ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant for war crimes, including use of starvation

The International Criminal Court in the Hague issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity during Israel's ongoing war on the Gaza Strip. The charges include the use of starvation as a method of warfare.

The warrants, drafted by a panel of three judges, state that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both Netanyahu and Gallant “intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population of Gaza of objects indispensable for their survival, including food, water, medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”

In the wake of the deaths of at least 28 children due to malnutrition, a panel of UN experts said in July that famine had spread throughout the strip. More recently, aid organizations have said that Israel had blocked the delivery of aid supplies to hospitals in northern Gaza, where Palestinians “have been struggling to stay alive, with virtually no assistance for more than 40 days,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned on Tuesday.

Israel has repeatedly protested that it is not intentionally starving Palestinians, most recently in a letter to the United States. 

The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Mohamed Deif, the general commander of the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, whom Israel claimed to have killed in August. The charges against Deif pertain to last year’s October 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli settlements near Gaza. The request filed by ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan also included the former head of Hamas's political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, and his successor Yahya Sinwar, both assassinated by Israel in succession in recent months.

With the warrants, Netanyahu and Gallant are now internationally wanted suspects, with ICC member states required to arrest the individuals if they enter their territory.

Countries which are not court members, however, may still host the two politicians, including the United States and India, among others. 

Netanyahu called the move “anti-Semitic” in a comment on Thursday, comparing it to the Dreyfus trial. “Israel utterly rejects the false and absurd charges of the International Criminal Court, a biased and discriminatory political body,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

A White House National Security Council spokesperson told the media that “the United States fundamentally rejects the Court’s decision.” The spokesperson claimed that “troubling process errors” led to the decision and said the US is discussing next steps with its partners.

Hamas welcomed the issuance of arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant in a statement on Thursday, calling it a significant historical precedent that rectifies a longstanding legacy of injustice. 

The group stated the decision was made despite months of US pressure to obstruct it through intimidation of the court and its judges. Hamas called on the ICC to “expand the targets of its accountability measures to include all criminal leaders of the Occupation and its fascist ministers and officers.” It also urged all countries to cooperate in bringing the “Zionist war criminals, Netanyahu and Gallant,” to justice.

On November 17, 2023, the ICC’s Prosecutor Office received a referral from South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip. Chile and Mexico submitted additional referrals to the prosecutor regarding the situation in the State of Palestine in January of this year.