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The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on May 20 that he's seeking arrest warrants for top Israeli and Hamas leaders. (Video: Joe Snell/The Washington Post)

Biden criticizes ‘outrageous’ ICC arrest warrant ask for Israeli leaders

2 min

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Monday that he was seeking arrest warrants against senior officials in the Israel-Gaza conflict, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yehiya Sinwar, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. In a statement, Netanyahu called the decision a “travesty of justice” and said the ICC’s decision “will not stop us from waging our just war against Hamas.”

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The ICC’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, said he was also seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as two other top Hamas leaders — Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the leader of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades and better known as Mohammed Deif; and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political leader.
In a statement, President Biden called the ICC’s decision “outrageous,” adding that “there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas.” Later Monday, at an event celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month, Biden told attendees that what’s happening in Gaza “is not genocide. We reject that.”
The ICC is the only permanent international court that wields power to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Its announcement Monday was historic: Although Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, upon which the court was founded, the arrest warrants nonetheless shroud the country’s senior leaders with deep stigmatization.
Neither Israel nor the United States is a member state of the International Criminal Court, but if warrants are issued, Israeli officials would face the risk of arrest in signatory countries. The warrants need to be approved by judges in the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber, a process that may take weeks, if not months.
At least 35,562 people have been killed and 79,652 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children.
Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 282 soldiers have been killed since the launch of its military operation in Gaza.
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The ICC’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, said he was also seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as two other top Hamas leaders — Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the leader of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades and better known as Mohammed Deif; and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political leader.
In a statement, President Biden called the ICC’s decision “outrageous,” adding that “there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas.” Later Monday, at an event celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month, Biden told attendees that what’s happening in Gaza “is not genocide. We reject that.”
The ICC is the only permanent international court that wields power to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Its announcement Monday was historic: Although Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, upon which the court was founded, the arrest warrants nonetheless shroud the country’s senior leaders with deep stigmatization.
Neither Israel nor the United States is a member state of the International Criminal Court, but if warrants are issued, Israeli officials would face the risk of arrest in signatory countries. The warrants need to be approved by judges in the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber, a process that may take weeks, if not months.
At least 35,562 people have been killed and 79,652 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children.
Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 282 soldiers have been killed since the launch of its military operation in Gaza.
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Israel-Gaza war

The Israel-Gaza war has gone on for six months, and tensions have spilled into the surrounding region.

The war: On Oct. 7, Hamas militants launched an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel that included the taking of civilian hostages at a music festival. (See photos and videos of how the deadly assault unfolded). Israel declared war on Hamas in response, launching a ground invasion that fueled the biggest displacement in the region since Israel’s creation in 1948.

Gaza crisis: In the Gaza Strip, Israel has waged one of this century’s most destructive wars, killing tens of thousands and plunging at least half of the population into “famine-like conditions.” For months, Israel has resisted pressure from Western allies to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave.

U.S. involvement: Despite tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some U.S. politicians, including President Biden, the United States supports Israel with weapons, funds aid packages, and has vetoed or abstained from the United Nations’ cease-fire resolutions.

History: The roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mistrust are deep and complex, predating the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Read more on the history of the Gaza Strip.