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Israeli officials increasingly believe that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for senior government officials on charges related to the conflict with Hamas, according to five Israeli and foreign officials.<\/p>\n
The Israeli and foreign officials also believe the court is weighing arrest warrants for leaders from Hamas.<\/p>\n
If the court proceeds, the Israeli officials could potentially be accused of preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and pursuing an excessively harsh response to the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, according to two of the five officials, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.<\/p>\n
The Israeli officials, who are worried about the potential fallout from such a case, said they believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is among those who might be named in a warrant. It is not clear who might be charged from Hamas or what crimes would be cited.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The Israeli officials did not disclose the nature of the information that led them to be concerned about potential I.C.C. action, and the court did not comment on the matter.<\/p>\n
Arrest warrants from the court would probably be seen in much of the world as a humbling moral rebuke, particularly to Israel, which for months has faced international backlash over its conduct in Gaza, including from President Biden<\/a>, who called it \u201cover the top.\u201d<\/p>\n It could also affect Israel\u2019s policies as the country presses its military campaign against Hamas. One of the Israeli officials said that the possibility of the court issuing arrest warrants had informed Israeli decision-making in recent weeks.<\/p>\n The Israeli and foreign officials said they didn\u2019t know what stage the process was in. <\/span>Any warrants would require approval from a panel of judges and would not necessarily result in a trial or even the targets\u2019 immediate arrest.<\/p>\n Karim Khan, the court\u2019s chief prosecutor, has previously confirmed that his team is investigating incidents during the war, but his office declined to comment for this article, saying that it does not \u201crespond to speculation in media reports.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Netanyahu\u2019s office also would not comment, but on Friday the prime minister said<\/a> on social media that any intervention by the I.C.C. \u201cwould set a dangerous precedent that threatens the soldiers and officials of all democracies fighting savage terrorism and wanton aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Netanyahu did not explain what prompted his statement, though he may have been responding to speculation about the arrest warrants in the Israeli press.<\/p>\n He also said: \u201cUnder my leadership, Israel will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defense. The threat to seize the soldiers and officials of the Middle East\u2019s only democracy and the world\u2019s only Jewish state is outrageous. We will not bow to it.\u201d<\/p>\n Based in The Hague, the I.C.C. is the world\u2019s only permanent international court with the power to prosecute individuals accused of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The court has no police force of its own. Instead, it relies on its 124 members<\/a>, which include most European countries but not Israel or the United States, to arrest those named in warrants. It cannot try defendants in absentia<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But warrants from the court can pose obstacles to travel for officials named in them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Hamas-led raid last October led to the killing of roughly 1,200 people in Israel and the abductions of some 250 others, according to Israeli officials. The subsequent war in Gaza, including heavy Israeli bombardment, has killed more than 34,000 people, according to Gazan officials, caused widespread damage to housing and infrastructure, and brought the territory to the brink of famine.<\/p>\n The Israeli assault in Gaza has led the International Court of Justice, a separate court in The Hague, to hear accusations of genocide<\/a> against the Israeli state and has spurred a wave of protests<\/a> on college campuses in the United States.<\/p>\n If the I.C.C. does issue arrest warrants, they would come with deep stigmatization, placing those named in them in the same category as foreign leaders like Omar al-Bashir, the deposed president of Sudan, and Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian president, who was the subject of a warrant last year tied to his war against Ukraine.<\/p>\n The I.C.C.\u2019s focus on individuals rather than states differentiates it from the International Court of Justice, which settles disputes between states.<\/p>\n