The International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the Gaza war, the court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview on Monday.

Khan said the ICC is also seeking warrants for Israel’s war minister Yoav Gallant.

The warrants against the Israeli politicians mark the first time the ICC has targeted the top leader of a close ally of the United States.

A panel of ICC judges will now consider Khan’s application for the arrest warrants.

The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include “causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict,” Khan told Amanpour.

The ICC chief has also said the UN court seeks arrest warrants against three Hamas leaders.

The resistance movement slammed the decision saying the move “equates the victim with the executioner”.