Judges at the International Criminal Court have issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant, in a move that has caused outrage in Israel and among its allies.
The judges also issued a warrant for the arrest of Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, whom Israel says it killed in an air strike in Gaza in July.
The warrants against the three men arise from the events of October 7th, 2023, and their aftermath. Scores of Hamas-led gunmen breached border security that day and attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 others back to Gaza as hostages.
Israel responded by launching a ferocious land and air campaign aimed at “eliminating” Hamas – in which at least 44,000 people have so far been killed in Gaza, according to statistics from the Hamas-run health ministry.
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Dismissing two Israeli legal challenges to its jurisdiction, the pretrial chamber of three judges said it found “reasonable grounds” to believe that all three bore “criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The judges said there was reason to believe Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant were responsible as co-perpetrators for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
In the case of Mr Deif, the judges similarly specified the war crimes and crimes against humanity of murder, extermination, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as cruel treatment and taking of hostages. They said there were reasonable grounds to believe the crimes specified against the Hamas commander were “part of a widespread and systematic attack directed by Hamas and other armed groups against the civilian population of Israel”.
Pointing out that Israel is not a signature to the Rome Statute which established the ICC, Mr Netanyahu’s office dismissed the warrants as “absurd and anti-Semitic”.
However, his ability to travel freely in the West could be severely curtailed if other countries follow the early lead of the Netherlands, whose foreign minister, Caspar Veldkamp, said would arrest Mr Netanhayu if he “set foot on Dutch soil”.
Similarly, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the ICC decision should be “respected and implemented”.
The US criticised the move, however, with president Joe Biden describing the warrants in a statement on Thursday night as “outrageous”.
“Let me be clear once again: whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of president-elect Donald Trump, said: “The ICC is a dangerous joke. It’s time for the US Senate to act and sanction this irresponsible body.”
Taoiseach Simon Harris described the warrants as “an extremely significant step”, adding: “We have insisted that international law must apply in all circumstances – and that those responsible for breaches – must be held fully to account.
[ Israel steps closer to setting up military administration in GazaOpens in new window ]
“There can be no argument against the need for an immediate ceasefire, release of all hostages, and unhindered access for humanitarian aid in Gaza.”
The Netanyahu warrant in particular will top the agenda when the ICC’s governing body, the assembly of states’ parties, holds its annual meeting in The Hague early next month – and governments struggle to prepare for the new Trump presidency.
The ICC does not have its own police force but depends on those 125 member states, signatories to the Rome Statute that set up the court, to detain its most-wanted.
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