Karim Khan said the court has the power to issue warrants against Prime Minister Netanyahu and Hamas officials in connection with the Gaza war.
The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) chief prosecutor has urged judges to “urgently” rule on arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others involved in the Gaza war.
“Unjustified delays in these proceedings are detrimental to the victims’ rights,” said prosecutor Karim Khan.
Khan applied for arrest warrants in May against Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and three Hamas leaders for crimes committed during the Hamas-led October 7 offensive in southern Israel and the subsequent Israeli war in the Gaza Strip.
In court documents released Friday, Khan stressed that the ICC has jurisdiction over Israeli nationals who have committed atrocities in the occupied Palestinian territory, and asked the judges to reject legal challenges brought by several governments and other parties.
He denied claims that Israel was conducting its own investigation into alleged war crimes.
ICC prosecutors said there were grounds to believe that Netanyahu, Galant, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, military leader Mohamed al-Masri and Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh should be held criminally responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran in July. The court has since declined to comment on reports of his death. Sinwar, a top Hamas official in Gaza who led the October 7 attack, has since been named the group’s new leader.
Israel said in July that it had killed al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in southern Gaza, but there was no confirmation from Hamas.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders have dismissed the war crimes allegations, and representatives from both sides have criticized Khan’s decision to seek the warrant.
Netanyahu denounced the prosecution’s charges against him as “disgraceful” and an attack on the Israeli military and Israel as a whole.
Hamas also condemned Khan’s actions, saying calls to arrest the leaders “equate the victims with their executioners.”
Israel is not part of the court, so even if an arrest warrant is issued, Netanyahu and Galland face no immediate risk of prosecution. However, the threat of arrest could make it difficult for Israeli leaders to travel abroad.
It is unclear when the judges will rule on Khan’s warrant request.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 40,265 people have been killed and 93,144 wounded in Israel’s war on the territory. An October 7 Hamas-led attack killed about 1,139 Israelis and captured more than 200.
