The International Criminal Court announced Thursday it had ruled against Israel’s September petition challenging the court’s jurisdiction and issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The ICC accepted prosecutor Karim Khan’s May request to charge Netanyahu and Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from Oct. 8 to May 20.
The statement released by the ICC read that the court “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.” It went on, “The alleged crimes against humanity were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza.”
The statement stressed that international humanitarian law relating to international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine applies to the period in question, which is why it rejected Israel’s jurisdiction challenge and decided to issue the warrants.
The arrest warrants affect all the member states of the ICC, which means that Netanyahu and Gallant can no longer travel to these countries, where they could be detained upon arrival. Israel and the United States are not members of the ICC, but most European countries are.
Avigdor Lieberman, the head of the Israeli opposition party Yisrael Beitenu, was the first Israeli official to react to the ICC announcement. “The court in the Hague supplied today yet another proof to the double standard and hypocrisy of the international community and United Nations institutions,” Lieberman said, adding, “The State of Israel will not apologize for defending its citizens. It is committed to continuing battling terror without making any concessions.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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