ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Israeli PM, defence chief and 3 Hamas leaders

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.