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ICC ISSUES ARREST WARRANTS FOR ISRAEL’S BENJAMIN NETANYAHU AND YOAV
GALLANT  
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Sondos Asem and Dania Akkad
November 21, 2024
Middle East Eye
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_ It is the first instance in the court's 22-year history it has
issued arrest warrants for western-allied senior officials. The Court
also issues a warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, six
months after request by prosecutor Karim Khan, _

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a news conference
in Tel Aviv on July 13, 2024., Photo: Nir Elias/Agence France-Presse
(AFP) // Middle East Eye

 

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday issued arrest
warrants for Israeli
[[link removed]] Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, six
months after chief prosecutor Karim Khan requested them.

It is the first instance in the court's 22-year history it has issued
arrest warrants for western-allied senior officials.

The Hague-based court also issued a warrant for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim
al-Masri, the Hamas military chief better known as Mohammed Deif,
despite Israeli claims that he was killed in Gaza. 

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
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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. 

Triestino Mariniello, a lawyer representing Palestinian
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ICC, called the warrants "a historic decision".

He noted that the court had endured "pressure and threats of
sanctions" from the US government, but acted nonetheless.

'It's a historic day for anyone who believes in justice for every
victim independently of the power of the culprits'

-_ Triestino Mariniello, lawyer representing Palestinians at ICC_

"That's an important step for its legitimacy and credibility," he told
Middle East Eye. "It's important for Palestinian victims. It's a
historic day for anyone who believes in justice for every victim
independently of the power of the culprits."

Professor Leila Nadya Sadat
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who previously served as the ICC's special adviser on crimes against
humanity, welcomed Thursday's decision as long overdue.

"The referral dates back several years already, with new State
referrals having been added over the course of the past year, and it
was important for the Prosecutor to investigate and for the Court to
issue the warrants if the evidence supported them," Sadat, who is a
professor of international criminal law at Washington University
School of Law, told Middle East Eye.

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
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the head of Hamas' political wing, was assassinated
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said in August that it killed Deif, a claim denied
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Hamas.

The prosecutor subsequently withdrew Haniyeh's arrest warrant. Sinwar,
Haniyeh's successor, was killed
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Gaza in October, as confirmed
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Hamas.

"It is deeply unfortunate that two of the Hamas indictees were
executed by Israel rather than turned over to the Court, depriving
victims of the possibility of seeing them tried for the acts of 7
October," Sadat said.

"It is appropriate, in my view, that the warrants targeted the Prime
Minister and the Defense Minister of Israel, as opposed to individuals
of lower rank, given the scale of the crimes alleged to have been
committed, and the significant death and injury tolls arising from
them, as well as the ongoing humanitarian crisis and impending
starvation."

Earlier this week, UN special rapporteur on Palestine Francesca
Albanese
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Middle East Eye that the ICC should seek warrants for more Israeli
leaders. 

 
ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan requested the arrest warrants on 20
May  (Photo: Agence France-Presse (AFP)  //  Middle East Eye)
Khan's request was part of a war crimes investigations on
the situation in Palestine [[link removed]],
launched in 2021 by his predecessor. 

Israel is not a member of the ICC, but the State of Palestine was
granted membership in 2015. Accordingly, the court can investigate
Israeli individuals for crimes committed in occupied Palestine, which
includes the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. 

All 124 states 
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ratified 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. France
and the Netherlands said they were prepared to enforce the warrants.

Joseph Borrell
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foreign policy chief, said the ICC’s decision is binding on all EU
member states, since they are all members of the court’s statute. 

When approached by MEE for comment, the UK government refused
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say whether it will implement the warrants.

Israeli officials and opposition politicians were unanimous in their
condemnation of the ruling. President Isaac Herzog called the decision
"outrageous", saying "the ICC has turned universal justice into a
universal laughing stock".

Hamas called on the ICC "to expand the scope of accountability to all
criminal occupation leaders".

What crimes are Netanyahu and Gallant accused of?

The judges said they found "reasonable grounds" for the allegations
that Netnayahu, Galland and Deif have breached international
humanitarian law as stipulated the 1949 Geneva Conventions, to which
both Israel and Palestine are parties. 

War crimes are committed in the context of international or
non-international armed conflicts, while crimes against humanity might
be perpetrated during war or peacetime.

The chamber described the situation in Palestine and Israel as both an
international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine as two
states, and a non-international armed conflict between Israel and
Hamas as a non-state actor. 

"The chamber found that the alleged conduct of Mr Netanyahu and Mr
Gallant concerned the activities of Israeli government bodies and the
armed forces against the civilian population in Palestine, more
specifically civilians in Gaza," it said.

"It therefore concerned the relationship between two parties to an
international armed conflict, as well as the relationship between an
occupying power and the population in occupied territory," it added.

The court said that there are reasonable grounds to believe that
Netanyahu and Gallant "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, from at least 8 October 2023 to 20 May
2024".

"This finding is based on the role of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant in
impeding humanitarian aid in violation of international humanitarian
law and their failure to facilitate relief by all means at its
disposal."

The judges added that the restrictions on aid, in addition to cutting
off electricity and reducing fuel supply, had a "severe impact" on the
supply of water in Gaza and the capacity of hospitals to provide
urgent care.

When Israel allowed humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, it was done in a
manner that was insufficient to meet Israel's international legal
obligations to ensure the supply of goods to the population of the
occupied enclave.

"The chamber therefore found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr
Netanyahu and Mr Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war
crime of starvation as a method of warfare," the court said.

It added that Israelis are charged with the crimes against humanity of
murder and persecution. 

Sarit Michaeli, of Israel's largest human rights group B’Tselem,
called on member states of the ICC to make clear statements affirming
they will enforce the warrants.

“States should protect and shield the ICC from any recriminations or
threats,” she told MEE.

What are the charges against Deif?

Deif, the commander of Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades armed wing,
is charged
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the crime against humanity and the war crime of murder, over the the
mass killing of civilians during the Hamas-led attack on southern
Israel on 7 October 2023. 

The judges referred to the attack on the site of the Supernova music
festival and surrounding communities of Kfar Aza, Holit, Nir Oz, Beeri
and Nahal Oz.

The court cited targeted and "coordinated" killings of civilians at
seperate locations on 7 October as sufficient to conclude that the
crime against humanity of extermination.

Additionally, the chamber accused Deif of the war crime of hostage
taking, over the abduction of some 250 Israeli civilians, including
children and elderly people. Around 100 Israelis remain in Hamas
captivity.

Hamas said that the hostage taking was carried out with the aim of
negotiating the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli
jails. 

Finally, the chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that the
crimes of torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, cruel
treatment, and outrages upon personal dignity were committed against
Israeli captives.

* International Criminal Court
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* ICC
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* crimes against humanity
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* war crimes
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* Genocide
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* Humanitarian Aid
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* Oct. 7
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* Hamas
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* Hostages
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* Israel-Gaza War
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* Benjamin Netanyahu
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* Yoav Galant
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* Mohammed Deif
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* Israel
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* Gaza
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* Palestine
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