ICC Issues Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu, Gallant: They Are War Criminals

In a press release on Thursday, the ICC accused the two politicians of “crimes against humanity” committed between October 2023 and May 2024, when the application for warrants was filled out.

The ICC said that while the warrants are classified as ‘secret’ to “protect witnesses and safeguard the investigations,” there are “reasonable grounds both individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”

It also accused Netanyahu and Gallant of using “starvation as a method of warfare,” adding that such policies have caused civilian deaths. The court also underlined that Netanyahu and Gallant could bear “criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population of Gaza.”

Members of the Rome Statute, under which the ICC operates, are obliged to cooperate in arresting Netanyahu and Gallant should they travel to their territory, to be later transferred to The Hague for trial. Many nations, however, including the US, Russia and China, do not recognize the ICC.