The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has announced he is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three leaders of Hamas: Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif. The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include starvation of civilians, extermination, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, among other crimes. The charges against the Hamas leaders include extermination, murder, taking hostages, rape, among other crimes. “It places Israel’s leaders of this genocidal onslaught on the Gaza Strip in the dock,” says Middle East analyst Mouin Rabbani, who explains why this will be “very significant” for Israel’s allies and signatories to the ICC. “They now have to make a choice between Israeli impunity and obligations under the Rome Statute.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.