Arrest Warrants Issued for Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas Commander Over Alleged War Crimes
Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif.
The warrants are based on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas.
A pre-trial chamber at the ICC rejected Israel’s challenges to the court’s jurisdiction, affirming its authority to issue the warrants. The court ruled that it has jurisdiction over the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, as recognized by the UN Secretary-General.
The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity such as murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
Prime Minister Netanyahu condemned the ICC’s decision as “antisemitic,” while Hamas praised the warrants as setting an “important historical precedent”.
The impact of these warrants will largely depend on whether the ICC’s 124 member states, which do not include Israel or its main ally, the United States, decide to enforce them.
The White House has stated that the US rejects the ICC decision, whereas several European countries have expressed respect for the court’s rulings.
What are the Charges?
The prosecutor’s case against the three men stems from the events of October 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel, resulting in approximately 1,200 deaths and 251 hostages taken to Gaza.
Israel’s subsequent military campaign to eliminate Hamas led to at least 44,000 deaths in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
For Mohammed Deif, the chamber found reasonable grounds to believe he was responsible for crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, torture, and rape, as well as war crimes such as taking hostages and outrages upon personal dignity.
Despite Israel’s claim that Deif was killed in an airstrike in July, the ICC prosecution has not confirmed his death.
For Netanyahu and Gallant, who was replaced as defence minister earlier this month, the chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that they “each bear criminal responsibility for the following crimes as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others: the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
The chamber also noted that it had rejected two Israeli challenges: one disputing the ICC’s jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories and Israeli nationals, and the other arguing that the ICC prosecutor had not given Israel the opportunity to investigate the allegations itself before requesting warrants.
“The ICC is a court of last resort and is only supposed to act when domestic courts cannot, or will not, genuinely investigate or prosecute serious international crimes.”
Will Netanyahu be Arrested?
Despite the warrants, Netanyahu and Gallant do not face any immediate threat of prosecution, although it could make it difficult for them to travel abroad. Technically, if either of them set foot in any ICC member state, they must be arrested and handed over to the court.
Netanyahu’s most recent overseas trip was in July to the US, which is not a member. However, last year, he visited several other countries, including the UK, which is.
When asked by journalists if Netanyahu would be arrested if he came to the UK, the government spokesman replied: “We are not getting into hypotheticals”.
It is believed a domestic legal process would be required in the UK to determine whether to endorse the warrant. Two EU countries – Italy and the Netherlands – have openly stated they would arrest any of the men on their territory.
Several other European countries promised to comply with the ICC’s rules without specifying this12. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the ICC decision was binding on all EU member states.
ICC members do not always choose to enforce warrants. For example, Russian President Vladimir Putin, wanted over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, received a warm welcome and was not arrested during an official visit to neighboring Mongolia – an ICC member – in September.
South Africa, another ICC member, also failed to arrest then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir when he visited in 2015 despite him facing a warrant for alleged war crimes in the Darfur region.
In the US, incoming Senate Republican leader John Thune urged the Senate to pass a bill that has already been passed by the House of Representatives, under which the US would impose sanctions on people “engaged in any effort to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies”.
How have Israel and Hamas Reacted?
Netanyahu said in a video that it was a “dark day in the history of humanity,” and that the ICC has become “the enemy of humanity.” “It’s an antisemitic step that has one goal – to deter me, to deter us from having our natural right to defend ourselves against enemies who try to destroy us,” he said.
Gallant said the court’s decision “places the State of Israel and the murderous leaders of Hamas in the same row and thus legitimizes the murder of babies, the rape of women and the abduction of the elderly from their beds”.
Hamas made no mention of the warrant for Deif but welcomed the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, saying the ICC’s decision “constitutes an important historical precedent, and a correction to a long path of historical injustice against our people”.
Israel has vehemently denied the allegation its forces are committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, which is the subject of a separate case before the International Court of Justice.
The Palestinian Authority – which runs parts of the West Bank – said the decision “represents hope and confidence in international law and its institutions” and urged ICC member states to halt “contact and meetings” with Netanyahu and Gallant.
Palestinians in Gaza expressed hope that it would bring Israeli leaders to justice. “The court’s decision may ease some of my pain, but my sister’s soul – and those of tens of thousands of Palestinian victims – will not find peace until Netanyahu and his army leaders are behind bars,” Munira al-Shami, whose sister Wafa was killed in an Israeli attack a month ago, told the BBC.
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