International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, former Israeli defence minister
Warrant also issued for Hamas official Israeli military says it killed in July
THE LATEST:
- ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif.
- Netanyahu condemns decision, expects countries not to support ruling.
- Hamas welcomes decision, calling on ICC to 'expand the scope of accountability.'
- Trudeau says Canada will 'abide by all regulations, rulings of the international courts.'
- Move comes after UN Special Committee finds Israeli warfare in Gaza 'consistent with characteristics of genocide.'
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in that country's deadly 13-month campaign in Gaza.
An arrest warrant was also issued for Hamas official Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, who is said by the Israeli military to have been killed in July. The ICC noted it can't determine if Dief is alive or not.
The court also said it has reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant, who was fired as defence minister earlier this month, are criminally responsible in the "war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts," in Israel's bombardment of Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7, 2023.
Both bear "criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime… against the civilian population," it said.
The court in The Hague in the Netherlands, said the warrants were issued for acts committed between Oct. 8, 2023 and May 20; the latter date is when ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced he was seeking arrest warrants.
The court itself has no police to enforce warrants, instead relying on co-operation from its 124 member states. Here's a look at what the court does.
Khan called on those states "to live up to their commitment," in a statement
The attack by Hamas on southern Israel last year killed an estimated 1,200 people, and Israel has said the Islamist militant group took another 253 people hostage. More than 100 of them have since been released.
In the ensuing 13 months, Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 44,000 people and displaced most of its more than 2.3 million population.
'Dark day,' says Netanyahu
Netanyahu's office called the ruling "antisemitic," in a statement, adding that Israel "categorically rejects the absurd and false lies" of the ICC.
In a video posted on X, Netanyahu said that he expects countries not to support the ICC's decision.
"Today is a dark day in the history of humanity, the international court in The Hague which was invented in order to protect humanity has become today the enemy of humanity," he said.
Gallant said the move, which he described as an attempt to block Israel's "goals in its just war," will fail.
Hamas, meanwhile, welcomed the move, calling on the court to "expand the scope of accountability to all criminal occupation leaders," in a statement.
The court's decision turns Netanyahu and the others into internationally wanted suspects and is likely to further isolate them and complicate efforts to negotiate a ceasefire.
Whether they are arrested depends on the co-operation of the ICC's member states, which do not include Israel or the U.S.
Canada will 'abide,' Trudeau says
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the warrants are not political and that they should be respected and implemented — a sentiment broadly echoed by top officials in the Netherlands, Ireland, Jordan and Canada.
Canada will "abide by all the regulations and rulings of the international courts," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, speaking to reporters in Washington, reiterated Trudeau's stance but would not say if Canada, a founding member of the ICC, would arrest Netanyahu or Gallant if they enter the country.
The U.S. rejected the ICC's move — a White House spokesperson saying Washington is "deeply concerned by the… troubling process" that led to the warrants.
U.S. President Joe Biden earlier this year blasted the ICC prosecutor and reiterated support for Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas, as have lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in Congress, who voted to sanction the ICC. The U.S. Justice Department has also filed charges against several Hamas officials over the Oct. 7 attacks.
The ICC warrants come a week after a UN Special Committee said Israel's warfare in Gaza is "consistent with the characteristics of genocide, with mass civilian casualties and life-threatening conditions intentionally imposed on Palestinians there."
In Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where much of the displaced population is facing a threat of famine and lack of aid, the warrants were met with concern and frustration.
"This decision came very late. [It] should have been made in the beginning of the war," Mahmoud Daoud, 35, told CBC News.
Another displaced resident said he has no hope the warrants will actually lead to arrests.
"It won't be applied.… For sure it won't be applied. Not today or tomorrow, either," Magdy El-Daghma, 57, said.
"Stopping the war and the occupation is in the hands of Israel."
Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, reaction varied among Israeli residents.
"I'm ashamed of this decision. I am ashamed that they are judging and blaming Israel," said Yossi Schneider. Schneider's cousin Shiri Bibas is believed to still be held in Gaza with her children.
But Yaacov Godo, whose son Tom Godo was killed in Kibbutz Kissufim near Gaza on Oct. 8 — after he had barricaded himself in a safe room — said he believed Netanyahu should be tried for alleged war crimes in Israel and Gaza.
"He caused a genocide of Jews in Israel and he caused a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and has the blood of thousands ... of tens of thousands on his hands, and he should definitely pay for it," Godo said, from his protest tent in front of Israel's Knesset in Jerusalem.
"Will he actually pay for it? I don't know."
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With files from CBC's Mohamed El Saife and Chris Iorfida, The Associated Press and Reuters