The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and its former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
An arrest warrant was also issued for Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri.
“The Chamber found that the alleged conduct of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant concerned the activities of Israeli government bodies and the armed forces against the civilian population in Palestine, more specifically civilians in Gaza,” the ICC explained. “It therefore concerned the relationship between two parties to an international armed conflict, as well as the relationship between an occupying power and the population in occupied territory. For these reasons, with regards to war crimes, the Chamber found it appropriate to issue the arrest warrants pursuant to the law of international armed conflict.”
According to the ICC, the “alleged crimes against humanity were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza.” The entity noted that there are “reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals 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, from at least 8 October 2023 to 20 May 2024.”
Netanyahu’s office condemned the ICC, saying the “antisemitic decision of the International Criminal Court is a modern Dreyfus trial and will end the same way.”
“The decision to issue an arrest warrant against the prime minister was made by a corrupt chief prosecutor who is trying to save himself from sexual harassment accusations, and biased judges who are motivated by antisemitic hatred of Israel,” the statement added. “The ICC prosecutor lied when he told American senators that he would take no action until he had visited Israel and heard its side. Instead, he canceled his arrival in Israel in May, several days after suspicions of sexual harassment were made against him, and announced his intention to issue arrest warrants against the prime minister and former defense minister.”
Netanyahu will “continue to pursue all the objectives that Israel set out to achieve in its just war against Hamas and the Iranian axis of terror,” the statement declared.
Senator John Thune (R-SD) threatened to sanction the ICC if it did not drop its effort to arrest the Israeli officials. He called the arrest warrant against Netanyahu “outrageous, unlawful, and dangerous.”
