Hamas criticizes application for ICC arrest warrants

The militant Palestinian organization Hamas has criticized the request for arrest warrants against several of its leaders by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"His decision compares the victim to an executioner and encourages the [Israeli] occupation to continue the war of extermination," the group said in a statement broadcast by the Hamas-affiliated TV station Al-Aqsa.

The Hague-based court's chief prosecutor Karim Khan submitted requests for arrest warrants for: Yehya al-Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza; Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the head of the group's military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades; and Ismail Haniyeh, who sits atop Hamas' political bureau and is seen as the group's overall leader.

They were accused by Khan of bearing responsibility for murders, rapes, hostage-takings, torture and other inhumane acts from at least October 7.

Khan is also seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

It is assumed that Sinwar and al-Masri, more commonly known as Deif, have been hiding in Hamas' underground tunnel system in the Gaza Strip since the war erupted between Israel and Hamas more than seven months ago.

Haniyeh, on the other hand, has reportedly been living a life of luxury in Qatar with members of his family for years. Last month, he met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.

Around 1,200 people were killed and around 200 taken hostage during the Hamas attacks in the Israeli border region on October 7. The terrorist attack was the trigger for Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip, in which, according to the Gaza health authority, more than 35,500 people have been killed so far.