Judges at the International Criminal Court have issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Chief, as well as a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Reacting to the development, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said ICC lost legitimacy with ‘absurd’ arrest warrants.
“The Chamber issued warrants of arrest for two individuals, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest,” the Hague-based ICC said in a statement.
“A warrant had also been issued for Deif,” it added.
The arrest warrants had been classified as “secret”, to protect witnesses and to safeguard the conduct of the investigations, the court said.
“However, the Chamber decided to release the information below since conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing,” the tribunal added.
“Moreover, the Chamber considers it to be in the interest of victims and their families that they are made aware of the warrants’ existence.”
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The ICC said Israel’s acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction was not required.
Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza. Israel has said it killed Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in airstrike but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett termed ICC arrest warrants against PM Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant as “ a mark of shame” for ICC.
(With Inputs from AFP and Reuters)
Published – November 21, 2024 05:45 pm IST
