By Sondos Asem, Middle East Eye, Novembewr 21, 2024
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, six months after a request by prosecutor Karim Khan.
The Hague-based court also issued a warrant for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the Hamas military chief better known as Mohammed Deif.
The Israelis and Deif are accused of a range of war crimes and crimes against humanity over atrocities committed since 7 October last year.
In its statement, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I, a panel of three judges, said it has rejected appeals by Israel challenging its jurisdiction.
The chamber said the arrest warrants are classified as “secret” but that it has decided to release them because “conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing”, referring to Israel’s ongoing onslaught on Gaza and the continued detention of Israeli captives by Hamas.
“Moreover, the chamber considers it to be in the interest of victims and their families that they are made aware of the warrants’ existence,” it said.
All 124 member states of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court, are now under an obligation to arrest the wanted individuals and hand them over to the ICC in the Hague. A trial cannot commence in absentia.
However, the court does not have enforcement powers. It relies on the cooperation of member states to arrest and surrender suspects.
Khan announced on 20 May that the prosecutor’s office had filed an application for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Deif.
Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political wing, was assassinated in Iran on 31 July, and Israel said in August that it killed Deif, a claim denied by Hamas.
The prosecutor subsequently withdrew Haniyeh’s arrest warrant. Sinwar, Haniyeh’s successor, has been killed in Gaza, as confirmed by Hamas.
