The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, said on Monday May 20 that he had requested arrest warrants be issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three senior Hamas officials, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip and Israel. In his press release, Khan reviews numerous crimes committed by both sides, the result, among other things, of interviews conducted by his office both with victims and survivors of the October 7 attacks carried out by Hamas in Israel, and with survivors of the bombardments and other actions perpetrated by Israel in Gaza and other places in Palestine. With regard to the three Hamas leaders involved, « my office believes that these individuals planned and ordered the commission of the crimes perpetrated on October 7, 2023, and acknowledged their responsibility in this regard, as evidenced by the visit they personally made to the hostages shortly after their abduction », said the Prosecutor. With regard to the senior Israeli officials indexed, the Prosecutor criticized, among other things, « starvation as a method of warfare », before adding that this and other crimes against humanity were committed « as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population in accordance with State policy ». Karim Khan called on all parties to the Gaza conflict to « comply with the law now », and stressed that his office « will not hesitate to submit further applications for arrest warrants if and when we consider that the threshold of a realistic prospect of conviction has been reached ». The ICC’s initiative has prompted reactions from several countries, including the United States. « We reject the fact that the prosecutor puts Israel and Hamas on an equal footing. This is a disgrace. Hamas is a violent terrorist organization that perpetrated the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, and still holds dozens of innocent people hostage, including Americans, » said a statement from Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken. Stressing that « this case does not fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC », the text explains that « although not a member of the court, Israel was prepared to cooperate with the prosecutor. In fact, the prosecutor himself was due to visit Israel next week to discuss the investigation and hear the Israeli government. Members of the prosecutor’s team were due to land in Israel today (May 20) to coordinate the visit. Israel was informed that they had not taken their flight almost at the same time as the prosecutor’s announcement of the charges on a cable TV channel. These and other circumstances call into question the legitimacy and credibility of this investigation ». For the US State Department, « fundamentally, this decision does nothing to help, and could undermine ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement that would allow for the release of hostages and the delivery of humanitarian aid, goals that the United States continues to pursue relentlessly. » #OMA #OrganisationMarocAfrikaCulturesetDéveloppement #NajibKettani #Legal #CPI #KarimKhan #Israel #Hamas #United States
