Arrest warrants issued for Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas commander over alleged war crimes 6 hours ago David Gritten BBC News Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defence minister, as well as the military commander of Hamas.
Prime Minister Netanyahu condemned the ICC’s decision as “antisemitic”, while Hamas said the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant had set an “important historical precedent”.
In May, the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan sought warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, Deif and two other Hamas leaders who have since been killed, Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar.
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.
For alleged war crimes, arrest warrants have been issued for Netanyahu, Gallant, and the leader of Hamas.
6 hours prior.
Gritten David.
The BBC News.
The Israeli prime minister and former defense minister, along with the Hamas military commander, have been the targets of arrest warrants issued by judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
According to a statement, a pre-trial chamber issued warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant and dismissed Israel’s challenges to the court’s jurisdiction.
Although Israel claims that Mohammed Deif of Hamas was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July, a warrant was also issued for him.
According to the judges, there were “feasible grounds” that the three men were guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Israel and Hamas have both denied the accusations.
The ICC’s ruling was denounced by Prime Minister Netanyahu as “antisemitic,” while Hamas claimed that the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant had established a critical historical precedent.
Whether or not the 124 member states of the ICC—which exclude Israel and its principal ally, the United States—decide to enforce these warrants will have an impact.
The United States rejected the ICC ruling, according to the White House.
Nonetheless, a number of European nations have declared their respect for the court’s rulings.
On the territory of states parties to the Rome Statute, its founding treaty, the ICC is empowered to bring charges against individuals suspected of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
Even though Israel denies the ICC’s jurisdiction, the court decided in 2021 that it had jurisdiction over Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the occupied West Bank because the UN secretary general had acknowledged the Palestinians as members.
Which charges apply?
Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor, requested warrants in May for Netanyahu, Gallant, Deif, and two other since-deceased Hamas leaders, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh.
Even though Israel considers Deif dead, the chamber stated that the ICC prosecution had informed it that it was unable to ascertain whether he was killed or still alive.
About 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage by Hamas gunmen who attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to the prosecutor’s case against them.
The health ministry of Gaza, which is run by Hamas, reports that at least 44,000 people have been killed in Israel’s military campaign to eradicate Hamas in response to the attack.
The chamber concluded that Deif was “responsible for the war crimes of murder, cruel treatment, torture, taking hostages, outrages upon personal dignity, and rape and other form of sexual violence; as well as the crimes against humanity of murder, extermination, torture, and rape and other form of sexual violence.”.
Additionally, it stated that there were good reasons to think that the crimes against humanity were “part of a widespread and systematic attack directed by Hamas and other armed groups against the civilian population of Israel.”.
The chamber concluded that Netanyahu and Gallant, who was replaced as defense minister earlier this month, “each bear criminal responsibility for the following crimes as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others: the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts; and the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare.”.
Furthermore, it discovered plausible reasons to suspect that “each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.”.
The chamber also pointed out that it had dismissed two Israeli challenges: one challenging the ICC’s jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories and Israeli citizens in particular, and the other claiming that the ICC prosecutor had not allowed Israel to look into the accusations before requesting warrants.
As a court of last resort, the ICC is only meant to step in when national courts are unable or unwilling to adequately look into or bring charges against major international crimes.
Will they arrest Netanyahu?
Although it may make it more difficult for them to travel overseas, Netanyahu and Gallant are not currently in danger of being prosecuted in light of the warrants.
According to the law, both of them must be detained and turned over to the court if they enter any ICC member nation.
The US, which is not a member, was the destination of Netanyahu’s most recent foreign visit in July. However, last year he traveled to a number of other nations, including the United Kingdom.
The government spokesperson said, “We are not getting into hypotheticals,” in response to reporters’ questions about whether Netanyahu would be arrested if he visited the UK. “.”.
To decide whether to approve the warrant, it is thought that a domestic legal procedure would be necessary in the UK.
The Netherlands and Italy are two EU nations that have publicly stated that they would detain any of the men on their soil. A number of other European nations made a commitment to abide by the ICC’s regulations without going into detail.
All EU member states must abide by the ICC ruling, according to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
Not all members of the ICC decide to enforce warrants.
During an official visit to neighboring Mongolia, an ICC member, in September, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is wanted for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, was welcomed and not arrested.
Despite having a warrant for alleged war crimes in the Darfur region, South Africa, another ICC member, did not detain then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir during his 2015 visit.
The US would impose sanctions on those “engaged in any effort to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies,” according to a bill that was already passed by the House of Representatives. John Thune, the incoming Republican leader of the US Senate, urged the Senate to pass the bill.
What is the response from Israel and Hamas?
The ICC has turned into “the enemy of humanity,” Netanyahu claimed in a video, calling it a “dark day in the history of humanity.”.
He claimed that the action was antisemitic and that its sole purpose was to dissuade him and all of us from exercising our inalienable right to defend ourselves from those who would destroy us.
The ruling, according to Gallant, “puts the State of Israel and the murderous Hamas leaders in the same row and thus legitimizes the murder of babies, the rape of women, and the abduction of the elderly from their beds.”.
The ICC’s ruling “constitutes an important historical precedent, and a correction to a long path of historical injustice against our people,” according to Hamas, which did not mention the warrant for Deif but applauded the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
A separate case before the International Court of Justice concerns the accusation that Israel’s forces are committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, a claim that Israel has strongly denied.
The ICC member states were urged to stop “contact and meetings” with Netanyahu and Gallant by the Palestinian Authority, which governs portions of the West Bank, which said the ruling “represents hope and confidence in international law and its institutions.”.
Israeli leaders should be held accountable, Gaza’s Palestinians said.
After her sister Wafa was killed in an Israeli attack a month ago, Munira al-Shami told the BBC, “The court’s decision may ease some of my pain, but until Netanyahu and his army leaders are behind bars, my sister’s soul – and those of tens of thousands of Palestinian victims – will not find peace.”.
