The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, alleging they committed crimes against humanity and war crimes during Israel's year-long war in Gaza against Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Rome-based ICC also issued a warrant on Thursday seeking to arrest Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes from the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel sparking the war in Gaza.
"Today, our collective mind and focus should be on the victims of international crimes in Israel and in the state of Palestine," said the court's top prosecutor Karim Khan.
"In my own meetings with the victims and families of hostages taken from kibbutzim, and with victims from Gaza who have lost so many loved ones, I have underlined that the law is there for all, that its role is to vindicate the rights of all persons," he said.
"The decision of the independent judges of the International Criminal Court affirms that international humanitarian law must be upheld in all circumstances through fair and impartial judicial processes."
The warrants mean the court believes there are "reasonable grounds" to conclude the leaders are responsible for killing civilians and depriving them of food, water and other essential items.
Netanyahu and Gallant are accused of being co-perpetrators of "the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts."
Deif is accused of "crimes against humanity of murder; extermination; torture; and rape and other form 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."
Biden rejects any Israel-Hamas 'equivalence'
It is the first time that the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal issued a warrant for a Western-backed leader.
Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif are now on notice they are to be arrested if they set foot within the ICC's 124 member nations, which do not include China, India, Israel, Russia and the United States.
Israel rejected the warrants and described the ICC as biased and discriminatory. U.S. President Joe Biden called the warrants "outrageous."
"Let me be clear once again: whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas," he said. "We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security."
The court has no means of enforcing the warrants, but some leaders, such as Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, affirmed they will honor the legal obligation. Israel canceled Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp's planned visit after he said that authorities would carry out the arrests.
The warrants deserve international support and "break through the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law,” said Balkees Jarrah, an associate director for Human Rights Watch.
"Whether the ICC can effectively deliver on its mandate will depend on governments’ willingness to support justice no matter where abuses are committed and by whom," she said.
