Criminal. Cartoon of 23/11/2024 in CTXT
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for war crimes against humanity for acts committed between 8 October and 20 May 2023.
ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I thus rejects the State of Israel's jurisdictional challenges and issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
In the press release of 21 November 2024, the court argues for the arrest warrants:
The Chamber issued arrest warrants 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 on which the Prosecution filed the applications for arrest warrants.
The arrest warrants are classified as "secret" in order to protect witnesses and safeguard the conduct of investigations. However, the Chamber has decided to make the information below public, as it appears that conduct similar to that addressed in the arrest warrant is taking place. Furthermore, the Chamber considers that it is in the interests of the victims and their families to be informed of the existence of the arrest warrants.
First, the Chamber considered that the alleged conduct of Messrs Netanyahu and Gallant falls within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal. The Chamber recalled that, in a previous composition, it had already decided that the Tribunal's jurisdiction in the situation extended to Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Furthermore, the Chamber declined to use its ex officio discretion to determine the admissibility of the two cases at this stage. This is without prejudice to any determination as to jurisdiction and admissibility of the cases at a later stage.
With respect to the crimes, the Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Netanyahu, born on 21 October 1949, Prime Minister of Israel at the time of the relevant conduct, and Mr. Gallant, born on 8 November 1958, Minister of Defence of Israel at the time of the alleged conduct, are criminally responsible for the following crimes as co-perpetrators by committing the acts jointly with others: the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.
The Chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.
Alleged offences
The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that during the relevant time, international humanitarian law related to the international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine applied. This is because they are both High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and because Israel occupies at least parts of Palestine.
The Chamber also considered that the Law of Non-International Armed Conflict applied to the fighting between Israel and Hamas. The Chamber considered that the alleged conduct of Messrs Netanyahu and Gallant concerned the activities of Israeli governmental bodies and armed forces against the civilian population in Palestine, more specifically against civilians in Gaza. It therefore concerned the relationship between two parties to an international armed conflict, as well as the relationship between an occupying power and the population in an occupied territory. For these reasons, as far as war crimes were concerned, the Chamber considered it appropriate to issue the warrants of arrest in accordance with the Law of International Armed Conflict. The Chamber also found that the alleged crimes against humanity were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza.
The Chamber found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both persons knowingly and intentionally deprived the civilian population of Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water and medical drugs and supplies, as well as fuel and electricity, from at least 8 October 2023 until 20 May 2024.
This conclusion is based on the role of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant in obstructing humanitarian aid in violation of international humanitarian law and their failure to facilitate relief by all means available to them. The Chamber found that their conduct resulted in the disruption of the ability of humanitarian organisations to provide food and other essential goods to the needy population in Gaza. The above restrictions, together with the power cuts and reduced fuel supplies, also had a serious impact on the availability of water in Gaza and on the ability of hospitals to provide medical care.
The Chamber also noted that decisions allowing or increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza were often conditional. They were not taken to comply with Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law or to ensure that the civilian population of Gaza received an adequate supply of the goods they needed. In fact, they were a response to pressure from the international community or requests from the US. In any case, the increases in humanitarian aid were not sufficient to improve the population's access to essential goods.
Moreover, the Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that no clear military necessity or other justification under international humanitarian law could be identified for the restrictions imposed on access for humanitarian aid operations. Despite warnings and appeals made, inter alia, by the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary-General, States and governmental and civil society organisations about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, only minimal humanitarian assistance was authorised. In this regard, the Chamber took into account the prolonged period of deprivation and Mr. Netanyahu's statement linking the stoppage of essential goods and humanitarian aid to the objectives of the war.
Therefore, the Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare.
The Chamber found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, as well as specific medical supplies, created living conditions calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the civilian population of Gaza, resulting in the death of civilians, including children due to malnutrition and dehydration. On the basis of the material presented by the Prosecution, covering the period up to 20 May 2024, the Chamber was unable to find that all elements of the crime against humanity of extermination were met. However, the Chamber did find that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crime against humanity of murder was committed in relation to these victims.
Furthermore, by intentionally limiting or preventing the entry into Gaza of medical supplies and medicines, in particular anaesthetics and anaesthesia machines, the two individuals are also responsible for inflicting great suffering through inhumane acts on people in need of treatment. Doctors were forced to operate on injured persons and perform amputations, including on children, without anaesthesia, and/or were forced to use inappropriate and unsafe means to sedate patients, causing them extreme pain and suffering. This amounts to the crime against humanity of other inhumane acts.
The Chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that the above conduct deprived a significant part of the civilian population of Gaza of their fundamental rights, including the rights to life and health, and that the population was targeted for political and/or national reasons. It therefore concluded that the crime against humanity of persecution had been committed.
Finally, the Chamber found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Messrs Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population of Gaza. In this regard, the Chamber considered that the material provided by the Prosecution only allowed it to make findings on two incidents that could be characterised as attacks intentionally directed against civilians. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant, despite having at their disposal measures to prevent or suppress the commission of crimes or to ensure the referral of the matter to the competent authorities, failed to do so.
Reactions to the arrest warrant have been notable for the position of certain political leaders announcing that they do not intend to comply with it if Netanyahu sets foot on their soil. Germany, for example, has indicated that it will not arrest Netanyahu.
Steffen Hebestreit, a spokesman for the German government, believes that Berlin is unlikely to comply with the ICC order against Netanyahu:"I find it hard to imagine that arrests can be made in Germany on this basis," he said.
Joe Biden called the international arrest warrant "outrageous".
"The ICC's issuing of arrest warrants for Israeli leaders is outrageous. Let me be clear once again: whatever the ICC may imply, there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security".
Hungary's far-right President Viktor Orbán calls the court's decision "shameless" and "cynical" and invites him to visit Budapest, saying the Hague Criminal Court's order will have no effect on his country.
In Italy, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto declared that, while it was "wrong" to compare Netanyahu and Gallant to Hamas, if both were to enter Italy, "we would have to stop them". However, Matteo Salvini, deputy prime minister and minister for infrastructure and transport, does not share the same opinion. "I plan to meet soon with representatives of the Israeli government and if Netanyahu were to come to Italy he would be welcome. The war criminals are others," Salvini said on Friday morning, despite the defence chief's words.(Source).
The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, also repudiated the arrest warrant for Netanyahu and dismissed the genocide by appealing to the right to defence to defend criminals: "This resolution ignores Israel's legitimate right to defend itself against constant attacks by terrorist organisations such as Hamas and Hezbollah".
While this is going on, Israel continues to massacre civilians unceremoniously and attacks on the UN peacekeeping mission are repeated. UNIFIL denounced that four of its blue helmets were wounded in an Israeli attack in Lebanon.
Netanyahu, for a change, responded by calling the ICC anti-Semitic and thanked Biden and Orbán for their support.
On 24 May, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to halt its military offensive against Rafah and to open the crossing with Egypt to allow humanitarian aid in. There is no need to recall where Netanyahu went wrong with that order.
Three days earlier, the International Criminal Court had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Galant for possible war crimes and also requested the same measure for several Hamas leaders.
The arrest warrant, beyond the symbolic" and a rather belated declaration of intent, can be seen as a"less is nothing". The chances of these guys being arrested are slim. The ICC has no police force of its own, so according to its statute the 124 states that make up the ICC are obliged to arrest and surrender any person for whom an arrest warrant has been issued if he or she sets foot on their territory. The circumstances are different.
