The International Criminal Court Has Issued Arrest Warrants For Netanyahu And Israel’s Defense Minister
The ICC said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe Netanyahu and Gallant had committed crimes including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The ICC said on Nov. 21 there were "reasonable grounds" to believe Netanyahu and Gallant had committed crimes including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war from at least Oct. 8, 2023, until at least May 20, 2024.
The court said Netanyahu and Gallant “intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival,” including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.
The court said this led to tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza being killed and caused severe suffering for people in need of medical treatment.
The court said its findings were based on the two’s role in blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza without showing a clear military need or other justification under international humanitarian law, thus amounting to the war crime of starvation as a weapon of war.
It said the two like also bore criminal responsibility in intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas’ military leader Mohammed Deif for crimes committed from Oct. 7, 2023, including Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel, that killed 1,130 Israelis, according to Al Jazeera.
The Israeli military said it killed Deif in an airstrike in Gaza's Khan Younis area in July, but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this.
The ICC said it decided to proceed with the arrest warrant as it was “not in a position to determine whether [he] has been killed or remains alive”, according to Al Jazeera.
The arrest warrants come after the ICC’s prosecutor Karim Khan requested them for Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas’ leader Yahya Sinwar, its political leader, Ismail Hanyieh and Deif.
Haniyeh was assassinated in July, and Sinwar was killed in combat with Israeli soldiers in Rafah in October.
Both Israel and Hamas’ leaders had previously denied the accusations of the war crimes.
Netanyahu’s office called the arrest warrant against him “anti-semitic” in a statement, saying that Israel will "not yield to pressure, will not be deterred" until its war goals are met.
Israel had already tried to argue that the ICC didn't have the authority to investigate it, arguing it was outside of its jurisdiction.
However, the ICC said that Israel prematurely rejected its authority and doesn't have to agree for the court to move forward with the case.
Once the ICC issues an arrest warrant, it relies on its member countries to make arrests, as it doesn’t have its own police force, according to Reuters.
These include the European Union, Britain, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Canada and Palestine and Jordan in the Middle East.
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