The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief, as well as a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict.
In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a “widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza”.
The decision was met with outrage in Israel, which called it shameful and absurd. Hamas welcomed the warrants against the Israelis, and a senior official told Reuters it was a first step towards justice.
The warrant for Masri lists charges of mass killings during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, and also charges of rape and the taking of hostages.
Israel has said it killed Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in July but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this. The prosecution indicated it would continue to gather information with respect to his reported death.
Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza. The United States, Israel’s main diplomatic supporter, is also not a member of the ICC.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan had announced on May 20 that he was seeking arrest warrants for alleged crimes connected to the Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the Israeli military response in Gaza. Israeli and Hamas leaders have dismissed allegations that they committed war crimes.
The court does not have its own police force to carry out arrests and relies on its 124 member states for that. Whether they are arrested or not depends on the member states. They have an obligation to do so but the court has only limited diplomatic means to force them if they do not want to.
Netanyahu’s office said the ICC decision was “anti-semitic” and he will “not yield to pressure, will not be deterred” until Israel’s war objectives are met.
The ICC has “lost all legitimacy” after issuing the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said.
“A dark moment for the International Criminal Court,” Saar said on X, adding that it had issued “absurd orders without authority”.
There was no immediate comment from Gallant.
In a statement, Hamas welcomed the warrants against Gallant and Netanyahu and urged the court to expand accountability to all Israeli leaders.
With Reuters report
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