The arrest warrant which was issued by ICC on 21st November 2024 cited allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, which has been well-documented across different social media platforms since October 8th, 2023.
Ap News
In a victorious step for people across the globe protesting to bring an end to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the UN-backed International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, together with a former Hamas commander. The arrest warrant which was issued by ICC on 21st November 2024 cited allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, which have been well-documented across different social media platforms since October 8th, 2023.
Over a year into the escalation of the decades-long genocide in Gaza, judges on the ICC have finally said that there were reasonable grounds that the three men who faced the arrest warrants bore criminal responsibility for the crimes committed. The press release from the ICC further stated that the arrest warrant for these three men is for the alleged crimes committed from at least 8th October 2023 until at least 20th May 2024 - the day that the prosecution filed the applications for warrants of the arrest.
With respect to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant, the judges of the International Criminal Court have found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that each has committed the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts, as a direct perpetrator, acting jointly with others. The Chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that they are each responsible for the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against civilians as a superior.
Although this issue warrant does nothing to stop the genocide that continues to worsen in Gaza, this is a first step by the ICC towards holding Israel accountable for the crimes that the leaders have been getting away with for years.
