ICC Follows Through on Arrest Warrants for Israeli PM Netanyahu & Others

The International Criminal Court announced warrants for the arrest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Muhammed Deif.

NY Times:

The International Criminal Court said on Thursday that it had issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his former Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, dealing an extraordinary blow to Israel’s global standing as it battles militants on multiple fronts.

The court on Thursday also said it had issued a warrant for the arrest of Muhammad Deif, Hamas’s military chief, for crimes against humanity, including murder, hostage taking and sexual violence. Israel said in August that it had killed Mr. Deif.

The court’s chief prosecutor had requested the warrants in May, prompting Israel to fiercely deny the allegations and challenge the court’s legitimacy. The warrants issued Thursday have not been made public, but the court said they include accusations of using of starvation as a weapon of war and “intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.”

Mr. Netanyahu’s office swiftly rejected what it called “absurd and false accusations,” insisting in a statement on Thursday that Israel would continue to defend its citizens by fighting in Gaza. The Israeli leader “will not surrender to the pressures; he will not recoil or withdraw until all of the war’s goals — that were set at the start of the battle — are achieved,” Mr. Netanyahu’s office said.

Israel is not a member of the court, so Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant, whom the prime minister recently fired, do not face any risk of arrest at home. But the warrants mean that they could be arrested if they travel to one of the court’s 124 member nations. That includes most European countries, though not the United States, and could contribute to Mr. Netanyahu’s isolation.

Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, issued a statement that did not mention the warrant for Mr. Deif. He said that whether or not Mr. Netanyahu or Mr. Gallant were arrested, “the truth that has been revealed is that international justice is with us and against” Israel.

Also from NY Times:

Since he requested the warrants in May, Karim Khan, the I.C.C. prosecutor, has come under scrutiny. Earlier this month, the court said it was commissioning an independent investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

The court announced its decision in a pair of press releases, but it did not make the warrants themselves public. The panel of three judges who signed the warrants said they wanted to protect witnesses and the conduct of ongoing investigations. The court said the judges had disclosed their decision because the crimes addressed in the warrants may be continuing, and because it was “in the interest of victims and their families.”