Photo credit: the Guardian
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes during the Gaza war.
The Guardian reports that Netanyahu and Gallant are at risk of arrest if they travel to any of the 124 countries that signed the Rome statute establishing the court. Israel claims to have killed Deif in an airstrike in July. However, the court’s pre-trial chamber said it would “continue to gather information” to confirm his death.
The chamber ruled there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore criminal responsibility as co-perpetrators for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
The court also found reasonable grounds to believe Deif was responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape and hostage-taking relating to the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which fighters killed more than 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, and kidnapped 250.
The US criticized the move. President Joe Biden said in a statement: “Let me be clear once again; whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
Netanyahu’s office said, “Israel utterly rejects the false and absurd charges of the international criminal court, a biased and discriminatory political body.”
Netanyahu said in a video statement, “No outrageous anti-Israel decision will prevent us – and it will not prevent me – from continuing to defend our country in every way. We will not yield to pressure.”
The US National Security Council said: “We remain deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision.
“The United States has been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter. In coordination with partners, including Israel, we are discussing next steps.”
Many UN members accuse the US of double standards because it had previously welcomed the ICC war crimes warrants against Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials for atrocities committed in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Netanyahu can expect more resounding support from the incoming Donald Trump administration.
During Trump’s first term, he imposed sanctions on the ICC aimed at court officials and their families.
The UK is expected to agree to the request to arrest Netanyahu if he came to Britain. However, Downing Street has refused to directly confirm this.
Human rights groups broadly welcomed the warrants.
