ICC Issues Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, and Deif

On Nov. 21, the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued warrants of arrest for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Deif, and the highest commander of Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades. 

The arrest warrants allege that Netanyahu and Gallant “each bear criminal responsibility for the following crimes 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,” from at least Oct. 8, 2023, until at least May 20, 2024, when the prosecution filed its application. Deif’s arrest warrant alleges that he “is responsible 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.”

The Chamber rejected Israel’s Sept. 26 request challenging the ICC’s jurisdiction over Israeli nationals on the basis of article 19(2) of the Rome Statute, as well as Israel’s request for the Chamber to order “the Prosecution to provide a new notification of the initiation of an investigation to its authorities under article 18(1) of the Statute.” The Chamber also rejected Israel’s request to halt the investigation and consideration of the warrant applications.

The three warrants follow the ICC prosecutor’s May 20 applications to Pre-Trial Chamber I for the arrest of Netanyahu, Gallant, and Deif, as well as Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s Political Bureau. The Chamber granted a request to withdraw applications for the arrest of Sinwar and Haniyeh after the prosecution confirmed their deaths. Despite the Israeli military reporting that it had killed Deif, “the Prosecution, referring to information from both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities, notified the Chamber that it is not in a position to determine whether Mr Deif has been killed or remains alive,” so the chamber proceeded to issue the warrant of arrest. 

The prosecution also noted that its investigation into the conflict is ongoing and it “envisions that further applications for warrants of arrest will be submitted.”

Read the text of the ICC’s press release for the arrest warrants of Netanyahu and Gallant here.

And the press release for the arrest warrant of Deif here.