Israel’s and Hamas’s Leaders Could Face Arrest for War Crimes

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the International Criminal Court’s legal actions against Israel and Hamas, the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, and Taiwan’s calls for peace with China.

‘Nobody Is Above the Law’

Karim Khan, the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), announced on Monday that he is seeking arrest warrants for five leaders involved in the Israel-Hamas war: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant; Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar; Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh; and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the head of Hamas’s military wing.

Khan said his office has “reasonable grounds to believe” that these individuals “bear criminal responsibility” for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and he is asking the court to issue warrants for their arrest. In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Monday, Khan said the three Hamas leaders stand accused of “extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape and sexual assault in detention,” among other charges, during and after the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which more than 1,200 people were killed. The Israeli leaders are accused of “causing extermination; causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies; deliberately targeting civilians in conflict,” among other charges, during its assault on Gaza, where more than 35,500 people have been killed since last October.

“Nobody is above the law,” Khan said, indicating that more warrant applications could be issued in the future. An arrest warrant would put Netanyahu in the company of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is currently the subject of an ICC arrest warrant in connection with Russia’s war in Ukraine. The warrant applications will now go to a pre-trial chamber of the ICC, where a three-judge panel will decide whether to issue them.

The ICC is an independent court endorsed by the United Nations that acts as an avenue of “last resort.” Like the United States, Russia, and China, Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the ICC. The court, however, ruled in 2021 that it has jurisdiction over alleged war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. If warrants are issued, these five individuals could face arrest if they travel to one of the 124 nations that are Rome Statute signatories. Both Sinwar and Masri are believed to be hiding in Gaza, but Haniyeh is based in Qatar (which is also not an ICC member) and regularly travels across the Middle East.

Israel quickly denounced the ICC’s statement. “The prosecutor’s position to apply for arrest warrants is in itself a crime of historic proportion to be remembered for generations,” war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said on Monday, with an Israeli official adding that the ICC’s decision “will not deter Israel from defending itself and accomplishing all its just war objectives.” Hamas also condemned the ruling: “The Hamas movement strongly denounces the attempts of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to equate the victim with the executioner.”

Other world leaders were quick to criticize the move, including U.S. President Joe Biden, who called arrest warrants against Israeli leaders “outrageous.” This is the first time that the ICC has targeted a close U.S. ally. “The decision could permanently damage the court’s tenuous relationship with Washington regardless of whether the arrest warrants on Netanyahu and Gallant move forward, as Khan’s announcement is likely to derail a careful but significant shift in U.S. policy toward the ICC under the Biden administration,” FP’s Robbie Gramer and Jack Detsch report.

Israel is facing numerous legal challenges over its actions in Gaza over the years. In March 2021, the ICC launched an investigation into possible war crimes committed in Gaza and the West Bank since June 2014. And last December, South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice.

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The World This Week

Tuesday, May 21: South Korea’s Constitutional Court holds the final hearing in a case accusing the government of not doing enough to tackle climate change.

Iran holds a state funeral for President Ebrahim Raisi.

Preliminary hearings begin against former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, who was charged with attempting a “self-coup.”

Wednesday, May 22: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock hosts her French and Polish counterparts.

Indonesia’s central bank determines its interest rate.

Thursday, May 23: The International Court of Justice delivers an order in Mexico’s case against Ecuador.

The central banks in Turkey and South Korea determine their interest rates.

Biden hosts Kenyan President William Ruto.

Friday, May 24: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosts Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.

Saturday, May 25: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hosts Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa.

Sunday, May 26: Lithuania holds its presidential election runoff.

What We’re Following

Raisi killed in crash. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, Iranian state media confirmed on Monday. All eight people aboard the helicopter were killed, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, three other senior officials, and three crew members. They were returning from a visit to Iran’s border with Azerbaijan to help inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev when the chopper crashed in Iran’s Dizmar forest. Heavy fog impeded initial search and rescue efforts. It is unclear what caused the crash.

During Raisi’s roughly three-year tenure, Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israel, bolstered military cooperation with Russia, and pursued more conservative social policies, including the implementation of a strict mandatory hijab law. The 63-year-old leader was thought to have been on the short list of possible successors to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber became acting president on Monday and must organize elections within the next 50 days. “While experts said it was unlikely that a liberalizing figure would emerge in either snap elections or Iran’s 2025 presidential election, Raisi’s death could leave a small opening for resurgent protest movements that have persisted under the surface,” FP’s Jack Detsch reports.

Taiwan’s inauguration day. Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te urged Beijing to stop threatening the island during his inauguration speech on Monday. A “glorious era of Taiwan’s democracy has arrived,” Lai said, adding, “I hope that China will face the reality of [Taiwan’s] existence, respect the choices of the people of Taiwan, and in good faith, choose dialogue over confrontation.” Monday marks the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s third consecutive term in power.

China has long criticized Lai for past statements calling for Taiwan’s independence. “No matter what pretext or banner one uses, promoting ‘Taiwan independence’ and secession is doomed to fail,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Monday. Lai, however, has softened his opinions in recent years, saying he now favors the status quo and sees “no plan or need” to change it.

Thwarted insurrection. Congolese security forces stopped an attempted coup on Sunday, in which around 50 people in military uniforms attacked the homes of the prime minister, defense minister, and a senior politician, according to authorities. The suspects also entered the Palais de la Nation, which houses the offices for President Félix Tshisekedi, in Kinshasa. At least six people were killed, including alleged coup leader Christian Malanga, and army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Sylvain Ekenge said around 50 people have been detained, including three U.S. citizens and one British national.

Malanga, who had previously been living in exile in the United States, had called himself the “President of New Zaire” and the head of a government in exile. This was his second time trying to overthrow the presidency, having first aborted an insurrection plan in 2017. Sunday’s coup attempt comes just five months after Tshisekedi won reelection amid mass logistical problems and as he tries to quell an ongoing offensive by Rwandan-backed rebels in eastern Congo.

Odds and Ends

Time to break out your best stationery. Last Friday, France began selling postage stamps that smell like the inside of a bakery. The nearly 600,000 scratch-and-sniff stamps detail a baguette wrapped in blue, white, and red ribbon—all in an effort to celebrate the patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs. “The baguette, the bread of our daily lives, the symbol of our gastronomy, the jewel of our culture,” the French postal service wrote on its website. Just remember not to accidentally take a bite.