The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, called this week for a swift decision on issuing arrest warrants for a top Hamas official in connection with the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the Israeli prime minister and defense minister over Israel’s response and conduct of the war in Gaza.

“In light of the worsening situation in Palestine,” Mr. Khan said in a filing, a decision should be made with the “utmost urgency.”

Mr. Khan asked the court in May to issue arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders behind the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The leaders were Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Muhammad Deif. He sought the warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, on the same charges, citing Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza after that attack.

In the latest filing, on Monday, Mr. Khan withdrew his request for a warrant for Mr. Haniyeh, citing his death. Mr. Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran in late July. Mr. Khan said he was working on establishing the death of Mr. Deif, who the Israeli military said in August had been killed in a strike on Gaza the previous month.

Mr. Khan said in his filing that warrants for Mr. Sinwar, Mr. Deif and the two Israeli ministers were needed to “ensure that they do not obstruct or endanger the investigation or court proceedings” and to “prevent the continuing commission of the crimes alleged.”

The filing conveyed muted frustration, noting that the court had granted multiple requests for submissions and extensions by various parties, sometimes without explaining the relevance of these proposed contributions.