The UN ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s Netanyahu, former defense chief and leader of Hamas.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, which Israel issued to him. he said he was killed in an airstrike in July.

The judges found that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that” both Netanyahu and Gallant “willfully and intentionally deprived the citizens of Gaza of the essentials for their survival, including food, water, medicine and drugs, as well as fuel and electricity, from at least October 8, 2023 to 20 May 2024,” where the ICC prosecutor he applied for arrest warrantsthe ICC said in a statement on Thursday.

“These findings are based on the role of Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant in preventing humanitarian aid in violation of international humanitarian law and their failure to assist in all available ways,” the ICC said.

The judges of the United Nations court “found that their conduct led to the disruption of the ability of aid organizations to provide food and other essential goods to people in need in Gaza.” a negative impact on Gaza’s water supply and the ability of hospitals to provide medical care.”

Israel and Hamas react to ICC arrest

Israeli officials criticized the ICC prosecutor’s decision to seek arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant in May, and were quick to condemn the issuance of the warrants on Thursday.

Netanyahu’s office issued a scathing statement denouncing the ICC as anti-Semitic and saying the chief prosecutor was simply seeking warrants. allegations of sexual misconduct.

“Israel rejects with disgust the senseless and false actions and charges brought by the International Criminal Court, which is a biased and discriminatory political body,” Netanyahu’s office said. “There is nothing worse than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza… after the terrorist organization Hamas attacked and killed it, it committed the greatest massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”

“No resolution against Israel will prevent the State of Israel from protecting its citizens,” the statement said, adding that Netanyahu himself “will not give in to pressure, will not back down, and will not back down until all of Israel’s military objectives are met.” that were set at the beginning of the campaign are being achieved.”

Gallant, in a statement, said the court’s decision put Israel and “the murderous leaders of Hamas on the same list and thus authorized the killing of children, the rape of women and the kidnapping of old women from their beds. It is a dangerous example against the right to self-defense and moral war and encourages deadly terrorism.”

Deif, the commander of the Hamas military wing that Israel claims to have killed in the summer, is accused by ICC judges of being “guilty of murder, extermination, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence; as well as war crimes of murder, cruelty, torturing people; 7, 2023 attack on Israel that started the ongoing war.

About 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed in the attack and another 250 were captured.

Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied the killing of Deif in an Israeli airstrike in July.

In a statement, Hamas called the ICC decision “an important step towards justice for Palestine.”

Without saying anything about the warrant for Deif’s arrest, Hamas said “a message must be sent to all war criminals that they will not be punished even if [of] no matter how long it takes and no matter how much you try to mislead people or distort the narrative, the truth prevails.”

What do ICC arrest warrants mean?

Theoretically, the arrest warrants would limit the movement of Netanyahu and Gallant, as any of the 124 member states over which the court has jurisdiction would be responsible for arresting them. Deif, if he were still alive, would still have restrictions on his movement inside Gaza as Israeli military operations continue there.

The ICC does not have a police force, so any arrests will be at the discretion of local law enforcement in member states. Israel and the United States are not signatories, so they do not fall under the court’s jurisdiction.

The foreign minister of the Netherlands said that the country is preparing to comply with these mandates, Reuters reported.

In the US, Republican Senator Lindsay Graham, who is a friend of President-elect Donald Trump, said “The court is a dangerous joke. Now is the time for the US Senate to act and punish this irresponsible body.”

In a social media post, Florida attorney Mike Waltz, who said Trump chose to act as the US national security adviser, he said “the ICC has no credibility and these allegations have been denied by the US government,” adding to the defense of Israel, which he said “legally protects its people and borders from terrorists who kill people.”

“You can expect a strong response to the bias of the ICC and the UN from January,” Waltz said.