Draft:International Criminal Court Israel–Hamas war arrest warrants

On _ _ 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for multiple leaders of Israel and Hamas for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Israel–Hamas war.

Those indicted included Benjamin Netanyahu, the President of Israel, Yoav Gallant, the Israeli Minister of Defense, Yahya Sinwar, the chief of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, and Mohammed Deif, the head of the Al-Qassam Brigades. The warrant for Netanyahu was the fourth of its kind for an acting head of state.

Under the Rome Statute, all 123 signatories are legally obligated to arrest and transfer the leaders if they were to step foot on their territory.

Background
In 2019, the ICC announced it would begin an investigation into crimes committed in the Palestinian Territories, and later that year alleged Israel and Hamas to have violated multiple international laws during the 2014 Gaza War. In 2020, the court ruled that Palestine was a state and that the court did indeed have jurisdiction over the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. In 2021, the court officially began the investigation.

On 7 October 2023, Hamas and allied militants invaded and attacked southern Israel, killing almost 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 250 hostages. Following this, Israel retaliated by imposing a total blockade on Gaza, heavily bombing it, and invading it on 27 October. Both Israel and Hamas were accused of war crimes. South Africa accused Israel of genocide during the war, and brought a case against it in the International Court of Justice.

On 12 October, Khan condemned the violence and called for all sides to remain calm, saying leaders needed to realize "the law will judge all of us". He also said that crimes committed by Israel and Hamas were under the jurisdiction of the court.

On 29 October, Khan visited the Rafah border crossing and delivered a speech. In the speech, he condemned the Hamas attacks. He also said that Israel needed to demonstrate that it can lawfully respond to the attacks. The next day, he toured areas of Israel attacked by Hamas at the request of victims, and delivered a speech saying the attacks violated international law.

On 3 December, Khan said the original investigation was moving faster and called on Israel and Hamas to respect the rule of law.

In April 2024, court prosecutors interviewed doctors in Gaza about potential war crimes.

On 29 April, Israel claimed it expected the court to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli leaders.

On 3 May, the court released a statement calling for the cessation of attempts to intimidate it concerning the case.

On 20 May, the Khan announced he would file to issue arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders.

Charges
The draft warrants indicted Hamas leaders for extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape and sexual violence, torture, inhumane acts, cruel treatment, and outrages against personal dignity.

They warrant indicted Israeli leaders for starvation of civilians, willful killing, intentional attacks on civilians, extermination and murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.