ICC Issues Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu over Alleged ‘War Crimes’ in Gaza

Ex-Israeli defence minister, Hamas military commander too

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The International Criminal Court (ICC) yesterday issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister,  Benjamin Netanyahu, his former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant as well as Hamas Military Commander,  Mohammed Deif, for alleged war crimes.

Netanyahu and Gallant were accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least October 8, 2023 until at least May 20, 2024, a statement from the court said.

According to the ICC, there were reasonable grounds to believe that Gallant and Netanyahu 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.

But in a response, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that “Israel rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions levelled against it by ICC”, stressing that Israel won’t “give in to pressure” in the defence of its citizens.

The court also decided unanimously to issue an arrest warrant for Hamas’s military commander, Deif, for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Israel and Palestine from October 7, 2023.

It accused him of crimes including murder, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence.

But Israel claimed to have killed Deif in an air raid in southern Gaza in July, although the court decided to proceed with the warrant, saying it was “not in a position to determine whether he had been killed or remains alive.

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan had applied for arrest warrants against the Israeli officials and three Hamas leaders in May for alleged crimes committed during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza.

Netanyahu fired Gallant earlier this month, saying he had lost confidence in him over the management of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

Israel is not a member of the ICC and Netanyahu has previously called the prosecutor’s accusations against him a “disgrace”, an attack on the Israeli military and all of Israel.

“Today, on 21 November 2024, the International Criminal Court, in its composition for the situation in the State of Palestine, unanimously issued two decisions rejecting challenges by the State of Israel brought under articles 18 and 19 of the Rome Statute. It also issued warrants of arrest for Mr Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Yoav Gallant.

“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.

“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.

“The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that during the relevant time, international humanitarian law related to international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine applied,” an ICC statement said.

Furthermore, the ICC said it found reasonable grounds to believe that no clear military need or other justification under international humanitarian law could be identified for the restrictions placed on access for humanitarian relief operations by Israel.

It stated that despite warnings and appeals made by the UN Security Council, UN Secretary General, States, and governmental and civil society organisations about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, only minimal humanitarian assistance was authorised.

“In this regard, the Chamber considered the prolonged period of deprivation and Mr Netanyahu’s statement connecting the halt in the essential goods and humanitarian aid with the goals of war.

“The Chamber therefore found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare,” the ICC noted.

The warrants by the Hague-based organisation put Netanyahu and Gallant at risk of arrest if they travel abroad to any of the 120 ICC member countries.

The court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, had requested the arrest warrants in May, saying there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for causing mass starvation in Gaza that constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The US has previously welcomed ICC war crimes warrants against Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials for atrocities committed in Ukraine, while denouncing the court’s pursuit of Netanyahu and Gallant, a mixed stance which has exposed the Joe Biden administration to accusations of double standards from many UN members, particularly from the global south.

Some of the world leaders for whom warrants have been issued by the court since its creation more than two decades ago, include: Vladimir Putin of Russia, Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan as well as Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya.

The court dropped a case in 2016 against William Ruto, then Kenya’s deputy president, who had been charged in 2011 with crimes against humanity and other offenses in connection with post-election violence in Kenya in 2007 and 2008.

A former president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, was also indicted by the court in 2011 over acts committed during violence after the country’s elections in 2010.