On Monday 20 May, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, announced that he had taken note of the decision by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to request arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh, as well as the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant.
“The mandate of the ICC, as an independent international institution, is to prosecute the most serious crimes under international law. All States that have ratified the ICC statutes are bound to execute the Court’s decisions”, stated the High Representative on X.
The EU Member States were divided. The Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib, said that “crimes committed in Gaza must be prosecuted at the highest level, regardless of the perpetrators”. Slovenia, for its part, felt that war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Israeli and Palestinian territories must “be prosecuted independently and impartially, regardless of the perpetrators”. France, for its part, announced its support for the ICC, “its independence and the fight against impunity in every situation”. Spain reiterated its commitment to the ICC and “its independence and impartiality”.
Other Member States were more reserved, in particular because the Prosecutor was equating members of a terrorist organisation and politicians. For Germany, this gives “the false impression that the two should be treated in the same way”. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer called it “incomprehensible”, while Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala called the proposal “appalling and totally unacceptable”.
According to the ICC Prosecutor, there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that Hamas leaders “bear criminal responsibility” for, among other things, murder, extermination and hostage-taking, and Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant “for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine (in the Gaza Strip) from at least 8 October 2023”, including starving civilians as a method of warfare, intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population and extermination.
The Court has yet to rule on these applications. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)