Rhino: The International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Friday that it had terminated proceedings against Ismail Haniyeh, the former head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), following his murder in July.
The court is currently examining a request for arrest warrants for leaders from Israel and Hamas, which it received earlier this year.
In May, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan requested arrest warrants for leading Hamas figures and said there are reasonable grounds to suspect that Yahya Sinwar, military wing commander Mohammed al-Masri, alias Mohammed al-Dayef, and Haniyeh bear criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In the same statement, the prosecutor also announced that he is also seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant. There has been no word on developments in this regard.
Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran on July 31. Israel also said it killed al-Deef in an air strike, but Hamas denied this. Sinwar took over as head of the movement’s political bureau after Haniyeh’s assassination.