International Criminal Court Issues Arrest Warrants Against Israeli PM Netanyahu, Ex-Minister Gallant

A statement said that a pre-trial chamber had rejected Israel's challenges to the ICC's jurisdiction and issued warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant

File photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Source : PTI

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas's military commander for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

A statement said that a pre-trial chamber had rejected Israel's challenges to the ICC's jurisdiction and issued warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, according to BBC.

A warrant was also issued for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, also known as Ibrahim Al-Masri, although the Israeli military has said he was killed in an air strike in Gaza in July. However, Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied the reports.

The move comes after the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced earlier in May, that he was seeking arrest warrants for alleged crimes connected to the Oct.7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas and the Israeli response in Gaza, Reuters reported.

 

Though the ICC has said that Israel's acceptance of the court's jurisdiction was not required, Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the court and denied war crimes in Gaza. 

 

Benjamin Netanyahu's office described the criminal warrant for his arrest as "absurd "and "discriminatory." The Israeli prime minister's office claimed the announcement by the Hague-based Court to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was "anti-Semitic" and "politically biased."

 

Though the Palestinian leader welcomed the verdict, Hamas said it "strongly condemns the attempts of the ICC Prosecutor to equate victims with aggressors by issuing arrest warrants against a number of Palestinian resistance leaders without legal basis."

Reacting to the ICC ruling, the Josep Borrell, Vice-President of the European Commission, said that the rulings of the International Criminal Court are not political and must be implemented.

Over 44,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 1 lakh people have been injured in the Israeli attack in Gaza following the Hamas-led October 7 attacks.

US Rejects ICC Arrest Warrant Against Netanyahu  

The United States has rejected a decision by the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Israeli PM Netanyahu and his former defense chief, a White House National Security Council spokesperson said.

 

"The United States fundamentally rejects the Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials. We remain deeply concerned by the Prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision," the spokesperson said.