Thursday 21 / November / 2024
The Israeli president and other prominent political figures have condemned the ICC's move to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
President Isaac Herzog described the move as "an absurd decision," while former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said it was a "mark of shame" for the court.
Israel's main opposition leader, Yair Lapid, also slammed the move, calling it "a reward for terrorism."
The ICC says it has grounds to believe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister "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."
The statement was issued by a three-judge panel as it unanimously decided to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant and Hamas officials.
They have all been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the war in Gaza, which was triggered by the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
The arrest warrants turn Netanyahu and the others into internationally wanted suspects, but none of them is likely to come before the court soon. The ICC relies on cooperation from its member states — which include neither Israel nor its ally, the United States — to bring people to face trial.
The ICC prosecutes cases only when law enforcement authorities in a country cannot or will not do so themselves.
