U.N. court ICC issues arrest warrants for Israel’s Netanyahu, former defense chief and a Hamas leader

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants Thursday for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, along with Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, whom Israel has said was killed in an airstrike in July.

Judges found there were “reasonable grounds to believe that” both Netanyahu and Gallant “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,” when the ICC prosecutor filed applications for the arrest warrants, the ICC said in a statement Thursday.

“This finding is based on the role of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant in impeding humanitarian aid in violation of international humanitarian law and their failure to facilitate relief by all means at its disposal,” the ICC said.

Judges at the United Nations court “found that their conduct led to the disruption of the ability of humanitarian organizations to provide food and other essential goods to the population in need in Gaza. The aforementioned restrictions together with cutting off electricity and reducing fuel supply also had a severe impact on the availability of water in Gaza and the ability of hospitals to provide medical care.”

Israel and Hamas respond to ICC arrest warrants

Israeli officials condemned the ICC prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant in May, and they were quick to lambast the issuing of the warrants on Thursday.

Netanyahu’s office issued a scathing statement dismissing the ICC as antisemitic and claiming its chief prosecutor had only sought the warrants in the first place to distract from sexual misconduct allegations.

“Israel rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions and charges against it by the International Criminal Court, which is a biased and discriminatory political body,” Netanyahu’s office said. “There is nothing more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza… after the terrorist organization Hamas launched a murderous attack against it, committing the greatest massacre committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”

“No anti-Israeli decision will prevent the State of Israel from protecting its citizens,” the statement said, adding that Netanyahu himself would “not give in to pressure, will not back down, and will not retreat until all the war goals that Israel set at the start of the campaign are achieved.”

Deif, the commander of Hamas’ military wing whom Israel says it killed over the summer, was accused by the ICC judges of being “responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder; extermination; torture; and rape and other forms of sexual violence; as well as the war crimes of murder, cruel treatment, torture; taking hostages; outrages upon personal dignity; and rape and other form of sexual violence,” in connection to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the ongoing war. 

About 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed in that attack and some 250 others taken hostage.

Hamas has not confirmed or denied Deif’s killing in a July Israeli airstrike.

In a statement, Hamas called the ICC decision an “important step towards justice for the Palestinian cause.”

Making no mention of the warrant for Deif’s arrest, Hamas said “a message must be sent to every war criminal that he will not escape punishment regardless [of] how long it will take and no matter how much he tries to mislead people or distort the narrative, truth with prevail.”

What do the ICC arrest warrants mean practically?

Theoretically, the arrest warrants could limit the movements of Netanyahu and Gallant, as any of the 124 member states where the court has jurisdiction would be obligated to arrest them. Deif, if he’s still alive, would already have his movements restricted inside Gaza as Israel’s military operations there continue.

The ICC does not have a police force, so any arrest would be at the discretion of local law enforcement in member states. Israel and the United States are not signatories, so they do not fall under the jurisdiction of the court.

The foreign minister of the Netherlands said the country was preparing to act on the warrants, the Reuters news agency reported.

In the U.S., Republican Senator Lindsay Graham, an ally of President-elect Donald Trump, said “the Court is a dangerous joke. It is now time for the U.S. Senate to act and sanction this irresponsible body.”

In a post on social media, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, whom Trump has picked to serve as U.S. national security adviser, said the “ICC has no credibility and these allegations have been refuted by the U.S. government,” adding a defense of Israel, which he said had “lawfully defended its people & borders from genocidal terrorists.”

“You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC & UN come January,” said Waltz.