Eight informed sources told Reuters that Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, made a surprise request to issue arrest warrants for leaders from Israel and Hamas related to the Gaza war, on May 20, the same day he canceled a sensitive mission to gather... Evidence from the region.

Four of the sources said that planning for the visit had been underway for months with US officials.

Khan's decision to request the issuance of arrest warrants upended plans supported by Washington and London for the Attorney General and his team to visit Gaza and Israel.

Five sources with direct knowledge of the communication that took place at the time told Reuters that the court intended to collect evidence from the scene of the events of war crimes, and to provide Israeli leaders the first opportunity to present their position and any action they took to respond to the war crimes accusations.

The sources said that Khan's decision to request the issuance of an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which was the court's first attempt to arrest a Western-backed state leader while in office, also overthrew efforts led by the United States and Britain to prevent the court from prosecuting Israeli leaders.

The two countries said the court had no jurisdiction over Israel, and that seeking arrest warrants would not help resolve the conflict.

Khan's office told Reuters that the decision to seek arrest warrants, which is consistent with the approach taken in all cases, was based on the prosecutor's assessment that there was sufficient evidence to do so, and the view that seeking immediate arrest warrants could prevent crimes already being committed.

(Reuters)