The International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for both the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza, Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

Karim Khan also clarified that the ICC is also seeking warrants for Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as for two other top Hamas leaders, namely political leader Ismail Haniyeh and Al Qassem Brigades chief Mohammed Diyab Ibrahim al-Masri.

The inclusion of Israeli politicians in the request marks the first time the ICC has targeted the leader of a country that is a close ally of the US.

Benjamin Netanyahu joins the “club” of Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom the ICC issued an arrest warrant for the invasion and war in Ukraine.

Now, a panel of ICC judges will consider Khan’s application for the arrest warrants,.

Heavy charges against Hamas leaders

Khan said the charges against Yahya Sinwar and al-Masri include “extermination, murder, taking hostages, rape and sexual assault during detention.”

“The world was shocked on October 7 when people were uprooted from their bedrooms, from their homes, from various kibbutzim in Israel,” Khan told Amanpour, adding that “people suffered immensely.”

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The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant

The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include “inciting extermination, inciting starvation as a method of war, including the refusal to provide humanitarian aid, deliberately targeting civilians in conflicts.”