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Netanyahu condemned the warrant for his arrest, saying Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false acts.”

By MOLLY QUELL, Associated Press

November 21, 2024 | 09:07

THE HAGUE (AP) – The International Criminal Court on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas officials, charging them with war crimes and crimes against humanity during their 13-month war in Gaza and the October 2023 attack on Israel, respectively.

Netanyahu condemned the warrant for his arrest, saying Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false acts.” In a statement from his office, he said: “There is nothing more just than the war that Israel has waged in Gaza.”

The decision makes Netanyahu and the others international wanted suspects and is likely to further isolate them and complicate efforts to negotiate a ceasefire to end the fighting. But its practical consequences may be limited because Israel and its major ally, the United States, are not members of the court and two Hamas officials were killed in the conflict.

Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have condemned ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for an arrest warrant as shameful and anti-Semitic. US President Joe Biden blasted the prosecutor and expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas. Hamas also criticized the request.

The three-judge panel issued a unanimous decision to issue warrants to Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.

“The House considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals have intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population of Gaza of items indispensable to their survival, including food, water and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity,” the parliament writes. said the decision.

The court also issued an arrest warrant for Mohammed Deif, one of the leaders of Hamas, over the October 2023 attacks that triggered Israel’s offensive in Gaza. The ICC’s chief prosecutor withdrew his request for arrest warrants for two other senior Hamas figures, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, after they were both killed in the conflict.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in September that it had filed two legal documents challenging the ICC’s jurisdiction, arguing that the court did not give Israel the opportunity to investigate the allegations themselves before seeking the warrants.

“No other democracy with an independent and respected legal system like the one in Israel has been treated in this prejudicial way by the prosecutor,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein wrote on X. He said Israel remained “steadfast in its commitment to the rule.” law and justice” and would continue to protect its citizens against militancy.

The ICC is a last resort that only prosecutes cases when domestic law enforcement agencies are unable or unwilling to investigate. Israel is not a member of the court. The country has struggled to investigate itself in the past, rights groups say.

Despite the decisions, none of the suspects is likely to face a judge in The Hague anytime soon. The court itself has no police force to enforce decisions, relying instead on cooperation from its member states.

Even so, the threat of arrest could make it difficult for Netanyahu and Gallant to travel abroad, although Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is wanted on an ICC warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, recently indicated he could still visit an ally when he traveled . to Mongolia, one of the member states of the court, and was not arrested.

Member states are required to detain suspects if an arrest warrant has been issued if they set foot on their soil, but the court lacks a mechanism to enforce its decisions.

Khan sought the warrant in May, accusing Netanyahu and Gallant of crimes including murder, intentionally attacking civilians and persecution.

In a statement at the time, Khan claimed that Israel has “deliberately and systematically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of items indispensable for human survival” by closing border crossings into the territory and restricting essential supplies including food and medicine.

At the same time, he charged three Hamas leaders – Sinwar, Deif and Haniyeh – with crimes linked to the October 7, 2023 attacks, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting another 250. The three leaders are accused of crimes including murder, extermination, hostage-taking, rape and torture.

“The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Deif, born in 1965, the supreme commander of the military wing of Hamas (known as the al-Qassam Brigades) at the time of the alleged conduct, is responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder; extermination; torture; and rape and other forms of sexual violence; as well as the crimes of murder, cruel treatment; taking hostages; and rape and other forms of sexual violence,” said a statement.

Haniyeh was killed in what was believed to be an Israeli attack in Iran in July. Israel also claims to have killed Deif, but Hamas has not confirmed his death. Sinwar, who was promoted to succeed Haniyeh as Hamas leader, was killed in an accidental front-line encounter with Israeli troops in October.

Human rights groups have applauded the decision, which came more than six months after Khan made his first request.

“The International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for senior Israeli leaders and a Hamas official shatter the notion that some individuals are beyond the reach of the law,” Balkees Jarrah, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

Israel’s opposition leaders strongly criticized the ICC’s move. Benny Gantz, a retired general and political rival of Netanyahu, condemned the decision, saying it showed “moral blindness” and was a “shameful stain of historic proportions that will never be forgotten.”

Yair Lapid, another opposition leader, called it a “price for terror”.

Yuval Shany, an international law expert at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, said travel for Netanyahu and Gallant to the court’s member states could be complicated, including to countries closely allied with Israel, such as France or Britain.

As members, they are required to enforce court orders, including arrest warrants, even though the court has no formal way to enforce its decisions, Shany said — as Putin’s trip to Mongolia demonstrated.

The case at the ICC is separate from another legal battle Israel is waging at the UN’s highest court, the International Court of Justice, in which South Africa accuses Israel of genocide, a charge Israeli leaders vehemently deny. Lawyers for Israel argued in court that the war in Gaza was a legitimate defense of its people and that it was Hamas militants who were guilty of genocide.

In the wake of the Oct. 7 attack, Israel launched a retaliatory offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who did not say how many were fighters. It has driven 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people from their homes and caused widespread destruction across the besieged territory.

Hamas is still holding around 100 hostages, about a third of whom are believed to be dead. Most of the rest were released in exchange for Palestinians jailed by Israel during a ceasefire last November.