In a dramatic move last Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif.
The warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant mark the first time in the ICC’s 22-year history that it has put out arrest warrants for leaders of a pro-Western democracy.
The ICC found Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif guilty of war crimes, as well as crimes against humanity.
The court held Deif responsible for war crimes committed by Hamas en masse on Oct. 7 including murder, extermination, torture, taking hostages and sexual violence.
The court accused Netanyahu and Gallant of “murder, persecution and other inhumane acts,” as well as using “starvation as a method of warfare” in the context of the ongoing Gaza war.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif, earlier this year, along with ex-Hamas chiefs Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, both assassinated by Israel later on during its ongoing war with Hamas.
Israel claimed last summer that the IDF killed Deif, but his death remains unconfirmed.
A number of human rights organizations applauded the ICC’s move. Human Rights Watch said in a press release that the warrants serve to “break through the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law.”
Meanwhile, American and Israeli officials decried the decision.
US President Joe Biden criticized what he called the ICC’s “false equivalence” between Israel and Hamas.
“Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas,” he said in a statement that day.
While Democrats were softer in their criticism, many Republicans called on Biden to take action against the ICC.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) derided the court as a “dangerous joke” and demanded that President Biden issue sanctions against it.
Despite disagreements between Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party and the main opposition party led by Yair Lapid, most politicians opposed the decision.
“Israel rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions leveled against it by ICC,” said Netanyahu’s office in a statement.
“Gone are the days when we could be denied the right to defend ourselves. The attempt to deny Israel its right to achieve its goals in its just war will fail,” wrote Gallant on X the day the warrants were announced.
The warrant for Netanyahu stands to affect his international travel, particularly in European Union countries, which carries serious implications for Israel’s diplomacy.
All 27 EU members are signatory to the Rome Statute, and are thus formally required to carry out ICC arrest warrants, however the responses of European leaders have been mixed, with some hedging on the question of enforcement, and others — like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban — defying the court entirely.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that Germany “abides by the law and legislation nationally, at the European level and internationally.”
The United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands have said they will enforce the statute.
Amid widespread international criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza, the arrest warrants are another massive blow to Israel’s global standing.
Although also under ICC scrutiny, Hamas lauded the court’s warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant in an official statement to Reuters.
“This is an important step on the path to justice and bringing justice to the victims, but it remains a limited and spiritual step if it is not backed practically by all countries,” said senior Hamas official Basem Naim last Friday to the news wire.
On Oct. 7 last year, Hamas stormed across Israel’s southern border and killed some 1,200 people, seizing 251 captives in the process, 101 of whom are still in captivity.
According to Human Rights Watch, Hamas has committed an abundance of war crimes including “summary killings, hostage-taking” and crimes against humanity of “murder and wrongful imprisonment.”
