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    • Arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Secretary Gallant and senior Hamas commander for alleged war crimes | World News
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    Arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Secretary Gallant and senior Hamas commander for alleged war crimes | World News

    Online Niel Posted on

    Arrest warrants have been issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant and a senior Hamas commander by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

    The warrants against senior Israeli figures are for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in aerate that Israel launched following the October 7 attacks by Hamas.

    The prime minister’s office said the warrants against him and Gallant were “anti-Semitic” and said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions”.

    Another warrant has been issued for the arrest of the Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    Al Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, was the mastermind behind the October 7 attacks.

    It is not clear if he is still alive, following an airstrike that Israel claimed killed him earlier this year.

    Neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC. Israel has rejected the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza.

    Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were “a sign of shame” for the ICC.

    The court initially said it had sought arrest warrants for the three men in May for the alleged crimes and announced today that it rejected Israel’s appeals and issued arrest warrants.

    Britain’s new Labor government said in the summer it would do so does not oppose the ICC’s right to issue warrants.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the UN General Assembly. Picture: Reuters
    Image:
    Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the UN General Assembly. Picture: Reuters

    Mandates for Netanyahu and Gallant

    In its update, the ICC said it found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for the alleged crimes.

    These, the court said, include “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.”

    Netanyahu has previously spoken about his “disgusted” at the suggestion the ICC would seek an arrest warrant for him.

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    This will never leave Netanyahu

    Three arrest warrants have been issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), but the two most important are those against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.

    In their statement, the court said they had reasonable grounds to believe that the two men had committed the war crime of starvation as a method of war and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.

    Since the arrest warrants were first sought, there have been plenty of legal challenges. But the court rejected all these and now issued these arrest warrants.

    So what does it mean? Well, basically, it would mean that Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant could not travel to any state that is a signatory to the ICC – about 120 countries around the world, including the UK and many European countries.

    If Netanyahu were to travel to any of these countries, he would have to be arrested by the police forces of those countries. And it will be very interesting to see what Sir Keir Starmer’s reaction is to this.

    But the US, Israel’s closest ally, is not a signatory to the ICC. I think Netanyahu will have support on the other side of the Atlantic.

    Also, these ICC arrest warrants are not always executed. We saw President Vladimir Putin, who had an arrest warrant issued after the invasion of Ukraine, travel to Mongolia a few months ago and nothing was done about it.

    But in terms of the reputation of Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, in terms of that legacy, they are now wanted suspects, they wanted to be tried for war crimes. And it’s a label that will never leave them.

    File photo taken on video and released by the militant group Hamas on August 26, 2005, shows a man, identified as fugitive bomb maker Mohammed Deif. Picture: AP
    Image:
    A video released by Hamas in 2005 shows a man identified as Mohammed Deif. Picture: AP

    Mandate for Hamas leader

    The ICC also said it had issued an arrest warrant for Hamas leader Al Masri, saying it had “reasonable grounds to believe” he was responsible for crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, torture, rape, as well as war crimes. including hostage taking. .

    Discussing the October 7 attacks, the court said: “In light of the coordinated killings by members of the civilian population at several separate locations, the Chamber also found that the conduct occurred as part of a mass killing of members of the civilian population and by therefore concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the crime against humanity of extermination had been committed.”

    In its statement, the ICC said the prosecution was unable to establish whether Al Masri was dead or alive, so it issued the arrest warrant.

    The court previously said it was seeking an arrest warrant for Ismail Haniyeh, the former Hamas leader killed later in July.

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