The International Criminal Court, ICC, has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes committed during Israel’s war in Gaza after the Hamas-led October 7 attacks.
The court also issued a warrant for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif – a Hamas leader fingered by Israel as one of the masterminds of the October 7 attacks. Israel said Deif was killed in an airstrike earlier this year.
When the ICC first announced its request for an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu six months ago, most people in Israel didn’t think chief prosecutor Karim Khan would ever actually follow through.
The prosecutor’s allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity were widely derided by the Jewish state and only seemed to knit Israelis more tightly together – in the face of what many considered a biased opinion.
Since then, Netanyahu’s popularity in Israel has slowly grown from its dismal standing in the wake of Hamas’ brutal October 7 attack last year.
On the streets of Jerusalem, despite the most profound and perhaps consequential move against its political leaders, people were shrugging off allegations that the prime minister bears “criminal responsibility for war crimes” including “starvation as a method of war” and “crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.”
One woman told CNN she supports the prime minister against the “biased” accusations.
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Part of the country readily believes the Prime Minister’s Office statement on Thursday claiming the ICC has taken an “antisemitic” decision. They are likely to band behind Netanyahu, because the country as a whole will likely feel they’re under siege and misunderstood.
There will be very few people who will dare openly and loudly throw their support behind the ICC, whatever they think about Netanyahu, his deadly Gaza war tactics, or the eye popping Palestinian death toll. Above all, they see the ICC as another international institution that, like the UN, doesn’t understand them and what it takes to survive in this region.
For those outside Israel who believe Khan’s principled legal challenge is going to change the mood in the country, that shift will not bear out overnight, not in the near term – and possibly not for a generation.
Palestinian politicians have celebrated a decision by the ICC to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in relation to alleged war crimes committed in Gaza.
Mustafa Barghouti, an independent Palestinian politician, commended the ICC’s “decisive action” as a “critical step toward accountability and justice for the countless victims of Israel’s violations,” in a statement to CNN on Thursday.
The criminal court released arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on Wednesday, accusing them of war crimes in Gaza – where more than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its campaign, according to the Ministry of Health there.
Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom, said it was “incumbent upon all parties” to enforce the ICC measures. While the court cannot enforce arrests, signatory states are obliged to apprehend those facing warrants.
“The ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant is not only a step towards accountability and justice in Palestine but also a step to restore the credibility of the rules based international order and its judicial system,” he posted on X.
Reported by CNN
