The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday (Nov. 21), for crimes against humanity and war crimes, as the West Asia crisis continues.
It further classified the arrest warrants as “secret” to safeguard the conduct of the investigations.
“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 ICC stated in its statement.
The statement read that the chamber found “reasonable grounds” to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant, 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,” it added.
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (also known as Mohammed Deif).
The court “unanimously” decided to issue an arrest warrant for Hamas’s military commander Mohammed al-Masri “for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on the territory of the State of Israel and the State of Palestine from at least 7 October 2023”.
It further accused him of crims including murder, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence.
Israel, however, has claimed to have killed Deif in an air raid in southern Gaza in July. But the ICC decided to proceed with the warrant, saying it was “not in a position to determine whether [he] has been killed or remains alive”.
‘Antisemitic decision’
Following this, the Prime Minister’s office declared in a statement on Thursday that the ICC’s “antisemitic decision” to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant “is equivalent to a modern Dreyfus trial.”
The PMO vowed that the court’s decision would not deter Israel from protecting its citizens, adding that it rejected “with disgust” the court’s “false” and “absurd” charges — and asserted that they stem from Khan’s efforts to “save his skin from the serious charges against him for sexual harassment” as well as the beliefs of “biased judges motivated by antisemitic hatred of Israel.”
“That is why the prosecutor lied when he told American senators that he would not act against Israel before he got here and heard its side. That is why he suddenly canceled his arrival in Israel last May, a few days after suspicions were raised against him for sexual harassment, and announced his intention to issue arrest warrants against the prime minister and former defense minister,” the PMO charged.
Disclaimer: WION takes the utmost care to accurately and responsibly report conflicts in West Asia involving Israel, Iran, Syria, Iraq, and non-state actors like the Islamic State, among others. In this context, claims and counterclaims are being made online and offline. WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, social media posts, photos, and videos.
(With inputs from agencies)
