Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
The International Criminal Court, has issued arrest warrants on the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu; and his former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant.
ICC’s warrant disclosed on the court’s X handle, means that neither Netanyahu nor Gallant can travel to some 120 countries that are party to the Rome Statute.
“ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I rejects the State of Israel’s challenges to jurisdiction and issues warrants of arrest for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant,” the post read.
The ICC said that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant committed the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other humane acts.
The court says it found reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant knowingly deprived Gaza’s civilian population of essential supplies, including food, water, fuel, and medical aid, in violation of international humanitarian law.
These actions allegedly created life-threatening conditions, leading to civilian deaths from malnutrition and dehydration. The disruption of medical supplies also resulted in extreme suffering, including surgeries performed without anaesthesia.
The ICC says it found that decisions to allow limited humanitarian aid were often conditional and “not made to fulfil Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law or to ensure that the civilian population in Gaza would be adequately supplied.” Rather these decisions were a response to international pressure and requests by the US, the court said.
The ICC stressed that whether the decisions were conditional or not, “increases in humanitarian assistance were not sufficient to improve the population’s access to essential goods.”
According to the court, there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that there was no clear military need or other justification under international law to justify restrictions on humanitarian relief operations.
The Prime Minister’s Office responded to the warrants, calling the decision anti-Semitic.
“The anti-Semitic decision of the International Criminal Court is equivalent to a modern-day Dreyfus trial—and it will end the same way,” the PMO said.
“Israel vehemently rejects the absurd and false actions and accusations against it by the International Criminal Court, a biased and discriminatory political body.”
The PMO also said that the decision was made by “a corrupt chief prosecutor attempting to save himself from severe allegations of sexual harassment, and by biased judges driven by anti-Semitic hatred toward Israel,” accusing prosecutor Karim Khan of lying to US senators when he said he would not “act against Israel before visiting” Israel.
“No anti-Israel decision will prevent the State of Israel from defending its citizens,” the PMO added, saying that the prime minister “will not succumb to pressure, will not be deterred, and will not retreat until all the war objectives set by Israel at the start of the campaign are achieved.”
This means that neither Netanyahu nor Gallant can travel to any of the 120 countries that are party to the Rome Statute.
While the warrants were classified as “secret” to “protect witnesses and to safeguard the conduct of the investigations,” the court released the information because “conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing,” it said.
The court also said it would be in the best interest of the victims and families that they be made aware of the warrant’s existence.
Additionally, the court issued an arrest warrant for Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif.
The Prosecution had initially filed applications for warrants of arrest for two other senior leaders of Hamas, namely Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar.
Following confirmation of their deaths, the Chamber granted the withdrawal of the applications on 9 August 2024 and 25 October 2024, respectively.
