The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and senior Hamas official Mohammed Deif, accusing them of war crimes stemming from the October 7 attacks on Israel last year and their aftermath.
In a statement on Thursday, the Netherlands-based court stated that it found “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu bears criminal responsibility for war crimes, including “starvation as a method of warfare,” alongside crimes against humanity such as “murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
The warrants mark a historic moment, making Netanyahu the first Israeli leader summoned by an international tribunal for alleged actions in the 76-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While ICC arrest warrants do not guarantee enforcement, they could significantly limit Netanyahu’s international travel to member states of the court.
The Prime Minister’s Office dismissed the charges as “absurd and antisemitic.”
“Israel utterly rejects the absurd and false actions and accusations against it by the International Criminal Court, which is a politically biased and discriminatory body,” the office said. It defended the military campaign launched after Hamas’ October 7 attacks, which it described as “the largest massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
The ICC also issued a warrant for Mohammed Deif, a senior Hamas leader believed to have orchestrated the October 7 attacks. Although Israel claims to have killed Deif in a September airstrike, Hamas has not confirmed his death. The ICC charged Deif with crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, torture, and sexual violence, as well as war crimes such as cruel treatment, taking hostages, and outrages upon personal dignity.
The court claims jurisdiction over territories occupied by Israel – Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank – under Palestine’s 2015 formal agreement to its founding principles. Israel and the United States, both non-members of the ICC, dispute the court’s authority to prosecute Israeli or American nationals.
The Prime Minister’s Office reiterated Netanyahu’s resolve, stating, “He will not yield to pressure, will not back down, and will not retreat until all the goals of the war set by Israel at the start of the campaign are achieved.”
This development intensifies the global debate over accountability in the conflict, with both sides facing accusations of grave human rights violations.