ICC issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu
25 November 2024
Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the country's former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, are now formally wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for allegedly perpetrating war crimes in Gaza. The warrants cite their use of "starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts." Mohammed Deif, a Hamas military leader who is presumed dead, is also subject to an arrest warrant.
They now risk being arrested if they travel to any of the 124 countries party to the ICC Rome Statute. Neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC, but Palestine has been a member since 2015, which facilitated the investigation of war crimes on their territory.
However, the Hague-based ICC lacks an enforcement method, having no international police force at its disposal. Instead, it relies on member states' national police forces, which are obliged to arrest and hand over Netanyahu and Gallant if they visit their territory.
Leaders in the EU have largely respected the ICC's decision, with the outgoing foreign policy chief Josep Borrell saying the ICC warrants were not political. Belgium, Spain, Ireland, The Netherlands, Austria and Slovenia have signalled that they will arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they enter their territories. The responses from the UK, France, Italy, Czechia and Germany were more opaque, citing the need to initiate a domestic legal process to act on the ICC warrant. The foreign minister of Hungary condemned the decision and dared Netanyahu to visit and defy the warrant.
 | Laoise Murray The warrants won't directly and quickly alleviate the suffering of people in Gaza. However, this decision could indirectly influence other international legal cases seeking to hold Israel accountable for its crimes in Palestine. And if the process proves successful, it could strengthen the rules-based international order that leaders such as Russia's Putin have sought to destroy. |
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