Arrest warrants issued for Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant and Mohamed Deif over alleged war crimes – Middle East live

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Netanyahu's office: ICC ruling is 'absurd and false lies' and 'antisemitic'

In his first response to the ICC issuing a warrant for his arrest on allegations of war crimes, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has described the ruling as “absurd and false lies” and said the decision is “antisemitic.”

Benjamin Netanyahu’s office say they categorically reject the claims levelled against Israel’s prime minister. Former defense minister Yoav Gallant has also been issued with an arrest warrant.

Netanyahu’s office said the country will “not yield to pressure, will not be deterred, and will not retreat” until, it said, all of Israel’s war aims are achieved.

The three-judge panel wrote in its unanimous decision to issue the warrants: “The chamber considered 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.”

In October 2023, two days after the surprise attack by Hamas inside southern Israel which killed about 1,200 people and led to about 250 people being seized and abducted as hostages, Gallant said “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”

About 100 people are still believed held hostage by Hamas and other groups in Gaza, at least some of which are known to have been killed. Hamas-led authorities in Gaza have put the death toll from Israel’s 13-month long military campaign at over 40,000, although it has not been possible for journalists to verify the casualty figures.

Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said today’s decision was important because it breaks “the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law.”

In a statement, Jarrah said:

The ICC arrest warrants against senior Israeli leaders and a Hamas official break through the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law. This is all the more important given the brazen attempts to obstruct the course of justice at the court.

Whether the ICC can effectively deliver on its mandate will depend on governments’ willingness to support justice no matter where abuses are committed and by whom. These warrants should finally push the international community to address atrocities and secure justice for all victims in Palestine and Israel.

Last week a report by Human Rights Watch said Israel was using evacuation orders to pursue the “deliberate and massive forced displacement” of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, which amounted to a crime against humanity.

Reuters reports that in a statement Hamas has said it welcomes the decision of the international criminal court to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.

In the statement, Hamas said “We call on the international criminal court to expand the scope of accountability to all criminal occupation leaders.”

Israel’s position has always held that the rulings of the international criminal court do not apply to it, as it is not a member.

Foreign minister Gideon Saar on Thursday said that it had “issued absurd orders with no authority” against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant because “Israel is not a member of the court.”

In its announcement today, the court specifically addressed the legitimacy of it making a ruling, writing:

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. This is because they are two High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and because Israel occupies at least parts of Palestine.

The Chamber also found that the law related to non-international armed conflict applied to the fighting between Israel and Hamas.

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.

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.

The Chamber also found that the alleged crimes against humanity were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza.

The Netherlands has said it is prepared to act upon the arrest warrants issued by the international criminal court (ICC), Reuters reports.

Dutch news agency ANP reported on Thursday, citing the country’s foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp as its source, that the country would act against Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu if needed.

ICC says warrant for Hamas leader Deif remains 'secret' to protect witnesses and safeguard investigation

As well as issuing arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defense minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the court had sought arrest warrants against three Hamas leaders – Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif.

Sinwar was killed on 17 October, after a surprise encounter with Israeli forces inside Gaza. Haniyeh, by then, had already been assassinated by Israel in a strike on Tehran on 31 July.

The status of Deif remains unclear, and the court has said Deif’s warrant remains “classified as ‘secret’ to protect witnesses and safeguard the conduct of investigations.”

Israel’s military has claimed to have killed him, in July of this year, but Hamas has never officially confirmed his death. He was said to have survived at least seven previous Israeli assassination attempts.

Israel's president: ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu is 'dark day for humanity'

Israel’s president Isaac Herzog has described the decision of the international criminal court to issue arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant – alongside the Hamas leader Mohammed Deif – for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war as “a dark day for humanity.”

In a post to social media, Herzog said:

This is a dark day for justice. A dark day for humanity.

Taken in bad faith, the outrageous decision at the ICC has turned universal justice into a universal laughing stock. It makes a mockery of the sacrifice of all those who fight for justice – from the Allied victory over the Nazis till today.

It ignores the plight of the 101 Israeli hostages held in brutal captivity by Hamas in Gaza. It ignores Hamas’ cynical use of its own people as human shields. It ignores the basic fact that Israel was barbarically attacked and has the duty and right to defend its people. It ignores the fact that Israel is a vibrant democracy, acting under international humanitarian law, and going to great lengths to provide for the humanitarian needs of the civilian population.

Herzog went on to say the case was bought as a “cynical exploitation of the international legal institutions” and blamed “an Iranian empire of evil”.

Herzog said:

The decision has chosen the side of terror and evil over democracy and freedom, and turned the very system of justice into a human shield for Hamas’ crimes against humanity.

In one section of its announcement, the ICC claims 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.”

In announcing arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the court said:

The Chamber found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, and specific medical supplies, created conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the civilian population in Gaza, which resulted in the death of civilians, including children due to malnutrition and dehydration. On the basis of material presented by the Prosecution covering the period until 20 May 2024, the Chamber could not determine that all elements of the crime against humanity of extermination were met. However, the Chamber did find that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crime against humanity of murder was committed in relation to these victims.

In addition, by intentionally limiting or preventing medical supplies and medicine from getting into Gaza, in particular anaesthetics and anaesthesia machines, the two individuals are also responsible for inflicting great suffering by means of inhumane acts on persons in need of treatment. Doctors were forced to operate on wounded persons and carry out amputations, including on children, without anaesthetics, and/or were forced to use inadequate and unsafe means to sedate patients, causing these persons extreme pain and suffering. This amounts to the crime against humanity of other inhumane acts.

Israel's foreign minister calls on world to 'reject this injustice with disgust' after ICC issues arrest warrants

Israel’s recently appointed foreign minister, Gideon Saar, has said the world should reject ICC warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant with “disgust” as an “injustice”.

Posting in Hebrew to social media, Saar said:

These are orders that are not only directed against them personally. In fact, this is an attack on Israel’s right to defend itself. This attack is directed against the most attacked and threatened country in the world, which is also the only country that other countries in the region openly call for and work to destroy.

From a moral perspective, this is a moral aberration that turns good into bad and serves evil.

From a political perspective – issuing the orders against a country that operates according to international law is a reward and encouragement to the axis of evil, which violates it blatantly and consistently.

Decent countries and every decent person in the world must reject this injustice with disgust.

In its announcement of the decision to issue arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant of Israel, the International criminal court has said that “conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing.”

Here is a segment of the announcement about the Israeli prime minister and the former defense secretary:

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 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. Moreover, the Chamber considers it to be in the interest of victims and their families that they are made aware of the warrants’ existence.

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 defense 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.

Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett said arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were 'mark of shame' for ICC

The international criminal court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, are a “mark of shame” for the ICC, former prime minister Naftali Bennett said on Thursday.

Reuters reports Israel’s main opposition leader Yair Lapid also denounced the move by the The Hague-based court, calling it “a reward for terrorism”.

There has been no immediate comment yet from Netanyahu or Gallant.

The ICC has also issued a warrant for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.

The US has 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 Biden administration to accusations of double standards from many UN members, particularly from the global south.

Some member states have ignored ICC warrants before, but Netanyahu and Gallant would nonetheless risk arrest if they travelled to any country which had signed the 1998 Rome statute.

Khan had requested warrants for three Hamas leaders, two of whom have since been killed, for alleged war crimes relating to the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel in which fighters killed more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 250.

The arrest warrant could increase the external pressure on Netanyahu’s government as the US seeks to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but could well strengthen the prime minister’s political position in Israel in the short term, as most Israelis reject the ICC’s jurisdiction as interference in their country’s internal affairs.

Joe Biden has said he does not believe Netanyahu is doing enough to secure a ceasefire, after the Israeli leader vowed not to compromise over Israeli control over strategic territory inside Gaza. Netanyahu has accused Hamas of failing to negotiate in good faith.

ICC issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif

The international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the county’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.

The warrants put Netanyahu and Gallant at risk of arrest if they travel abroad. There have been unconfirmed reports that Deif may have been killed by Israel.

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.

On Thursday the court said it had found reasonable grounds to believe that Deif was responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes including murder, torture, rape and hostage taking.

We’ll bring you the latest updates on this developing story…