The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The pre-trial chamber rejected Israel’s challenges to the court’s jurisdiction.
Whilst Israeli forces claim Deif was killed in a July air strike in Gaza, the chamber said it could not confirm his death.
The judges found “reasonable grounds” that the three men bore “criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes during the Israel-Hamas war. Both sides deny the allegations.
Enforcement of the warrants will depend on the ICC’s 124 member states, which do not include Israel or the United States.
The case stems from Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 44,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Khan accused Hamas leaders of crimes against humanity including extermination, murder, hostage-taking, rape and torture.
The Israeli leaders face accusations of deliberately attacking civilians and using starvation as a weapon of war, as well as extermination and murder.
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