Arrest Warrants Issued against Israeli and Hamas Leaders over Alleged War Crimes

Photo Courtesy: Foreign and Commonwealth Office via Wikimedia Commons

A top international court has issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister, and Hamas’ military commander.

The International Criminal Court’s pre-trial chamber considered there were reasonable grounds that the three individuals bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity, after rejecting Israel’s challenges to its jurisdiction.

Three judges at the Hague-based court stated that Netanyahu, alongside defence minister Yoav Gallant, had allegedly used "starvation as a method of warfare” and “directed an attack against the civilian population in Gaza,” amongst “other inhumane acts.”

Hamas’ military commander, Mohammed Deif, who was also issued with a warrant for war crimes including extermination, torture and rape, was reportedly killed by the Israeli military in July. However, prosecutors told the court they would need more time to ascertain his death.

Describing the warrants as “antisemitic,” Netayahu said: “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.” 

Leaders across the Israeli political spectrum have joined together in a chorus of condemnations, as the opposition leader Yair Lapid lambasted the warrants as a “reward for terrorism.”

Hamas has hailed the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant an “important historical precedent,” while the Palestinian Authority’s delegation to the Hague said that justice for Palestine would be the “litmus test of the international system.”

The impact remains uncertain, as the 124 member states of the Rome Statute—the court’s founding treaty—will now have to decide whether to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant when they set foot on their soil. 

Downing Street has indicated that Netanyahu would face arrest if he travels to the UK, while the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the warrants were binding on its member states.

Influential european states like France and Italy have, however, already cast doubts on the warrants’ feasibility, which historically have not always been complied with. Similarly, in 2015, South Africa—the first country to instigate a genocide case against Israel—refused to detain former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir despite an active arrest warrant.

The White House, Israel’s most important ally and not a Rome Statute signatory, has also rejected the “outrageous” warrants.

The statute grants the court jurisdiction to try the most heinous “crimes of all crimes,” such as genocide, when domestic authorities fail to pursue the perpetrators, and member states are legally mandated to abide by its decisions.

NewsReagan Yip and Jinyi ChenUnited Nations, ICC, International Criminal Court, Israel, Israel-Gaza, Israel-Palestine, International RelationsComment