The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague announced on Thursday, November 21, that it had issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The warrants were issued for the Israeli ministers over their responsibility for war crimes carried out by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in the Palestinian territories including the Gaza Strip.
ICC Prosecutor Karim A. A. Khan KC issued a statement on Thursday, explaining that his office submitted applications for arrest warrants before the Pre-Trial Chamber I in relation to the situation in the State of Palestine on May 20, 2024.
The ICC Prosecutor added that his office presented evidence, based on which the judges have confirmed on Thursday, November 21, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Rome Statute crimes have been committed. In accordance with Rome Statute, ICC has jurisdiction with respect to the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, the crime of aggression.
“With respect to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, the judges of the International Criminal Court have found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that each has committed the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts, as a direct perpetrator, acting jointly with others. The Chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that they are each responsible for the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against civilians as a superior,” the statement reads.
Karim Khan also appealed to the 124 States Parties to comply with these judicial orders, and urged non-States Parties to collaborate in working towards accountability and upholding international law. It is worth noting that the United States and Israel are not members of the ICC.
Notably, arrest warrants were also put out for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (Deif), and Ismail Haniyeh, also for war crimes. Sinwar and Haniyeh were killed by Israel in October and July respectively.
Reactions to the decision
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the ICC’s decision on Thursday stating that it “rejected with disgust the court’s false and absurd charges”, which the office said stem from “beliefs of biassed judges motivated by antisemitic hatred of Israel.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who is known for his racist and provocative policies and actions against Palestinians wrote on his account on X: “The International Criminal Court in The Hague shows once again that it is anti-Semitic through and through. This is complete system madness. I support the Prime Minister in the just war”.
“The answer to the arrest warrants is applying sovereignty over all the territories of Judea and Samaria, settlement in all parts of the country and severing ties with the terrorist authority, including sanctions,” Ben Gvir added, calling for the annexation of the occupied West Bank, cutting ties with, and sanctioning the ICC in response to the decision.
Whereas the Biden’s administration stated that it “fundamentally rejects” the issuance of the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant. “We remain deeply concerned by the Prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision. The United States has been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter,” the White House said in a statement.
For its part, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) welcomed the court’s decision describing it as an “important step towards justice”. However, a member of Hamas political bureau Basem Naim said on Thursday that the decision “can lead to redress for the victims in general, but it remains limited and symbolic if it is not supported by all means by all countries around the world.”
Many countries also welcomed the unprecedented decision against Israeli officials, calling for compliance with international law through the implementation of the decision including Jordan, Canada, South Africa, Netherlands, France, Norway, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the European Union. Nevertheless, other countries denounced the court’s decision including Hungary, Austria, and Argentina.
International human rights organizations also hailed the decision considering it a historic step. Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said: “Today’s arrest warrants represent a historic breakthrough for justice and must signal the beginning of the end of the persistent and pervasive impunity at the heart of the human rights crisis in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
Moreover, the President of the International Federation for Human Rights Alice Mogwe, stressed that all state parties to the ICC must commit to the implementation of the court’s decision. “Several countries have already declared that they will execute the arrest warrants and arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu if he arrives on their territory. All States Parties to the ICC must commit to this. It’s a question of respecting decisions of independent international judges and respecting the international justice system. These are fundamental ways in which we can put an end to impunity.”
The genocide has not stopped despite the arrest warrants
As the ICC issued the arrest warrants, new Israeli massacres were committed in the northern Gaza strip on Thursday, in which at least 88 people including children and women were killed. While one of the airstrikes targeted a residential square near the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, killing at least 66 people, another airstrike targeted a home in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, killing at least 22 people.
Now that the ICC has finally issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for their heinous crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza, the international community now acquires new responsibility to stop the genocide and hold Israel accountable for its flagrant crimes.
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