The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
The ICC has also issued arrest warrants for several Hamas officials over the October 7 attacks that triggered Israel’s offensive on Palestinian territory.
Among those with an arrest warrant for them is the head of Hamas’s military wing, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri, known as Mohammed Deif, who Israel says was killed in an airstrike but whose death has never been confirmed.
The decision makes Netanyahu and the others internationally wanted suspects and is likely to further isolate them and complicate efforts to broker a ceasefire to end the 13-month conflict.
But its practical implications could be limited as Israel and its main ally, the United States, are not members of the court and several Hamas officials have subsequently been killed in the conflict.
The ICC said Israel’s acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction was not required because the men could all be arrested if they travel to any of the more than 120 member states.
Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have condemned ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for arrest warrants as shameful and anti-Semitic.
US President Joe Biden also denounced the prosecutor and expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas. Hamas also rejected the request.
The court said today that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant oversaw attacks on the civilian population in Gaza.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Israel claims it killed Mohammed Deif in an airstrike, but his death has never been confirmed
‘The Chamber found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals have deliberately and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of items essential to their survival, including food, water, medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity,” the Chamber said. The three-judge panel wrote in its unanimous decision to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in September that it had filed two legal papers challenging the ICC’s jurisdiction and arguing that the court had not given Israel the opportunity to investigate the allegations itself before applying for the arrest warrants.
“No other democracy with an independent and respected legal system such as that in Israel has been treated in this prejudicial manner by the prosecutor,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein wrote on X.
He said Israel “remains steadfast in its commitment to the rule of law and justice” and will continue to protect its citizens from militancy.
The ICC is a court of last resort that only prosecutes cases when national law enforcement authorities are unable or unwilling to investigate.
“The Chamber found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals have deliberately and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of items essential to their survival,” the three-judge panel said.
Israel is not a member state of the Court. The country has struggled to examine itself in the past, rights groups say.
Despite the arrest warrants, none of the suspects will appear in court in The Hague anytime soon. The court itself does not have police to enforce arrest warrants, but relies on the cooperation of member states.