THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) — The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and a senior Hamas official for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, asked judges to issue the warrants in May, receiving condemnation from Israel and the United States but praise from human rights organizations.
“The Chamber considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity,” the three-judge panel said in a statement.
The charges against the Israeli leaders center on the use of starvation as a war crime, pointing to the “arbitrary” closing of border crossings and cutting off water and electricity to the Gaza Strip following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
Netanyahu has dismissed the warrant, saying in a statement he “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions.” He vowed that Israel will “not yield to pressure, will not be deterred, and will not retreat” until it has eradicated Hamas.
The court’s chief prosecutor stressed that the warrants were based on evidence conducted during an impartial investigation.
“The decision of the independent judges of the International Criminal Court affirms that international humanitarian law must be upheld in all circumstances through fair and impartial judicial processes,” Khan said in statement.
Khan also requested warrants against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the militant organization’s military chief Mohammed Deif and senior official Ismail Haniyeh on charges of their involvement in the Oct. 7 attacks.
The court issued the warrant for Deif, finding there was enough evidence to believe he had helped organize the cross-border raid last year that left more than 1,000 dead. “The chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that senior leaders of Hamas, comprising of at least Mr. Deif, Mr. Sinwar, and Mr. Haniyeh, agreed to jointly carry out the 7 October 2023 operation,” the court said in a separate statement.
Sinwar and Haniyeh have since been killed in the conflict and the prosecutor has withdrawn the charges against both men. Israel claims to have also killed Deif but that has not been confirmed by Hamas.
Human rights groups were happy with the announcement.
“The ICC arrest warrants against senior Israeli leaders and a Hamas official break through the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law. This is all the more important given the brazen attempts to obstruct the course of justice at the court,” Balkees Jarrah, the associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
“Whether the ICC can effectively deliver on its mandate will depend on governments’ willingness to support justice no matter where abuses are committed and by whom. These warrants should finally push the international community to address atrocities and secure justice for all victims in Palestine and Israel,” Jarrah said.
Issuing the warrants took more than six months, a process which takes on average around three. In the summer, dozens of advocacy organizations, international legal experts and countries weighed in on whether the court has jurisdiction to investigate Israeli officials, after the United Kingdom requested permission to submit a formal argument.
In his statement, the court’s chief prosecutor indicated that there may be more to come.
“In parallel, my office is continuing to pursue its independent and impartial investigation in the situation in the state of Palestine with focus. We are taking forward additional lines of inquiry in areas under the court’s jurisdiction, which include Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” he said.
Israel also contested the court’s jurisdiction, filing its own challenge in September. Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the court in 2002. However, Palestine is, and the prosecutor has said he has the authority to go after those who commit crimes on the territory of a member state.
In the decision, the judges dismissed the arguments made by Israel. “Acceptance by Israel of the court’s jurisdiction is not required, as the court can exercise its jurisdiction on the basis of territorial jurisdiction of Palestine,” the statement said.
The judges dismissed another objection by Israel, finding it was filed at the wrong stage of the proceedings to be considered.
It’s unclear if any of the men will ever be prosecuted. In September, Mongolia gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a warm welcome, despite another arrest warrant from the court.