ICC issues arrest warrant against Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, accusing them of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during Israel's military operations in Gaza.

The arrest warrants, classified as ‘secret’ to protect witnesses and safeguard ongoing investigations, were issued based on the pair’s alleged role in actions that reportedly led to the suffering and deaths of civilians in Gaza between October 2023 and May 2024.

The ICC's ruling accuses both Netanyahu and Gallant of criminal responsibility for multiple violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The court cited evidence that the two Israeli officials played significant roles in policies that led to the deliberate starvation of Gaza’s civilian population, in addition to crimes of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.

“The conduct attributed to Netanyahu and Gallant, as co-perpetrators, involves crimes committed against the civilian population in Gaza,” stated an ICC statement issued on November 21, 2024.

The court found that their actions, including restrictions on food, water, medicine, and humanitarian aid, violated the Geneva Conventions, which regulate the conduct of warfare and the protection of civilians. Material from the prosecution substantiated these findings, revealing how Israeli forces impeded the flow of aid into Gaza, thereby exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the region.

The ICC emphasised that the restrictions placed on humanitarian aid were not based on military necessity but rather seemed to be linked to political objectives, including the military campaign against Hamas.

The court noted that, despite international appeals and urgent warnings from organisations such as the United Nations, the flow of humanitarian supplies remained insufficient and highly conditional.

"The prolongation of deprivation, including the denial of essential supplies to civilians, particularly during wartime, is not only unlawful but amounts to a war crime," said an ICC official. "These measures led to dire consequences for the civilian population, including malnutrition, dehydration, and unnecessary deaths, especially among children."

One of the most serious charges against Netanyahu and Gallant is the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare. The ICC court found “reasonable grounds” to believe that between October 2023 and May 2024, the Israeli government intentionally deprived civilians in Gaza of food, water, fuel, and medical supplies, which are essential for survival.

As a result, the population in Gaza suffered extreme hardship and deprivation, which, according to the ICC, caused unnecessary suffering and deaths among civilians.

Palestinian man Moein Abu Odeh searches for clothes through the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. (REUTERS)

The court’s findings also indicated that Netanyahu and Gallant’s actions led to an environment where hospitals and other healthcare facilities were unable to provide adequate care. Specifically, the deliberate withholding of medical supplies, including anaesthesia and pain-relieving medications, from Gaza forced doctors to perform surgeries on wounded civilians without anaesthesia. The inhumane treatment of patients, including children, subjected them to extreme pain and suffering.

“Depriving people of essential medical care and leaving them to suffer in agony amounts to inflicting cruelty on a massive scale,” said one source from the prosecution.

The ICC has jurisdiction over the alleged crimes in Gaza; the Palestinian Authority accepted the Court’s jurisdiction in 2014. The court has consistently ruled that the conflict between Israel and Palestinian factions, including Hamas, constitutes an international armed conflict due to Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.

"The alleged conduct of Netanyahu and Gallant, including the attack on civilian infrastructure and the denial of access to humanitarian relief, is consistent with violations of the laws of armed conflict," said a legal expert familiar with the case.

"The fact that these crimes were committed during an active conflict period does not grant immunity to the accused individuals, especially when civilian lives were directly targeted."

The arrest warrants further assert that both Netanyahu and Gallant, in their positions of power, failed to take adequate measures to prevent the commission of these crimes or ensure accountability, despite their clear responsibility as civilian superiors in overseeing military operations.

The ICC has argued that both men had the ability to intervene to stop such abuses but chose not to, allowing the policies of deprivation and aggression to continue unabated.