The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas’s military commander for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
A statement said that a pre-trial chamber had rejected Israel’s challenges to the ICC’s jurisdiction and issued warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, according to BBC.
A warrant was also issued for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, also known as Ibrahim Al-Masri, although the Israeli military has said he was killed in an air strike in Gaza in July. However, Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied the reports.
The move comes after the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced earlier in May, that he was seeking arrest warrants for alleged crimes connected to the Oct.7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas and the Israeli response in Gaza, Reuters reported.
Though the ICC has said that Israel’s acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction was not required, Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the court and denied war crimes in Gaza.