The warrants for the Israeli prime minister and former defence minister pertain to crimes against humanity and war crimes. The ICC did not disclose Deif’s warrant of arrest, stating it was a “secret”.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas millitary commander Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, aka Mohammed Deif.
In a written statement on Thursday, the ICC said Netanyahu and Gallant are responsible for committing “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in September that it had submitted two legal briefs challenging the ICC’s jurisdiction and arguing that the court did not provide Israel the opportunity to investigate the allegations itself before requesting the warrants.
“No other democracy with an independent and respected legal system like that which exists in Israel has been treated in this prejudicial manner by the Prosecutor,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein wrote on X. He said Israel remained “steadfast in its commitment to the rule of law and justice” and would continue to protect its citizens against militancy.
The ICC said that “the acceptance by Israel of the Court’s jurisdiction is not required.”
The threat of arrest could make it difficult for Netanyahu and Gallant to travel abroad, although Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is wanted on an ICC warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, recently showed he could still visit an ally when he travelled to Mongolia, one of the court’s member states, and was not arrested.
Meanwhile, the tribunal ruled that Deif’s warrant was “classified as ‘secret’ to protect witnesses and safeguard the conduct of investigations.”
Deif was one of the reported masterminds of the October 7 attack last year. In July, the Israeli military claimed to have killed the Hamas commander in an airstrike in Gaza, but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied these claims.
The tribunal’s chief prosecutor had also sought warrants for two other senior Hamas figures, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, but they were both killed in the conflict.
