The International Criminal Court (ICC) has called for arrest warrants to be issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as several leaders of Hamas, a statement from the body signed by its prosecutor Karim Khan reads.

The charges relate to war crimes and crimes against humanity during an October 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.

According to the statement, in addition to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, two other senior Hamas figures - Mohammed al-Masri, the head of the Al Qassam Brigades, and Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau - are being targeted by the warrant, accused of "extermination, murder, forcible transfer, rape and sexual violence during detention". 

The ICC cites the crimes of extermination, murder, hostage-taking, rape and other acts of sexual violence, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity and other inhumane acts, in the context of detention.

"The crimes against humanity alleged were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population of Israel by Hamas and other armed groups... Some of these crimes, in our assessment, continue to be committed to the present day," it said.

The ICC said it had "reasonable grounds to believe" that Sinwar, Al-Masri and Haniyeh "are criminally responsible for the murder of hundreds of Israeli civilians" in the October 7 attack, and for taking at least 245 hostages.

During "personal visits to the hostages shortly after their capture, they acknowledged their responsibility for these crimes," it said.

The investigators considered that the crimes of which Sinwar, Al-Masri and Haniyeh are suspected "could not have been committed without their conduct", and they are therefore being charged as co-perpetrators and as leaders.

Netanyahu and Gallant accused of extermination and murder

Meanwhile, the charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include "extermination, causing starvation as a method of warfare, and wilfully depriving a population of its means of subsistence" as well as "wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health and murder". The two Israeli politicians are also suspected of intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, of extermination and murder, including in the context of deaths caused by starvation, of persecution and of other inhumane acts.

"The crimes against humanity alleged were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population of Palestine, pursuant to the policy of the State of [Israel]. These crimes, in our assessment, continue to the present day," it said.

The evidence gathered shows that Israel "intentionally and systematically" deprived the civilian population of Gaza of goods indispensable to their survival, through the "imposition of a comprehensive closure" on the enclave.

Such measures "were accompanied by other attacks on civilians, including those queuing for food, the obstruction of the delivery of aid by humanitarian agencies, and the targeting and killing of humanitarian workers," the ICC said.

The court considered that the crimes of which the Israeli politicians are accused were aimed at eliminating Hamas, securing the return of the hostages and "collectively punishing the civilian population of Gaza, who were perceived as a threat to Israel".

It said the effects of using starvation as a method of warfare, together with other attacks and collective punishments against the civilian population of Gaza, "have been severe, visible and widely reported".

"They include malnutrition, dehydration, severe distress and an increasing number of deaths among the Palestinian population, including infants, other children and women," the ICC said.

The court said that "Israel, like all States, has the right to take measures" to defend itself, but it stressed that this right does not exempt it from its obligation to comply with international humanitarian law.

"Whatever military objectives it may have had, the means that Israel chose to achieve them in Gaza... were criminal," it said.

This is the first time that the ICC has targeted the top leader of a close US ally. The move puts Netanyahu on a par with Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom the ICC has issued an arrest warrant over Russia's war in Ukraine.

When reports emerged last month that the ICC was considering moving ahead with the warrants, Netanyahu said that any arrest warrants against senior Israeli government and military officials "would be an outrage of historic proportions" and that Israel "has an independent legal system".

Israel and the US are not members of the ICC. However, the ICC says it has jurisdiction over Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank after Palestinian leaders formally agreed to be bound by the court's founding treaty in 2015.

[News updated at 14:04]

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