humanity. >> today, i'm filing applications of warrants of arrest before pretrial chamber one ofhe iernational criminal court in the situation in the state oftine these are the outcome of independent investigationsted e direction of the two principal trial lawyers standing behind me today. brenda j. hollis, who in addition to leading our work of the situation of ukraine in the past couple of years january taken over leadership of

the palestine i. and andrew kaley, king's counsel, who more recently joined the leading our work on the situation in the state of >> on the basis of evidence collected by my office i have reasonable grounds to believe thatior leaders of hamas bear criminal responsibility for the following committed on the state of palestine from at least the 7th of october, 2023. extermination humanity. murder as a crime against humat. the as a war

crime. rape and others sexual violence during captivity as crimes against humanity and as war crimes. torture during captivity as a crime against humanity and a war crime. captivity as a crime against humanity. cruelme during captivity as a war and outrageous upon personal ng ctivity as a war crime. these crimes were committed in context of the ongoing armed conflict detailed in the applications and as part of a widespread and attack against the civilian population of hamas, and other armed groups. my office submits that there are reasonable gro t believe that these three hamas leaders

are criminally responsible for the killing of israeli civilians and attacks perpetrated by hamas and other armed groups on the 7th of october, 2023. the taking of hostages and the otherin our applications. my diligently collected evidence and interviewed survivors and ssat the scene of at least six major attack e applications arrive on evidence such as cctv footage authenticated audio, photographs, and material, expert evidence, and statements by of other armed groups,the alleged themselves. sinwa, dif, and hania not onl planned and instigated the crimes submit committed on 7th

of october, they acknowledged their responsibility t their own words and by their actions. they are charged as co-perpetrators and as superiors. reasonable so submits today grounds to believe that hostages, taken ftake from thei from their communities, have been kept in inhumane conditions and that some have been subjected to horrendous sexual violence, rape, while being held in captivity. we have reached that conclusion based upon medical records, contemporaneous video and documentary evidence and inie we are continuing our investigations into crimes committed on the 7th of october, including investigating further reports of sexuavi i repeat, and underline my call

for the me release of all hostages taken from israel and for thim return to their families. this is a fundamental imperative is a fundamental imperative demanded by good conscience, morality, and international the hostages must be released immediately. i can confirm today that i have reasonable grounds to believe on e collected and my office that israeli prime minister bennett you meant yahoo! -- benjamin netanyahu and minister of defense yoav gallant bear criminal responsibility for the following international crimes committed on the territory of the state of para -- stine frome eighth of october 202the crimesf civilians as a method of war

serious injury to body or health or cruel treatment. willful killing or murder. intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population. humanity of externa and/or murder, persecution, andof cmesf committing other inhuman acts. it is a legend these crimes were committed in the context of the on conflict and thus, part of the widespread, systematic attack against the civilian population of gaza pursuant to state policy. unfortunately, the crimes continue to this day. my office submits that these individuals, through a common plan, have systematically

deprived the civilian population of gaza of objects indispensable to survival. we reached that conclusion based on interviews with survivors, eyewitnesses, experts, from satellite imagery. statements from israeli officials. including the two individuals subject to the present application. as well as based upon several hundred authenticated videos, photographs, and audio recordings. many of which were taken and shared by victims and eyewitnesses themselves. thisivion resulted from a decision to impose a total siege on gaza by completely closing the three border crossing points rafah, kerem shalom, for extended periods of time restricting the

transportation of essential incd medicine through the boarding crossings -- border crossings reopened, to the total siege also involvi cutting off cross-border water pipelines from israel to gaza, which is the principal source of clean water for the popul gaza. it was cut off for prolonged periods beginning on the ninth of october, 2023. it was accompanied by the cutting off or hindering of electricity supplies gaza from the eighth of october 2023 that conduct took place alongside attacks that killed civilians. including people queuing for food. the obstruction of aid delivery by humanitarian organizations, and attacks on aid that forced many of t smanitarian oro

either cease operations, or limit their lifesaving efforts in gaza. the tragic effectú/ of the use f starvation as a method of warfare against gaza's civilian population is acute, visible, and widely known. it has been confirmed by nesses and victims including local and foreign medical doctors. that starvation is caused and continues to cause deaths■ñ■h9 m malnutrition, dehydti, and profound suffering among the population. salmon is already present in -- famine is already president -- present in some areas of gaza and imminent in others. my office charges benjamin netanyahu and yoav gallantco-pee

commission of these alleged crimes. israel, likthe right to defend its population. it has every right to ensure the return of hostages that have been criminally taken. those rights don't absolve israel of its obligations to complyional humanitarian law. intentionally causing death, and suffering to the civilian population including so very many women and are criminal means to achieve and political goals. that is what we allege. as i have repeatedly underlined, sinceast year, in egypt, in israel, and in palestine command again this year palestine, and again these yearsis year those that don't comply with the law should not complain later when my offi t upon solid

evidence. that day has come. today, we underlined, in the clearest possible fashion, that international law and the laws of armed conflict apply to everyone no foot soldier, no commander, no civilian impunity. nothing on earth can justify willfully depriving human beings, including women and children, babies, the old and the young, of the basic necessities required for life. nothing on earth. nothing can justify akg or the targeting and killing of civilians. independent judges of this international criminal court are the sole arbiters as to whether the necessary standard for the

issuance of warrants of arrests have been met. the judges of the international criminal court must be now given the spacedo their work. to dispassionately and objectively review the evidence we have submitted. should the learned judges approve my applications and issue the requested warrantswile registrar of the port to apprehend the named individuals. i call upon and count on all states, especially state parties to their own s the applications and tudial decn that will be rendered with the same seriousness they have shown in other situations. i ready to work with nonstate parties in our common pursuit of justice and accountability. is critical, in this moment,

that my office, and all parts of the couco our work with full independcei o impede, intimidate, or improperly influence the officials of this court cease immediately. my office will not hesitate to act pursuant to the provisions of article 70 of the rome statute. if such conduct continues, and persists. we will submit further applications for warns of arrests, if determine, after ind ysis, that the threshold of realistic prospect of conviction has -- prospective conviction has been met. myice is advancing multiple, interconnected additional lines ofui cg reports of sexual violence

during the seventh of october attacks in israel and in boing that has caused and continues to cause so many civilian deaths and injuries and so much suffering in gaza. i renew my call for all parties to the current conflict to comply with these basic further delay.w i wish to emphasize that the principle of complementarity, a the rome statute, will continue to be assessed by my office as we take action in relation to the alleged crimes an perpetrators. and as we move forward with other lines of inquiry. complementarity requires us to defer to national authorities only when they sincerely engage in independent and impartial judicialce do not shield suspects from

accountability, and which are not a sham. it requires thorough investigations at all levels, addressing the policies and actions underlined these applications. today, i wish to un message very clearly. it is tr conviction that if we do not demonstrate our wigny with the law -- to apply the law equally, if it is seen as being applied selectively we will be creating the conditions for its complete collapse. and in doing so, we would be loosening the remainingon that hold us together, the st between all communities, all individuals , net to which all victims look to in times of suffering. this is the true risk we face at this pers now, more than ever, we must

collectively demonstrate that international humanitarian law, the foundational baseline for human conduct durg plies to alld applies equally across situations addressed by my fiy e court. this is how we will prove, tangibly, for all this, that the lives of