International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas officials

[Pelican Press 0]

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International ********* Court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu and ****** officials

The International ********* Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for ******** Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and ****** officials, accusing them of war ******* and ******* against humanity over the war in Gaza and the October 2023 attacks that triggered *******’s offensive in the ************ territory.

The decision turns Netanyahu and the others into internationally wanted suspects and is likely to further isolate them and complicate efforts to negotiate a cease-***** to end the 13-month conflict. But its practical implications could be limited since ******* and its major ally, the ******* States, are not members of the court and several of the ****** officials have been subsequently ******* in the conflict.

Netanyahu and other ******** leaders have condemned ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for warrants as disgraceful and antisemitic. U.S. President Joe Biden also blasted the prosecutor and expressed support for *******’s right to defend itself against ******. ****** also slammed the request.

“The Chamber considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals 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,” the three-judge panel wrote in its unanimous decision to issue warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.

The court also issued a warrant for the arrest of Mohammed Deif, one of the leaders of ******. The ICC chief prosecutor had also sought warrants for two other senior ****** figures, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, but they were both ******* in the conflict.

The ******** Foreign Ministry said in September that it had submitted two legal briefs challenging the ICC’s jurisdiction and arguing that the court did not provide ******* the opportunity to investigate the allegations itself before requesting the warrants.

“No other democracy with an independent and respected legal system like that which exists in ******* has been treated in this prejudicial manner by the Prosecutor,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein wrote on X. He said ******* remained “steadfast in its commitment to the rule of law and justice” and would continue to protect its citizens against militancy.

The ICC is a court of last resort that only prosecutes cases when domestic law enforcement authorities cannot or will not investigate. ******* is not a member state of the court. The country has struggled to investigate itself in the past, rights groups say.

Despite the warrants, none of the suspects is likely to face judges in The Hague any time soon. The court itself has no police to enforce warrants, instead relying on cooperation from its member states.

Even so, the threat of arrest could make it difficult for Netanyahu and Gallant to travel abroad, although Russian President Vladimir ******, who is wanted on an ICC warrant for alleged war ******* in Ukraine, recently showed he could still visit an ally when he traveled to Mongolia, one of the court’s member states, and was not arrested.

Khan sought warrants in May, accusing Netanyahu and Gallant of ******* including *******, intentionally attacking civilians, and persecution.

In a statement at the time, Khan alleged that ******* “has intentionally and systematically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of objects indispensable to human survival” by closing border crossings into the territory and restricting essential supplies including food and medicine.

At the same time, he accused three ****** leaders — Sinwar, Deif and Haniyeh — of ******* linked to the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, when ******-led militants stormed into southern *******, ******** some 1,200 people and abducting another 250. The three leaders are accused of ******* including *******, extermination, taking hostages, ***** and ********.

“The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Deif, born in 1965, the highest commander of the military wing of ****** (known as the al-Qassam Brigades) at the time of the alleged conduct, is responsible for the ******* against humanity of *******; extermination; ********; and ***** and other form of ******* *********; as well as the war ******* of *******, cruel treatment, ********,; taking hostages; outrages upon personal dignity; and ***** and other forms of ******* *********,” a statement says.

Prosecutors withdrew their request for a warrant for Haniyeh, who was assassinated in what was believed to be an ******** strike in Iran in July. ******* also claims to have ******* Deif, but ****** hasn’t confirmed his ******. Sinwar, who was promoted to succeed Haniyeh as ******’ leader, was ******* in a chance front-line encounter with ******** troops in October.

Human rights groups have applauded the decision, which came more than six months after Khan made his initial request.

“The ICC arrest warrants against senior ******** leaders and a ****** official break through the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law,” the associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, Balkees Jarrah, said in a statement.

*******’s opposition leaders fiercely criticized the ICC’s move.

Benny Gantz, a retired general and political rival to Netanyahu, condemned the decision, saying it showed “moral blindness” and was a “shameful stain of historic proportion that will never be forgotten.”

Yair Lapid, another opposition leader, called it a “prize for *******.”

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