HAGUE – Arrest warrants were issued Thursday by the International Criminal Court for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas officials – charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The arrest warrants come 13 months after the Gaza war and the October 2023 attack on Israel.

Here’s what you need to know:

What Netanyahu, others said

Netanyahu on Thursday condemned the ICC’s arrest warrant against him, saying Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions.” In a statement issued by his office, he added: “There is nothing more just than the war that Israel has waged in Gaza.”

In general, Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders condemned ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for warrants as shameful and anti-Semitic.

The US President Joe Biden he also criticized the prosecutor and expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas. Hamas also rejected the request.

Meanwhile, human rights groups applauded the recent decision.

“The ICC’s arrest warrants against senior Israeli leaders and a Hamas official escape the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law,” Human Rights Watch deputy international justice director Balkees Jarrah said in a communicated.

Who was issued an arrest warrant?

The three-judge panel issued a unanimous decision to issue warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.

“The Chamber found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals willfully and knowingly deprived the civilian population of Gaza of items essential to their survival, including food, water and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity. said the decision.

The court also issued a warrant for Mohammed Deif, one of Hamas’s leaders, in connection with the October 2023 attacks that triggered Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

The ICC’s chief prosecutor withdrew his request for warrants for two other senior Hamas figures, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, after both were killed in the conflict.

What are the implications of ICC arrest warrants?

The decision makes Netanyahu and the others international wanted suspects and is likely to further isolate them and complicate efforts to negotiate a ceasefire to end the fighting, according to the Associated Press.

However, the practical implications could be limited because Israel and its main ally, the United States, are not members of the court, and two of the Hamas officials have already been killed in the conflict, the AP noted.

The ICC is a court of last resort that only pursues cases where national law enforcement authorities cannot or will not investigate.

Israel is not a member state of the court. The country has struggled to investigate itself in the past, rights groups say.

Despite the warrants, none of the suspects will face judges in The Hague anytime soon. The court itself has no police to enforce warrants, but relies on the cooperation of its member states.

Even so, the threat of arrest could make it difficult for Netanyahu and Gallant to travel abroad, although Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is wanted on an ICC warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, recently signaled he may still visit an ally then when he traveled in Mongolia, one of the court’s member states, and was not arrested.

Member countries are required to detain suspects if a warrant has been issued if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no mechanism to enforce the warrants.

The Israel-Hamas War: By the Numbers

Following the Oct. 7 attack, Israel launched a retaliatory offensive in Gaza that killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who would not say how many were fighters.

It displaced 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people from their homes and caused heavy destruction across the besieged territory.

Hamas is still holding about 100 hostages, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Most of the others were released in exchange for Palestinians jailed by Israel during the ceasefire last November.