The International Criminal Court has announced the issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri, citing alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, as stated by the court on Thursday. In their ruling to issue the warrants, the ICC judges determined that there were sufficient grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant bore criminal responsibility for the starvation of individuals in Gaza and the persecution of Palestinians.
The warrant for Al-Masri includes allegations of mass killings during the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, which precipitated the Gaza conflict, as well as charges of rape and hostage-taking. The prosecution has indicated its intention to continue collecting information regarding his reported death.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan 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.
Israel has dismissed the authority of the Hague-based court and refutes allegations of war crimes in Gaza. The Israeli government claims to have killed Al-Masri, also referred to as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike; however, Hamas has not confirmed or denied this assertion.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett characterized the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant as a “mark of shame” for the institution. Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s main opposition party, also criticized the court’s actions, labeling them as “a reward for terrorism.” There has been no immediate response from either Netanyahu or Gallant regarding these developments.
Leaders from both Israel and Hamas have rejected the accusations of war crimes. The ICC lacks its own enforcement mechanism for arrests and depends on its member states to execute such actions. Member states include all countries within the European Union, as well as Britain, Japan, Brazil, Australia, and Canada, along with the Palestinian territories and Jordan in the Middle East. The ICC has stated that Israel’s acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction is not a prerequisite.