International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu over ‘war crimes’

Amid ongoing Israel–Hezbollah conflict, the International Criminal Court on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The arrest warrant has been issued accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The warrant has also been issued against Netanyahu's former defence minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas' military chief Mohammed Deif.

"The Chamber issued warrants of arrest for two individuals, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest," the Hague-based ICC said in a statement, adding a warrant was also issued for Deif.

The decision turns Netanyahu and the others into internationally wanted suspects, reported AP.

However, the practical implications could be limited since Israel and its major ally, the United States, are not members of the court.

The report said that several of the Hamas officials have been subsequently killed in the conflict.

Meanwhile, former prime minister Naftali Bennett said that the International Criminal Court's decision are a "mark of shame" for the ICC.

What the ICC said

The arrest warrants are classified as ‘secret’, in order to protect witnesses and to 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 Chamber considers it to be in the interest of victims and their families that they are made aware of the warrants’ existence.

— At the outset, the Chamber considered that the alleged conduct of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant falls within the jurisdiction of the Court.

— The Chamber recalled that, in a previous composition, it already decided that the Court’s jurisdiction in the situation extended to Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. 

— The Chamber declined to use its discretionary proprio motu powers to determine the admissibility of the two cases at this stage. This is without prejudice to any determination as to the jurisdiction and admissibility of the cases at a later stage.

With regard to the crimes, the Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu, born on 21 October 1949, Prime Minister of Israel at the time of the relevant conduct, and Mr Gallant, born on 8 November 1958, Minister of Defence of Israel at the time of the alleged conduct, 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 found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.

Court on crimes

— Chamber assessed that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population of Gaza. 

— The Chamber found that the material provided by the Prosecution only allowed it to make findings on two incidents that qualified as attacks that were intentionally directed against civilians. 

— Reasonable grounds to believe exist that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant, despite having measures available to them to prevent or repress the commission of crimes or ensure the submittal of the matter to the competent authorities, failed to do so.