2024 International Criminal Court warrants
On 21 November 2024, following an investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for two senior Israeli officials, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav Gallant, the former Minister of Defense of Israel, alleging responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts during the Gaza war. The warrant against Netanyahu is the first against the leader of a Western-backed democratic country for war crimes.
125 ICC member states are now required to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they enter their territory, including France and the United Kingdom. The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, who was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike on 13 July 2024. An additional possible effect these arrest warrants have is that additional warrants may be issued against Israeli senior IDF officers fighting in Gaza.
Background.
The ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression when member states are unwilling or unable to do so. It can also prosecute crimes committed by nationals or on territory of any of its 124 member states. It currently is also investigating crimes committed in Ukraine, Uganda, and others. The Palestinian territories were admitted as a member state in 2015, allowing for the investigation even though Israel is not a member and does not recognize its jurisdiction.
All of the 124 member states of the ICC are obliged by their agreements to the courts founding statute to arrest and hand over any individual with an active ICC arrest warrant, if they are identified in their territory. However, the court has no means of enforcing an arrest and has no police force, and can only potentially sanction a non-cooperative member state.
On 20 December 2019, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced an investigation into war crimes allegedly committed in Palestine by members of the Israel Defense Forces or Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups since 13 June 2014. Since the investigation was opened in 2015, Israel used its intelligence agencies to surveil, pressure, and threaten senior ICC staff.
Israel–Hamas war.
On 12 October 2023, ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan stated that both war crimes committed by Palestinians on Israeli territory and by Israelis on Palestinian territory during the Israel–Hamas war would be within the jurisdiction of the ICC's Palestine investigation. On 29 December 2023, South Africa filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, alleging that Israel's conduct amounted to genocide.
In late April 2024, ICC staff interviewed Palestinian hospital staff from the Gaza Strip about possible war crimes.
Arrest warrants.
On 20 May 2024, Khan announced that he would file applications for arrest warrants against Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh and Israeli leaders Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. The request for a warrant against Haniyeh was withdrawn following his assassination on 31 July 2024, and the request for a warrant against Sinwar was withdrawn following his killing on 16 October 2024. The prosecutor stated that he was trying to confirm the alleged killing of Deif on 13 July 2024, in which case the warrant request would be withdrawn.
On 21 November 2024, the ICC's Preliminary Chamber I's Judges Nicolas Guillou (Presiding, France), Reine Alapini-Gansou (Benin) and Beti Hohler (Slovenia) issued arrest warrants under request from chief prosecutor Khan in regards to "the activities of Israeli government bodies and the armed forces against the civilian population in Palestine, more specifically civilians in Gaza" for Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant and Mohammed Deif.
Pre-Trial Chamber I stated that it found reasonable grounds that from "8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024" Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility "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" and "as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population." and that Deif bears direct and command responsibility "for the crimes against humanity of murder, extermination, torture, and rape and other form of sexual violence; as well as the war crimes of murder, cruel treatment, torture, taking hostages, outrages upon personal dignity, and rape and other form of sexual violence". It found reasonable grounds that "the crimes against humanity were part of a widespread and systematic attack directed by Hamas and other armed groups against the civilian population of Israel".
Starvation as a weapon of war.
One of the key allegations was the "use of starvation as a weapon of war". The use of starvation as weapon of war is banned by the United Nations. Since then it was used in both Gaza and Sudan. In mid 2023 German government officials also accused Russia of using hunger as a weapon. Yoav Gallant made a public speech in early October 2023, shortly after the Hamas attacks on Israel that sparked the war, saying, "there will be no more electricity, no more food, no more fuel ... We are fighting against human animals and will behave accordingly." A few weeks before that the arrest warrants were issued, there were also reports of looting occurring in areas controlled by the IDF.
Possible execution of the arrest warrants.
In December 2024 and January 2025, the possibility of Netanyahu visiting Poland, party to the Rome Statute, on 27 January, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp was discussed by Polish politicians. On 5 December 2024, Andrzej Szejna, the Polish deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs stated at a Sejm sitting of the foreign affairs committee that Poland was obliged to cooperate with the ICC. He stated that heads of countries had no immunity in the ICC context. On 9 January 2025, Polish president Andrzej Duda requested the government led by Donald Tusk to protect Netanyahu from arrest were he to choose to attend the anniversary commemorations. On the same day, the government published a resolution stating that it would "guarantee the free and secure participation to the ceremony to the highest representatives of Israel" (). "OKO.press" commented that the government resolution did not name Netanyahu explicitly. Donald Tusk stated his interpretation of the resolution to the media, according to which any Israeli representative who made the visit, whether it were "the prime minister" or another leader, would not be detained.
An ICC spokesperson responded by stating that carrying out ICC decisions is obligatory to states parties towards both the ICC and to other states parties. The spokesperson stated that states with concerns about their obligations could consult with the ICC, but were not permitted to unilaterally determine the validity of the ICC's legal decisions. Legal scholars Karolina Wierczyńska, Piotr Hofmański and Omer Bartov stated that Netanyahu would have to be arrested if he visited Poland. Member of the Sejm Tomasz Trela stated that Netanyahu would have to be "instantly" arrested the moment he crossed the Polish border. Under Polish law, the Rome Statute is an international treaty obligation with legal priority above that of a Cabinet resolution. The procedure for an ICC fugitive is defined in Chapter 66e of the Polish criminal procedure law associated with the Polish Penal Code. According to legal scholar Hanna Kuczyńska, if an ICC fugitive arrived in Poland at the Kraków international airport, then the Minister of Justice would have to request a prosecutor to order that the person be detained by the police and brought to the Kraków district court, which would decide on the fugitive's transfer to The Hague. The district court's decision would be strongly constrained by the Rome Statute.
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians sent letters to Polish authorities stating that it would "take immediate and robust legal action in Polish courts" if Polish legal obligations under the Rome Statute were not followed. It stated its view that "any attempt by the executive to pre-empt or obstruct judicial processes [would] represen[t] a serious breach of the rule of [Polish] law".
Legal analysis and commentary.
International law professor Eliav Lieblich of Tel-Aviv University characterised the decision as "the most dramatic legal development in Israel's history", referring to his view that all 124 States Parties to the Rome Statute, including "most of Israel's closest allies", were legally obliged to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they are present in their territories. International law professors Matthias Goldmann and Kai Ambos said to "Der Tagesspiegel" that Germany was legally obliged to enforce the arrest warrants.
US defense lawyer and professor Alan Dershowitz stated that the rule of law had been "disgraced" by the ICC's decision. He condemned the "false charges" and announced his intention to assemble a team of prominent lawyers to defend Israeli leaders in The Hague. Canadian human rights advocate and former justice minister Irwin Cotler criticized ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan for his approach toward Israeli leaders, asserting that Khan violated principles of cooperation and complementarity by issuing arrest warrants for them while being lenient toward Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
Reactions.
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The antisemitic decision of the International Criminal Court is a modern Dreyfus trial – and will end the same way.
Israel utterly rejects the false and absurd charges of the International Criminal Court, a biased and discriminatory political body.
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 21 November 2024
Foreign Minister Israel Katz claimed that the "ICC had lost its legitimacy." Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein said that it was "a shameful decision by a political body held captive by Islamist interests."
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the ICC's decision.
Governments.
Domestic.
Following Israeli accusations about the neutrality of Judge Beti Hohler, the ICC responded that Hohler had no prior involvement in investigations related to Palestine while at the Office of the Prosecutor. Hohler added that she had "not accessed any documents, evidence, or secret files related to the matter."
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called the ICC arrest warrant "hopeful" and a crucial step in bringing Israeli authorities to justice for their "genocide" against Palestinians, adding: "We will continue to work to ensure that international law is implemented to punish genocide."
Ruling Labour Party MPs and other opposition leaders from the Liberal Democrats' Ed Davey, Independent Jeremy Corbyn supported the ICC's decision, while some called for either sanctions or a ceasefire as well. The main opposition party, the Conservative Party, urged Starmer to condemn the arrest warrants, calling them "concerning and provocative".
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called the ICC a "dangerous joke" and for sanctions on the ICC in a bill already proposed. He also wrote on social media, calling on Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) "that Congress "needs to pass the bipartisan legislation that came from the House sanctioning the Court for such an outrage and President Biden needs to sign it." Representative Mike Waltz (R-FL) added that "The ICC has no credibility and these allegations have been refuted by the US government." Representative Tom Cotton (R-AR) called for military force, according to the domestic law The Hague Invasion Act, to use "all means necessary and appropriate." Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) wrote on social media that the ICC has: "No standing, relevance, or path. Fuck that." His colleagues, Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) accused the ICC of having an "antisemitic double standard," Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) called on Biden to "use his authority to swiftly respond to this overreach" and Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY) accused the ICC of "criminalizing self-defence." On the other hand, Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) said: "The International Criminal Court's long overdue decision to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity signals that the days of the Israeli apartheid government operating with impunity are ending." Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) expressed his support for the warrants, describing the ICC's charges as well-founded and warning that "If the world does not uphold international law, we will descend into further barbarism." Dearborn mayor Abdullah Hammoud stated that he will uphold the ICC's decision and local police would arrest Netanyahu if he entered the city, despite the U.S. not being a party member of the ICC. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on 9 January 2025 to sanction the ICC in protest at the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
References.
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