The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu

International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuformer Minister of Defense Yoav Gallantand a senior Hamas official, accusing them of war crimes during and after the October 7 attacks on Israel last year.

In a statement on Thursday, the Dutch court said it found “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu bears criminal responsibility for war crimes, including “hunger as a method of war’ and ‘crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts’.

The warrants mark a historic first, making Netanyahu the first Israeli leader to be indicted by an international tribunal for alleged actions against Palestinians in the 76-year conflict. while ICC mandates do not warrant arrests, they could significantly restrict Netanyahu’s ability to travel to ICC member states.

The Prime Minister’s Office rejected the mandates as “absurd and anti-Semitic”.

“Israel totally rejects the absurd and false actions and accusations against it by the International Criminal Court, which is a politically biased and discriminatory body,” his office said, adding that “there is no more just war… after the terrorist organization Hamas launched a murderous attack against it, carrying out the largest massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”

Netanyahu “will not give in to pressure, back down and withdraw until all of the war objectives set by Israel at the start of the campaign are achieved,” it said.

Israel, like the United States, is not a member of the ICC and has challenged the court’s jurisdiction over its actions in the conflict – a challenge the court rejected on Thursday. The ICC claims jurisdiction over territories Israel occupies, including Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank, following the Palestinian leadership’s formal agreement to be bound by the court’s founding principles in 2015.

The court on Thursday also issued a warrant for Hamas official Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deifwhich Israel says was one of the creators The October 7 attack. Israel said it killed him in an airstrike in September, but Hamas has not confirmed his death.

The ICC said it found “reasonable grounds” to believe Deif was responsible for “crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, torture and rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as war crimes of murder, cruel treatment, torture. , hostage-taking, outrages on personal dignity and rape and other forms of sexual violence.”

Deif bears “criminal responsibility” for these crimes, the court said, after he “committed the acts jointly and through others … ordered or induced the commission of the crimes” and because he did not “exercise adequate control over the forces under his effective command and control.”

The court added that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that the crimes against humanity were part of a broad and systematic attack led by Hamas and other armed groups against the civilian population of Israel.”

The ICC prosecutor initially sought warrants for Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, both of whom were killed by Israel. The court said applications for their warrants were withdrawn as a result.

Hamas welcomed the warrants against Israeli officials in a statement, but did not mention the warrant issued for Deif.

“This … represents a significant historical precedent. Correct a long course of historical injustice against our people and the suspected neglect of the horrific abuses they endured during 76 years of fascist occupation,” it said, calling on all nations to cooperate in bringing Israeli leaders to justice and “to take immediate action to stop the genocide” in Gaza.

Hamas condemned the ICC prosecutor’s decision to seek warrants against its leaders in May, saying it was an attempt to “it equates victims with aggressors.”

US opposes ICC action against Israel

The The Biden administration has come out strongly in the past against involving the ICC in investigating Israel’s war in Gaza, but has said in the past that it does not support sanctions against the international court.

In a statement in May, President Joe Biden said “the ICC prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous.”

“And let me be clear: Whatever this prosecutor implies, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas,” he said. “We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”

In early June, the House of Representatives passed a sanctioning bill anyone involved in the ICC’s efforts “to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies.” It was not put to a vote in the Senate.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Sunday threatened to pursue sanctions against the ICC if the international court and “its prosecutor do not reverse their outrageous and illegal actions to pursue arrest warrants against Israeli officials.”

“If Majority Leader Schumer does not act, the Republican majority in the Senate will stand with our key ally Israel and make this — and other supporting legislation — a top priority in the next Congress,” he wrote in a post on X.

President-elect Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the former ICC chief prosecutor during his first term.

CNN asked the State Department and the NSC for comment on the ICC’s issuance of the arrest warrants on Thursday.

Israeli condemnation

Israeli President Isaac Herzog described the warrants as “a dark day for justice. A dark day for humanity.”

He said in a statement on X that “the scandalous decision of the ICC turned universal justice into a universal laughingstock. The sacrifice of all those who fight for justice is mocked.”

The decision, he added, “ignores the basic fact that Israel has been barbarically attacked and has a duty and a right to defend its people. It ignores the fact that Israel is a vibrant democracy that acts in accordance with international humanitarian law and does everything possible to meet the humanitarian needs of its civilian population.”

Newly appointed Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the ICC acted as a political tool serving the most extreme elements working to undermine peace, security and stability in the Middle East.

“From an ethical perspective, this is a moral aberration that turns good into evil and serves the forces of evil,” he said. “From a diplomatic perspective, issuing orders against a country that acts according to international law is a reward and an encouragement to the axis of evil (of Iran-led groups), which flagrantly and consistently violates it.”

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir condemned the ICC as “anti-Semitic from start to finish”, adding that Israel should respond by “enforcing sovereignty” over the occupied West Bank and building Jewish settlements in all territories under control of Israel.

Gallant was defense minister until this month, when Netanyahu fired him after months of clashes over domestic politics and Israel’s war effort. The prime minister said at the time that “the trust between me and the defense minister has broken”. Israel Katz, who had been foreign minister until then, became defense minister.

What happens next?

Eliav Lieblich, a professor of international law at Tel Aviv University, described the ICC decision as “the most dramatic legal development in Israel’s history.”

“Its immediate meaning is that the 124 states parties to the ICC, which include most of Israel’s closest allies, would be legally bound to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they were present on their territories.” Lieblich told CNN.

There could also be wider implications, he added, which “could limit the ability of third parties to cooperate with” the Israeli military.

After an arrest warrant was issued, the ICC send requests for cooperation to the member states. The court does not have its own police force to make arrests, but relies on member states to enforce them, which state parties are legally required to do.

Previous leaders facing ICC arrest warrants have faced limitations on their ability to travel, unable to pass through countries legally bound to arrest them.

ICC judges issued 56 arrest warrants, resulting in 21 arrests and court appearances. Another 27 people remain at large and charges against 7 people have been dropped due to their deaths.

CNN’s Jennifer Hansler, Samantha Waldenberg and Kareem Khadder contributed to this report.

An earlier version of this story was corrected to say the warrants were issued Thursday, not Wednesday.

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