ICC issues arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu

The international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country's former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.

The warrants put Netanyahu and Gallant at risk of arrest if they travel abroad. There have been unconfirmed reports that Deif may have been killed by Israel.

The court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, had requested the arrest warrants in May, saying there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for causing mass starvation in Gaza that constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity.

On Thursday the court said it had found reasonable grounds to believe that Deif was responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes including murder, torture, rape and hostage taking.

The US has previously welcomed ICC war crimes warrants against Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials for atrocities committed in Ukraine, while denouncing the court's pursuit of Netanyahu and Gallant, a mixed stance which has exposed the Biden administration to accusations of double standards from many UN members, particularly from the global south.

The three-judge panel wrote in its unanimous decision to issue warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant: “The chamber considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”

Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the court, which is based in The Hague, and denies war crimes in Gaza. The ICC said on Thursday that Israel's acceptance of the court's jurisdiction was not required.

The Israeli foreign ministry said in September that it had submitted two legal briefs challenging the ICC's jurisdiction and arguing that the court did not provide Israel with the opportunity to investigate the allegations itself before requesting the warrants.

Some member states have ignored ICC warrants before, but Netanyahu and Gallant would nonetheless risk arrest if they travelled to any country that had signed the 1998 Rome statute.

Khan had requested warrants for three Hamas leaders, two of whom have since been killed, for alleged war crimes relating to the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel in which fighters killed more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 250.

Israel has said it has also killed Deif in an airstrike, but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this.

The arrest warrants could increase the external pressure on Netanyahu's government as the US seeks to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but could well strengthen the prime minister's political position in Israel in the short term, as most Israelis reject the ICC's jurisdiction as interference in their country's internal affairs.

Joe Biden has said he does not believe Netanyahu is doing enough to secure a ceasefire, after the Israeli leader vowed not to compromise over Israeli control over strategic territory inside Gaza. Netanyahu has accused Hamas of failing to negotiate in good faith.