamed Israeli diplomatic official told the media here that the ICC decision is hypocritical and embarrassing on the international stage I think that’s pretty much what we can expect across the board here Phil so what potential consequences could this announcement have for the Israeli government and and more broadly for Mr Netanyahu well that’s difficult to say we know that Israel isn’t signed up to the IC it doesn’t recognize it and is therefore not under its uh jurisdiction neither is its staunch Ally the United States uh we’ve seen in the past Vladimir Putin has has been issued an arrest warrant and He Still Remains uh you know in power in Russia so there may be little consequences in the immediate but personally for Benjamin Netanyahu will restrict him traveling I mentioned that Israel and the United States are not signed up to the ICC but 125 other countries are and should the yo of Galant or Benjamin Netanyahu step foot in one of those countries they are obligated to uh to you know to arrest to arrest the to arrest them and and send them to the hag effectively so you know it certainly will um have ramifications there personally when you look on the The Wider scale and the effects on the war it certainly may cause the US to put more pressure on Israel it may when faced with this International pressure maybe fac to put even more pressure on Israel when it comes to humanitarian Aid and the way that it’s conducting the war in Gaza but in terms of political ramifications in the immediacy uh well that remains to be seen but I certainly don’t think it’s going to have any major effects on whether or not Benjamin Netanyahu remains prime minister so if this request from the prosecutor comes to anything of Rebecca um might it actually boost Mr netanyahu’s standing there in Jerusalem uh politically well it’s true and it should be stated Phil that of course an a panel of IC judges still needs to determine whether or not they will go ahead with these arrest warrants so it isn’t final uh whether or not that has a boost is difficult to say um it may have a boost somewhat but probably by by members of society that already agreed with Benjamin Netanyahu or the already support Benjamin Netanyahu it may in fact support the protest movement who are anti Benjamin Netanyahu and anti the way that he’s been conducting this war um they’re against the way that he’s been handling the hostage negotiations and are critical of the government for not doing enough and it may well bolster that section of society uh whether it has a bolstering of Benjamin netan who is difficult to say but I don’t think that’s particularly likely okay thanks for that Rebecca rebeccca RS in Jerusalem for

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor says there are reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bears criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The prosecutor is therefore seeking an arrest warrant for Netanyahu. He has also applied for arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders. Hamas carried out the October 7 terror attacks in Israel and is designated as a terrorist organization by many countries.

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35 comments

  1. yet leaders of countries like Iran are travelling freely, despite the countless crimes committed by them against their own people and others in middle east and around the world.

  17. If Netanyahu is not prosecuted for his crimes it will be a horrible precedent. Netanyahu has been ignoring international law, UN Resolutions, and has committed war crimes for decades and he is not the only Israeli PM who has done so.

  22. Hat sich Scholz, mit seiner Rede von "uneingeschränkter Solidarität" gegenüber Israel, mal wieder selbst ein riesen Ei gelegt. Mal eben jeden der die israelische Regierung kritisiert hat zum Antisemiten degradiert und jetzt liegt der Fall beim ICC. Peinlich!
    Nur gut, dass die Medien in decken und es nicht zur Sprache bringen.

  25. Now will European countries take actions and detain Netanyahu for his charges, or will they bow down to the US and not serve justice? Because the US has already proven they don't like justice.

  35. Also arrest Qatar President and iran siprem leader who funded hamas… Dare you…? No you won't do it because you were also funded by them… Don't pretent like being just.

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