Here are some more lines from ICC prosecutor Karim Khan's statement. This post will focus on the Hamas leaders - the next will focus on the Israeli leaders.

On Sinwar, al-Masri, and Haniyeh, Khan says:

• "It is the view of my office that these individuals planned and instigated the commission of crimes on 7 October 2023, and have through their own actions, including personal visits to hostages shortly after their kidnapping, acknowledged their responsibility for those crimes"
• "During my own visit to Kibbutz Be’eri and Kibbutz Kfar Aza, as well as to the site of Supernova Music Festival in Re’im, I saw the devastating scenes of these attacks and the profound impact of the unconscionable crimes charged in the applications filed today. Speaking with survivors, I heard how the love within a family, the deepest bonds between a parent and a child, were contorted to inflict unfathomable pain through calculated cruelty and extreme callousness. These acts demand accountability"
• "My office also submits there are reasonable grounds to believe that hostages taken from Israel have been kept in inhumane conditions, and that some have been subject to sexual violence, including rape, while being held in captivity. We have reached that conclusion based on medical records, contemporaneous video and documentary evidence, and interviews with victims and survivors"

The International Criminal Court is a permanent global court formed in 2002 which has the power to prosecute individuals and leaders for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The court has no retrospective jurisdiction - it can only deal with crimes committed after 1 July 2002 when the Rome Statute, which established the court, came into effect.

It has been ratified by 124 countries. Israel and the US have not ratified the treaty.

The court has no police force of its own to track down and arrest suspects. It relies on national police services to make arrests and seek their transfer to The Hague.

British lawyer Karim Khan became its chief prosecutor in 2021.

You can read more about the role of the ICC, and who has signed up and ratified, here.

Earlier we brought you the Israeli reaction to the ICC's move - now here's some from the Hamas side.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri tells Reuters that seeking arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders "equates the victim with the executioner".

He also claims the decision encourages Israel to continue what he called its "war of extermination".

We'll bring you more reaction when we have it.

Israel's foreign minister has just announced that a special command centre will be established in the wake of the announcement from the International Criminal Court.

Israel Katz says the group will be set up to fight against the ICC's decision, which he says is intended to tie the hands of the state of Israel and deny it the right to self-defence.

Katz calls the move by the court - which has applied for arrest warrants for Israel's PM and Hamas's leader in Gaza - an "unrestrained frontal assault" on the victims of the 7 October attacks and a "historical disgrace that will be remembered forever".

"No power in the world" will stop Israel from getting hostages home and taking down Hamas, he says.

He adds that he plans to speak to his counterparts around the world to ensure they oppose the prosecutor's decision.

The ICC, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, has been investigating Israel's actions in the occupied West Bank and Gaza for the past three years - and also the actions of Hamas since the 7 October.

Israel is not a member of the court and does not recognise its jurisdiction, but the Palestinian territories were admitted as a member state in 2015.

ICC judges will now determine whether they believe the evidence is sufficient to issue arrest warrants.

The timeframe can vary, with weeks and even months sometimes elapsing between the point at which the ICC prosecutor requests an arrest warrant, and judges ruling on it.

As we've been reporting, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has announced he has applied for arrest warrants for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas's leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

Karim Khan KC said there were reasonable grounds to believe that both men bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

You can watch the moment he made the announcement below:

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz - a political rival of Benjamin Netanyahu - has denounced the decision of the ICC's prosecutor to apply for an arrest warrant for the PM.

"Drawing parallels between the leaders of a democratic country determined to defend itself from despicable terror to leaders of a bloodthirsty terror organisation is a deep distortion of justice and blatant moral bankruptcy," he said.

The leader of the opposition Yair Lapid condemned the announcement by calling it "a disaster".

"It's unforgivable. We have and we are managing a just war, and it needs to be clear that we won't stay silent over it," he said.

The ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, has released a long statement online., external Here are some excerpts:

• He says he has "reasonable grounds" to believe Sinwar, al-Masri, and Haniyeh "bear criminal responsibility" for "war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Israel and the State of Palestine (in the Gaza Strip) from at least 7 October 2023"
• "We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Israel by Hamas and other armed groups pursuant to organisational policies"
• On Netanyahu and Gallant, he says he has "reasonable grounds" to believe they "bear criminal responsibility" for "war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine (in the Gaza Strip) from at least 8 October 2023"
• "We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population pursuant to state policy"

Image source, Getty / EPA

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas's leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

Karim Khan said there were reasonable grounds to believe that both men bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity from at least 7 October 2023.

Khan is also seeking arrest warrants for two other Hamas leaders - Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed al-Masri, and the Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant.

Stay with us all for the latest reaction from Israel, the Middle East, and around the world.