International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu

by Aysha Qamar

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif for war crimes and crimes against humanity on Thursday.

In a statement on Thursday, the Netherlands-based court said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that Netanyahu bears criminal responsibility for war crimes including “starvation as a method of warfare” and “the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”

Netanyahu condemned the ICC’s decision as “antisemitic”; Hamas said the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant had set an “important historical precedent.”

A statement from the White House said the U.S. rejected the ICC decision.

Under the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, 124 state parties across six continents are legally bound to enforce the arrest warrants. Meaning Netanyahu and Gallant could be detained in any one of those countries after the ICC decision.