Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Yoav Gallant, the country's Defense Minister, may be responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan said.
"My Office submits that the evidence we have collected, including interviews with survivors and eyewitnesses, authenticated video, photo and audio material, satellite imagery and statements from the alleged perpetrator group, shows that Israel has intentionally and systematically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of objects indispensable to human survival," Khan noted.
According to him, the Israeli senior officials may bear criminal responsibility for the following war crimes, committed in the Gaza Strip from October 8:
Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare;
Willfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;
Willful killing and extermination, including in the context of deaths caused by starvation;
Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population;
Persecution and other inhumane acts.
"These crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day," the prosecutor highlighted.
Israel is not a member of the ICC and does not recognize its jurisdiction. In late April, following a report that the ICC may issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials, US lawmakers began drafting legislation that could include sanctions against certain ICC officials, according to media reports.
In response to Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, retaliatory strikes against the Gaza Strip were launched by Israel. This was followed a complete blockade of the Palestinian enclave and the Israeli ground incursion into the region. As a result of the escalation, more than 35,400 people have been killed, according to local authorities.