What could happen if Israeli and Hamas leaders are issued international arrest warrants?
It is the first time the ICC has targeted an ally of the United States - Israel.
The International Criminal Court has announced it’s seeking arrest warrants for the most prominent Israeli and Hamas leaders.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could have the warrants issued, along with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh.
The ICC said they could be charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It is the first time the ICC has targeted an ally of the United States – Israel.
Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, told CNN: ‘The world was shocked on the 7th of October when people were ripped from their bedrooms, from their homes, from the different kibbutzim in Israel.’
Netanyahu previously said if an arrest warrant was issued, it would be ‘an outrage of historic proportions’ – to which Khan said: ‘Nobody is above the law.’
What is an ICC arrest warrant and how do they work?
If the ICC suspects a country or leader of any of the above crimes, they begin an investigation and set out the facts and evidence. After doing so, they request a warrant, explaining why it’s necessary.
Only then can it officially issue an arrest warrant, meaning any country that is a member of the ICC can arrest the people in question after it’s issued.
Once arrested, the suspects are then put on trial in the Hague, which has seen former trials include Nazi officers and other leaders accused of crimes against humanity.
The ICC was formed in 2002 to prosecute against war crimes, crimes against humanity, crime of aggression and genocide.
Previous high-profile arrest warrants have included Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Omar al-Bashir.
Which Israeli leaders could face an ICC arrest warrant?
Currently, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant could potentially have an arrest warrant issued.
The ICC cited the following as evidence:
- Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare as a war crime
- Willfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health, or cruel treatment as a war crime
- Willful killing, or Murder as a war crime
- Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime
- Extermination and/or murder, including in the context of deaths caused by starvation, as a crime against humanity
- Persecution as a crime against humanity
- Other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity
Who is the leader of Hamas and who could face an ICC warrant?
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Ismail Haniyeh is considered to be the leader of Hamas, after first joining the group in the late 1980s.
He was imprisoned for three years in 1989 by Israel, before returning to Gaza in 1997. He also served as Palestinian prime minister in 2006, but was dismissed a year later.
Haniyeh was deemed a terrorist by the US State Department in 2018.
Yahya Sinwar oversees affairs in Gaza after previously heading the military operations of Hamas, which is now controlled by Marwan Issa and Mohammed Deif.
Both Sinwar and Haniyeh have been listed as potential people for arrest warrants to be issued to.
The ICC stated the following as evidence:
- Extermination as a crime against humanity
- Murder as a crime against humanity and as a war crime
- Taking hostages as a war crime
- Rape and other acts of sexual violence as crimes against humanity and also as war crimes in the context of captivity;
- Torture as a crime against humanity and also as a war crime in the context of captivity
- Other inhumane acts as a crime against humanity in the context of captivity
- Cruel treatment as a war crime in the context of captivity
- Outrages upon personal dignity as a war crime in the context of captivity
What could happen if the arrest warrants are issued?
If any of the people above are issued an arrest warrant, it means they can be arrested in any country which is a member of the ICC.
Those countries include:
- The United States
- Israel
- Russia
- Libya
- China
- Qatar
Putin, the subject of an arrest warrant from the ICC, has notably not stepped foot in any country that would arrest him since it was issued.
Is Hamas a terrorist organisation according to the UN?
No. In February, a top UN official denied that Hamas was a terrorist organisation, referring to it as a ‘political movement’.
The US, European Union, Canada, Japan, Australia and Israel have all deemed Hamas a terrorist organisation, however.
UK politician Jeremy Corbyn labelled Hamas a terrorist group in November, and said Israel was ‘guilty of acts of terror too’.
Mr Corbyn wrote in the left-wing Tribune magazine: ‘I deplore the targeting of all civilians.
‘If we understand terrorism to describe the indiscriminate killing of civilians, in breach of international law, then of course Hamas is a terrorist group.
‘The targeting of hospitals, refugee camps and so-called safe zones by the Israeli army are acts of terror too; and the killing of more than 11,000 people, half of whom are children, cannot possibly be understood as acts of self-defence.
‘We should not entertain questions from those who have no interest in applying this basic consistency.’
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