The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The international court's Pre-Trial Chamber rejected challenges from Israel to its jurisdiction, announcing that it had issued warrants for both Netanyahu and Gallant, whom the Israeli prime minister fired just last month, over the country's assault on the Gaza Strip.
The development came as the death toll in the Palestinian enclave passed 44,000, including thousands of children, according to local officials.
Israel launched its deadly offensive following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terror attacks in which Israeli officials said some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 others taken hostage, marking a major escalation in the decadeslong conflict.
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Israel has consistently denied accusations of war crimes in Gaza and labeled Khan a “rogue prosecutor who’s out to demonize the one and only Jewish state.” It has previously called on its allies not to enforce any arrest warrants.
NBC News has reached out to Netanyahu's office for comment
Neither Israel nor the United States recognize the court’s jurisdiction, though they do put the Israeli officials at risk of arrest in other countries, including much of Europe.
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The ICC said the warrants were related to "crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May, 2024," including the "war crime of starvation as a method of warfare" and "intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population."
It said the chamber found there were "reasonable grounds" to believe that both Netanyahu and Gallant "intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity."
It further found that their conduct had hampered the ability of humanitarian organizations to provide food and other essential items to those in desperate need in the enclave.
It comes after ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan said in May that he was “filing applications for the warrants of arrests” for Netanyahu, Gallant and other senior Israeli officials.
He had also sought arrest warrants for Hamas figures who have played key roles in the ongoing war in Gaza, including leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in Gaza in October. On Thursday the court issued a separate arrest warrant for Deif, an alleged architect of the Oct. 7 attack whom Israel said it killed earlier this year.
Deif was accused of alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes, including for his role in the Oct. 7 attacks.
The ICC noted that Khan had initially filed applications for arrest warrants for Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas who was assassinated in July. But it said the applications were withdrawn following confirmation of their deaths.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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