The Worldwide Felony Courtroom (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister and a Hamas army commander for alleged warfare crimes.
Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant had been accused of “crimes in opposition to humanity and warfare crimes dedicated from a minimum of 8 October 2023 till a minimum of 20 Could 2024”, a press release from the court docket mentioned on Thursday.
There are “affordable grounds” to imagine that Gallant and Netanyahu “deliberately and knowingly disadvantaged the civilian inhabitants in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, together with meals, water, and medication and medical provides, in addition to gas and electrical energy”, it mentioned.
Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned in a press release that “Israel rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions leveled in opposition to it by ICC”, including that Israel gained’t “give in to stress” within the defence of its residents.
The court docket additionally determined “unanimously” to problem an arrest warrant for Hamas’s army commander Mohammed al-Masri, often known as Mohammed Deif, “for alleged crimes in opposition to humanity and warfare crimes dedicated” in Israel and Palestine from October 7, 2023.
It accused him of crimes together with homicide, torture, rape and different types of sexual violence.
Israel claims to have killed Deif in an air raid in southern Gaza in July. However the court docket determined to proceed with the warrant, saying it was “not able to find out whether or not [he] has been killed or stays alive”.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan had utilized for arrest warrants in opposition to the Israeli officers and three Hamas leaders in Could for alleged crimes dedicated in the course of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 assault on southern Israel and Israel’s subsequent warfare on Gaza.
ICC prosecutors mentioned there have been affordable grounds to imagine Netanyahu and Gallant – in addition to Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, the group’s political chief Ismail Haniyeh and Deif – bear prison duty for alleged warfare crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity.
Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran in July. Sinwar was killed in fight with the Israeli army in October.
Netanyahu fired Gallant earlier this month, saying he had misplaced confidence in him over the administration of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Israel isn’t a member of the ICC and Netanyahu has beforehand known as the prosecutor’s accusations in opposition to him a “shame”, an assault on the Israeli army and all of Israel.
However the ICC mentioned on Thursday that it had unanimously determined to reject Israel’s enchantment over the court docket’s jurisdiction.
Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut mentioned, “Israel did its greatest to discredit the ICC. It tried to problem its jurisdiction … and Israeli politicians internally had been doing all the pieces they might to battle [the potential ruling].”
Israeli opposition chief Yair Lapid condemned the court docket’s choice, characterising Israel’s warfare on Gaza as a battle for its life “in opposition to terrorist oganisations”.
Former Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman posted on social media platform X that Israel “is not going to apologise for safeguarding its residents and is dedicated to persevering with to battle terrorism with out compromise”.
Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara praised the court docket’s choice to problem the long-awaited arrest warrants, saying “eventually, the individuals of Gaza, after a 12 months of unfolding genocide, would possibly be capable to see their perpetrators face justice”.
Gaza’s Ministry of Well being mentioned on Thursday that Israel’s warfare in Gaza has killed a minimum of 44,056 Palestinians and wounded 104,286 since October 7, 2023.
An estimated 1,139 individuals had been killed in Israel in the course of the Hamas-led assaults that day, and greater than 200 had been taken captive.