The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the former defence minister.
The court also unanimously issued an arrest warrant for Mohammed Al-Masri, popularly known as ‘Deif’, leader of the Al Qassem Brigades.
The court announced the arrest warrants in a statement issued on Thursday.
According to the statement, the warrant borders on crimes committed from at least October 8, 2023, until at least May 20—the day the prosecution filed the applications for the warrants.
The statement said the arrest warrants were initially classified as ‘secret’ to protect witnesses and safeguard the conduct of the investigations.
“However, the chamber decided to release the information below since conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing,” the statement reads.
“Moreover, the chamber considers it to be in the interest of victims and their families that they are made aware of the warrants’ existence.”
Concerning the crimes, the ICC said it found reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts, as co-perpetrators.
The chamber said it also found reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant acted as civilian superiors and intentionally directed attacks against a civilian population.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the chamber’s decision “outrageous” and said the ICC had “turned universal justice into a universal laughingstock.”
The prosecution initially included Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas, and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political leader, in the filed applications for warrants but withdrew the petitions after confirmation of their deaths.
In July, the Israeli military announced that it killed Deif in an air raid.
However, Deif remained listed on the arrest warrants, with the ICC saying it would continue to gather information concerning his reported death.
The prosecution said it is not in a position to determine whether Deif has been killed or remains alive.
Charges brought against the Hamas commander include murder, extermination, torture, taking hostages, cruel treatment, rape, and other forms of sexual violence.
Hamas welcomed the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, saying it “constitutes an important historical precedent and a correction to a long path of historical injustice against our people”.
In a statement, the White House said the US, Israel’s strongest ally, rejected the ICC’s decision.
