In a first press release, published this Thursday, November 21, the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicated that it had “issued arrest warrants against two individuals, Mr. Benyamin Netanyahu and Mr. Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and crimes of war committed at least from October 8, 2023 until at least May 20, 2024, the day on which the prosecution filed the requests for arrest warrants.
This decision by the Chamber which sits in The Hague follows the rejection of two challenges to the ICC by the State of Israel. “In the first request, Israel challenged the jurisdiction of the Court over the situation in the State of Palestine in general, and over Israeli nationals more specifically”, and another requesting “to stop all proceedings before the Court in the relevant situation” before having provided “a new notification of the opening of an investigation to its authorities”.
The arrest warrants were classified “secret”, in order to protect witnesses and guarantee the conduct of investigations, the Court said. But “the chamber considers that it is in the interest of the victims and their families that they are informed of the existence of the warrants,” she explained.
A new “Dreyfus trial”
The International Criminal Court has “lost all legitimacy” by issuing “absurd orders”, reacted immediately, on the social network [la CPI]”. Benjamin Netanyahu went further by comparing the Court’s arrest warrants to a new “Dreyfus trial” and deeming the ICC “anti-Semitic”.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan asked the court in May to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant (who was fired in early November by the Israeli prime minister) for war crimes and crimes against humanity. suspected in Gaza.
Arrest warrant for senior Hamas leader
In another statement issued a few minutes earlier, the ICC issued a second international arrest warrant for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, commonly known as “Deif”, a senior Hamas leader, “for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the territory of the State of Israel and the State of Palestine from at least October 7, 2023.
When a warrant is issued by the International Criminal Court, the 123 member states are now responsible for the arrest of the persons concerned if they are present on their territory.