The ICC headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. Picture: stock
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and senior Hamas military chief Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (or Deif).
The court’s pre-trial chamber rejected a challenge by Israel that it had no jurisdiction, describing it as “premature”.
The warrants are for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from October 8, 2023, until at least May 20, 2024, when applications for the warrants were filed.
The chamber said it had found “reasonable” grounds to believe that the Israelis each bear criminal responsibility for starvation, murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.
“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,” it said.
HAMAS
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan says that for Deif, the commander-in-Chief of the military wing of Hamas known as the Al-Qassam Brigades, the ICC judges found reasonable grounds to believe that he is responsible for murder, extermination, torture, and rape and other forms of sexual violence.
Israel claimed to have killed Deif in an air strike which Hamas has never confirmed or denied.
“My office had also submitted applications for warrants of arrest for Yahya Sinwar, then head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and Ismail Haniyeh, former head of the Hamas Political Bureau, but later withdrew them following evidence confirming their deaths,” he said.
“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.”
He says his office is continuing to investigate the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
“I am deeply concerned about reports of escalating violence, further shrinking humanitarian access, and continued expansion of allegations of international crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Israel has already rejected the moves as “anti-semitic” as have conservative US politicians and Jewish leaders.
