The International Criminal Court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, the court has alleged that the individuals have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The ICC stated that Netanyahu and Gallant of a string of human rights abuses in the Gaza Strip, where local health officials said the death toll from the Israeli military’s yearlong assault on the Palestinian enclave had now passed 44,000
In a furious response from the isreal to the arrest warrant Netanyahu’s office branded the warrant as antisemitic, rejecting the charges as absurd and false” and condemning the ICC as a biased and discriminatory political body.”
Also responding Hamas welcomed the decision and stated that it was important towards serving justice. However, senior political official Basem Naim said the court’s decision remains limited and symbolic if it is not supported by all means by all countries around the world to implement it.
A spokesperson for the National Security Council stated that the U.S. has fundamentally rejected the Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials, that spokesperson further noted that the warrant was consenting to the US, He noted that the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision.
In the past, both Israel and the United States did not acknowledge the jurisdiction of the ICC, which has no authority to enforce its summonses. But the summonses do put the Israeli officials at threat of arrest in other countries, including much of Europe.
In an announcement made on Thursday, the ICC issued a rejection of the challenges from Israel to its jurisdiction. The ICC noted that the warrants issued for Netanyahu and Gallant were related to crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, including the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
The ICC further noted that reasonable grounds were found to believe they bore criminal responsibility as civilian superiors” for the war crime of “intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.
Netanyahu and Gallant were accused of having intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.
The ICC said it further found that their conduct had hampered the ability of humanitarian organizations to provide food and other essential items to those in desperate need in the enclave.
ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan declared in May that he was filing applications for the detention of Netanyahu, Gallant and other senior Israeli officials. He had also aimed to arrest warrants for Hamas figures who have played key roles in the ongoing war, including leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in Gaza in October.
On Thursday, the court gave a separate arrest summons for Deif, an alleged originator of the Oct. 7 terror attack, whom Israel said it killed earlier this year.
Deif was charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, including for his role in the October 7 attack in which Israeli officials stated some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage, a major escalation in the decadeslong conflict.
The ICC noted that Khan had initially filed applications for arrest warrants for Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas who was assassinated by Israel in July. But it said the applications were withdrawn following confirmation of their deaths.
It was explained that the court had launched an investigation into the activities which constitute war crimes that were allegedly committed by both Israel and Palestinian militants going back to the Israel-Hamas war in 2014.
Netanyahu has labelled Khan a rogue prosecutor who’s out to demonize the only Jewish state. Thursday’s development drew swift condemnation from Israeli officials, with President Isaac Herzog saying the arrest warrants marked a dark day for justice and a dark day for humanity.
He further noted that the decision by the ICC has been taken in bad faith he further referred to the decision as outrageous saying that the ICC has made a universal decision a universal laughing stock.
Also, while speaking Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to be national security adviser, spoke against the warrant and stated that the ICC has no credibility in the case. In his post on X, he stated that Israel has lawfully defended its people & borders from genocidal terrorists. noting one can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC & UN come January.
In his previous comment, President Joe Biden condemned the ICC’s efforts to issue the arrest warrants as “outrageous,” suggesting they imply a false “equivalence between Israel and Hamas.
While responding to the warrant some leading human rights advocates welcomed the move.
Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, told NBC News that the court’s issuance of arrest warrants is an important step forward for justice for the Palestinian civilians of Gaza, who so far have known mainly injustice.
Keneth further stated that all of the International Criminal Court’s 125 members are now obliged to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant should they dare to step foot on their territory. It was further added that the world has suddenly become a lot smaller for Netanyahu and Gallant.
Roth also stated that the governments providing military support to Israel, including the U.S. which is the biggest supplier of arms to the country should learn from the situation.
He noted that any government that continues to provide weapons to Israel while these crimes continue, which they do, is on notice that they could be charged with aiding and abetting these crimes.
