By Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Grim
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their role in Israel’s ongoing military offensive in the Gaza Strip. In its ruling, the court explicitly rejected arguments made by Israel and the U.S. that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over Israel. “The acceptance by Israel of the Court’s jurisdiction is not required, as the Court can exercise its jurisdiction on the basis of the territorial jurisdiction of Palestine,” the court said.
This is a developing story. Read our full coverage from Jeremy and Murtaza Hussain here or watch for updates on Twitter or Bluesky.
The court’s decision will create serious tension for the European Union, as it wages its own legal battle at the ICC against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin faces an ICC arrest warrant over his invasion of that country, which has increased legal pressure on the Russian leader over the conflict. That warrant is one of Ukraine and the EU’s most potent tools to wield against Putin, whose travel since its issuance has been severely limited. The coming effort by the U.S. and Israel to undermine the ICC will redound to the benefit of Putin if successful. In the meantime, it is a historic setback for Israel’s political leadership.
“This is a watershed event in the history of international justice. The ICC has never, in over 21 years, indicted a pro-Western official. Indeed, no international court since World War II has done so,” said human rights attorney and war crimes prosecutor Reed Brody. “Up until now, the instruments of international justice have been used almost exclusively to address crimes by defeated adversaries as in the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals, powerless outcasts, or opponents of the West such as Vladimir Putin or Slobodan Milošević.”
Alongside the two top Israeli officials, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for the head of Hamas’s military wing, Mohammed Deif, despite Israeli claims that he had been killed earlier this year in an airstrike in the Strip.
In May the ICC announced that the court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan was seeking warrants for senior Israeli and Hamas officials. Among those originally sought for arrest was Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed while reportedly taking part in an ambush of Israeli troops last month.
Today’s statement said that the court had found reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant “each bear criminal responsibility for the following crimes as co-perpetrators for 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 warrants remain classified in part to protect witnesses and the integrity of the investigation, according to the ICC. “However, the Chamber decided to release the information … since conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing,” the court said in its announcement. “Moreover, the Chamber considers it to be in the interest of victims and their families that they are made aware of the warrants’ existence.”
The decision by the ICC to seek warrants against the two senior-most Israeli figures involved in the war in Gaza is certain to face furious pushback from the United States government, which already rejects the ICC’s jurisdiction over its own activities.
In 2002, the George W. Bush administration signed into law a bipartisan bill permitting the use of military force to liberate any U.S. or allied personnel charged with war crimes by the court. The bill, subsequently known in the human rights community as the “Hague Invasion Act,” covers military personnel, elected or appointed officials, and other persons employed by or working on behalf of the government of a NATO-member country, a major non-NATO ally (including Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Argentina, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand), or Taiwan.
This week, incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune called on Congress to pass bipartisan legislation sanctioning ICC prosecutors attempting to prosecute Israeli officials. The Biden administration has spent much of the past year undermining the legitimacy of international law and the jurisdiction of the ICC investigation of Israel. Some 42 Democrats voted for the House bill Thune is vowing to pass.
During President Donald Trump’s first term, he imposed sanctions on ICC prosecutors via executive order in retaliation for the court’s probes into Israel as well as U.S. war crimes committed in Afghanistan. President Joe Biden reversed that order in 2021, calling it “inappropriate and ineffective,” while reiterating his “longstanding objection to the Court’s efforts to assert jurisdiction” over Israel and the US.
There are currently 124 states around the world that have signed the Rome Statute ratifying the court. The U.S. and Israel are not among them, though the court has now rejected Israel’s claim that it holds no jurisdiction over its actions. Now that warrants have been issued, any member state where Netanyahu and Gallant may travel in the future would be obliged to arrest the Israeli officials if they enter their territory, drastically reducing their ability to travel globally.
Senior officials from a number of European Union states, including France, Belgium, and The Netherlands, have said that they will abide by the rulings of the court, likely making these nations off-limits for travel for Netanyahu for the foreseeable future. European Union commissioner Josep Borrell also said after the ICC announcement that “the court’s decision must be respected and implemented” by EU countries. While the Biden administration has already made clear it rejects the jurisdiction of the ICC over Israel, at least one U.S. mayor has pledged to comply with the warrants. “Dearborn will arrest Netanyahu & Gallant if they step within Dearborn city limits,” said Abudullah Hamoud, the mayor of the Michigan city with the largest percentage of Arabs and Muslims in the U.S, in a post on X. “Other cities should declare the same. Our president may not take action, but city leaders can ensure Netanyahu & other war criminals are not welcome to travel freely across these United States.”
The fallout from this historic announcement remains to be determined and will produce pressure and cross-pressure on countries to enforce the law or make an exception for Netanyahu and Gallant. We’ll be covering it all closely, but need reader support to make it happen.
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