ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Israeli PM, defence chief and 3 Hamas leaders
The International Criminal Court prosecutor's office said on Monday it had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence chief and three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes.
Prosecutor Karim Khan's office said it suspected all five - Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Al-Masri and Ismail Haniyeh - bore criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Israel or the Gaza Strip.
Israel has denied committing war crimes in the Gaza war, triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
The ICC's decision "equates the victim with the executioner", a senior Hamas official told Reuters.
It will be up to the court's pre-trial judges to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to issue warrants.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich described the International Criminal Court prosecutor's seeking
of arrest warrants against Israel's prime minister and defence minister
as a "show of hypocrisy and Jew-hatred", recalling Nazi propaganda.
"Arrest warrants against them are arrest warrants against us all," Smotrich said in a statement, calling on countries friendly to Israel to take action to disband the ICC.
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