The International Criminal Court (ICC) is being urged to investigate Israel and charge its leaders for "genocide" and "apartheid" against Palestinians.

Three Palestinian rights groups — Al-Haq, Al Mezan, and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights — have filed a lawsuit with the ICC urging it to investigate “the suffocating siege imposed on [Gaza], the forced displacement of its population, the use of toxic gas, and the denial of necessities, such as food, water, fuel, and electricity," according to Al Jazeera.

Over 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliation against Hamas so far, over 4,000 of whom were children. An additional 3,000 of the total were women and the elderly.

Israel has also cut off Gaza's access to food, water, fuel, electricity, and telecommunications against international law. They have refused to let in emergency fuel, making hospitals unable to care for the over 1,000 patients receiving kidney dialysis treatment in Gaza, as well as 130 premature babies in incubators.

Calls for ceasefire

The three groups say Israel's actions constitute “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity,” including "genocide."

They are seeking arrest warrants for Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as demanding “urgent attention to the continuous barrage of Israeli airstrikes on densely populated civilian areas within the Gaza Strip."

The filing references the ICC's arrest warrant issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes in Ukraine. Emmanuel Daoud, lawyer for the three groups, said in the filing that there must be “no room for double standards in international justice."

“Whether war crimes are committed in Ukraine or Palestine, the culprits should be held to account,” he said.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also filed a complaint with the ICC on Oct. 31, claiming that Israel has targeted journalists both inside and outside of Gaza. According to an independent investigation from RSF, reporters from Reuters and Al Jazeera were likely deliberately targeted by an airstrike that killed one and injured six others on the border between Israel and Lebanon, which came from the direction of Israel.