ICC prosecutors are seeking warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and ...
The International Criminal Court prosecutor's office has requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence chief, and also for three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
So who is involved in the prosecution case, why is this happening now and what exactly are the alleged crimes?
Here's a quick guide to what's happening.
Why is this happening now?It's a combination of a collection of evidence and a "superstar" team of lawyers, former ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo told RN Breakfast.
The panel of experts in international humanitarian law and international criminal law include:
Former Lord Justice of Appeal and former International Criminal Court judge.
Trials he oversaw included the July 21, 2005, London bombings trial, the trial of terrorist plotter Saajid Badat; and the trial of PC Simon Harwood for the death of a street newspaper seller in London.
Baroness Helena Kennedy KCPresident of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute.
Ms Kennedy acted as junior counsel for child murderer Myra Hindley during her 1974 trial for plotting to escape from Holloway Prison.
Elizabeth Wilmshurst CMG KCFormer deputy legal adviser at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Ms Wilmshurst was the lead British negotiator of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Danny FriedmanExpert in criminal law, international law and human rights.
He has appeared in landmark cases in the UK and the European Court of Human Rights concerning state action to respond to terrorist threat.
Amal ClooneyBarrister, adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, co-founder of the Clooney Foundation for Justice and special adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Her past clients include former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed, Julian Assange, former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Iraqi human rights activist Nadia Murad.
Judge Theodor MeronFormer judge and president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and special adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
In the late 1960s, Mr Meron was legal counsel to the Israeli Foreign Ministry and wrote a secret 1967 memo for prime minister Levi Eshkol, who was considering creating an Israeli settlement at Kfar Etzion, following the Six-Day War in June 1967.
Mr Meron was also held in a Nazi labour camp during World War II.
At this stage this is only an announcement that the prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant approval from the judges of the pre-trial chamber of the courts.
No, that was the International Court of Justice.
That case was brought on by South Africa and accuses Israel of genocide.
In January ICJ president Joan Donoghue delivered the interim judgement, saying the humanitarian situation in Gaza was "catastrophic".
Then she imposed several conditions on Israel, including taking all measures to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, however she did not order a ceasefire.
Last week, South Africa urged the UN's top court to order a halt to Israel's offensive on Rafah, saying attacks on the southern Gaza city "must be stopped" to ensure the survival of the Palestinian people.
Israel has defended its offensive in Rafah, saying it is acting in self defence against Hamas fighters and has asked judges to reject South Africa's request.
The difference between the two courts is the ICJ prosecutes states while the ICC prosecutes individuals.
The ICC are seeking arrest warrants for the following people:
Role: Israeli prime minister.
Alleged crimes: War crimes and crimes against humanity, including using starvation as a method of warfare. He is alleged to have wilfully caused great suffering, or serious injury, or cruel treatment as a war crime. Further allegations include wilful killing or murder, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, persecution as a crime against humanity and other inhumane acts.
Mr Netanyahu described the decision to seek an arrest warrant as absurd. He said: "I reject with disgust the comparison of the prosecutor in the Hague between democratic Israel and the mass murderers of Hamas.
"With what audacity do you compare Hamas that murdered, burned, butchered, decapitated, raped and kidnapped our brothers and sisters and the IDF soldiers fighting a just war?"
Role: Israeli defence minister.
Alleged crimes: War crimes and crimes against humanity, including using starvation as a method of warfare. He is alleged to have wilfully caused great suffering, or serious injury, or cruel treatment as a war crime. Further allegations include wilful killing or murder, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, persecution as a crime against humanity and other inhumane acts.
ICC prosecutor Karim AA Khan KC said he had reasonable grounds to believe Mr Gallant bore responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Palestine from at least October 8, 2023.
No individual has previously been prosecuted or subject to an arrest warrant by the ICC for the crime of starvation before, reports Justice Info. While intentional starvation of civilians is recognised as a war crime in the Rome Statute, the crime has been largely been not prosecuted.
Role: Hamas leader in Gaza
Alleged crimes: War crimes and crimes against humanity. He faces allegations of bearing responsibility for extermination and murder. Other allegations include the taking of hostages, torture, rape, other acts of sexual violence and cruel treatment as a war crime.
Sinwar spent 23 years in an Israeli prison before returning to Gaza in 2011. He started out punishing and killing collaborators with Israel, working as a ruthless enforcer, before rising to a leadership role.
He plotted the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which was the deadliest attack on Jews in a single day since the Holocaust. The 61-year-old was elected as Hamas' leader in Gaza in 2017.
Sami Abu Zuhri, senior Hamas official, told Reuters the decision encouraged Israel to continue its "war of extermination" in Gaza and said the move "equates the victim with the executioner".
Role: Supreme leader of Hamas, based in Qatar.
Alleged crimes: War crimes and crimes against humanity. He faces allegations of bearing responsibility for crimes including extermination and murder. Other allegations include the taking of hostages, torture, rape, other acts of sexual violence and cruel treatment as a war crime.
Ismail Haniyeh is based in Qatar and frequently travels across the region. He has escaped the travel curbs of the blockaded Gaza Strip by travelling between Turkey and Doha.
This has allowed him to act as a negotiator in ceasefire talks or to talk to Hamas' ally Iran.
ICC prosecutor Karim AA Khan KC said some of the crimes the Hamas leader allegedly committed were, in the ICC’s assessment, continuing to this day.
Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-MasriRole: Head of the Hamas military wing.
Alleged crimes: War crimes and crimes against humanity. He faces allegations of bearing responsibility for crimes including extermination and murder. Other allegations include the taking of hostages, torture, rape and other acts of sexual violence.
Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri also, also known as Mohammed Deif, is the head of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades which is the military wing of Hamas.
The military wing in particular, and other armed groups, are accused of the killing of hundreds of Israeli civilians in attacks perpetrated by Hamas, as well as the taking of at least 245 hostages.
Former US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues David Scheffer told News Breakfast there was a fair likelihood of it.
"There is something a little unusual with this one. Typically, the prosecutor does not announce in advance of a decision by the judges that he, in fact, has submitted an application for arrest warrants," Mr Scheffer said.
"And that's in order to make sure that the individuals don't flee in the interim.
"But also to really not set up a situation where the judges might be subject to a lot of external pressures before arriving at a decision."
He said the prosecutor may have acted differently this time because he was seeking to prevent further alleged crimes by both sides.
"One way of doing that is to bring down the stick of a prospective arrest warrant to really get the point across," he said.
"Of course, it might embolden them to charge ahead now that they know that they're subject to investigation anyway."
What happens now?It's unknown exactly how long it will take for the panel of three judges to issue the warrants, if if chooses to.
Mr Ocampo said the ICC did not take long to issue a warrant for Russian President Vladamir Putin's arrest over war crimes in Ukraine.
However the case against Sudan's former president Omar al-Bashir took seven months.
"They will take weeks, if not months, before the judges arrive at a decision regarding whether or not to approve any of these arrest warrants," Mr Scheffer said.
Mr Ocampo said everyone involved had the opportunity to ask for a summons and agree to go to The Hague without an arrest warrant ever being issued.
"They should be willing to go to The Hague and face the court," he said.
"That's why this court decision is an opportunity for the world to go back to order."
ABC/wires
