The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence minister Yoav Gallant “for crimes against humanity and war crimes”.
A statement said a pre-trial chamber had rejected Israel’s challenges to the court’s jurisdiction and issued warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.
“The Chamber issued warrants of arrest for two individuals, Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest,” read the ICC ruling in part.
“The arrest warrants are classified as ‘secret’, in order to protect witnesses and to safeguard the conduct of the investigations. However, the Chamber decided to release the information below since conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing.”
ICC Declines Israel’s Applications
Israel had filed an official objection to the ICC regarding the legality of the prosecutor’s request to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant in September 26.
In the first request, Israel challenged the Court’s jurisdiction over the Situation in the State of Palestine in general, and over Israeli nationals more specifically, on the basis of article 19(2) of the Statute.
In the second request, Israel requested that the Chamber order the Prosecution to provide a new notification of the initiation of an investigation to its authorities under article 18(1) of the Statute.
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Israel also requested the Chamber to halt any proceedings before the Court in the relevant situation, including the consideration of the applications for warrants of arrest for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, submitted by the Prosecution on 20 May 2024.
As to the first challenge, the Chamber noted that the acceptance by Israel of the Court’s jurisdiction is not required, as the Court can exercise its jurisdiction on the basis of territorial jurisdiction of Palestine, as determined by Pre-Trial Chamber I in a previous composition.
Furthermore, the Chamber considered that pursuant to article 19(1) of the Statute, States are not entitled to challenge the Court’s jurisdiction under article 19(2) prior to the issuance of a warrant of arrest.
“Thus, Israel’s challenge is premature. This is without prejudice to any future possible challenges to the Court’s jurisdiction and/or admissibility of any particular case,” the judges ruled.
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Accusations Against Netanyahu
With regard to the crimes, the judges found reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu, at the time of the relevant conduct, and Gallant, at the time of the alleged conduct, each bear criminal responsibility for various crimes as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others
They are accused of war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
The Chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.
ICC also found that their conduct led to the disruption of the ability of humanitarian organisations to provide food and other essential goods to the population in need in Gaza.
Additionally, it stated that the aforementioned restrictions together with cutting off electricity and reducing fuel supply also had a severe impact on the availability of water in Gaza and the ability of hospitals to provide medical care.
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