Israel’s Netanyahu, Gallant issued ICC arrest warrants: What’s next?
Al Jazeera
This is the first time there has been an indictment for Netanyahu since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and a top Hamas leader on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
This is the first time that Netanyahu or any Israeli official has been indicted by an international court for the ongoing war on Gaza.
In a decision posted online on Thursday, the ICC charged Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif over Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel and Israel’s subsequent genocidal war in Gaza. Israel claimed to have killed Deif in July, however. It is unclear whether he is still alive.
Effectively, the defendants are now internationally wanted suspects and ICC member states are under legal obligation to arrest them.
Israeli officials slammed the move, calling it “anti-Semitic”. Here’s what this all means: