A panel of ICC judges said there are “reasonable grounds to believe” Israel’s prime minister and former defense minister are guilty of “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare” and other “crimes against humanity.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressing a joint session of U.S. Congress on July 24, 2024. (C-Span screen shot)
By Jake Johnson
Common Dreams
and Consortium News
After months of deliberation, the International Criminal Court on Thursday formally issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri.
The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I, a panel of judges, said in a statement that it unanimously rejected Israel’s challenges to arrest warrant applications submitted in May by Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor at the ICC. The court said:
“The Chamber issued warrants of arrest for two individuals, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr. Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest [for] the the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare [and] the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
The announcement came as the official death toll from Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip surpassed 44,000.
The ICC judges said they “found reasonable grounds to believe” that 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.”
The panel also said it “found reasonable grounds to believe that no clear military need or other justification under international humanitarian law could be identified for the restrictions placed on access for humanitarian relief operations.”
“Finally, the Chamber assessed that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population of Gaza,” the judges added.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin with Netanyahu and Gallant in Tel Aviv on Oct. 13, 2023. (DoD, Chad J. McNeeley, CC BY 2.0)
[In a series of tweets, Netanyahu’s office responded:
“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.
The decision to issue an arrest warrant against the Prime Minister was made by a corrupt chief prosecutor who is trying to save himself from sexual harassment accusations and biased judges who are motivated by antisemitic hatred of Israel.”
Hamas political bureau member Basem Naim said in a statement that the arrest warrant
“constitutes an important historical precedent, and a correction to a long path of historical injustice against our people … [It is] an important step towards justice and can lead to redress for the victims in general, but it remains limited and symbolic if it is not supported by all means by all countries around the world.”
The BBC quoted a White House National Security Council spokesperson as saying the U.S. “fundamentally rejects” the court’s decision.
“We remain deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision. The United States has been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter. In co-ordination with partners, including Israel, we are discussing next steps.”
U.S. Representative Mike Waltz, who has been chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to be his national security advisor wrote on X:
“The ICC has no credibility and these allegations have been refuted by the U.S. government. Israel has lawfully defended its people & borders from genocidal terrorists. You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC & UN come January.”
But EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the arrest warrants were “not a political decision.” He said: “The decision of the court has to be respected and implemented.” That would mean Netanyahu should be arrested if he travels to the EU.
Human Rights Watch said the warrants “break through the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law. Whether the ICC can effectively deliver on its mandate will depend on governments’ willingness to support justice no matter where abuses are committed and by whom,” the BBC reported.
Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice continues its case against Israel, which it has accused of committing genocide. ]
Hamas Too
The ICC panel issued a separate statement announcing an arrest warrant for Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, saying it found “reasonable grounds to believe” 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 forms of sexual violence.”
Neither the U.S. nor Israel recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction, and the decision is expected to spark backlash from both countries.
Over the summer, in response to Khan’s May application for arrest warrants, the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would impose sanctions on the ICC. More than 40 House Democrats supported the measure, which has not received a vote in the narrowly Democratic Senate.
U.K. Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the Labour Party, called the ICC arrest warrants “long overdue” and urged the government of Keir Starmer to “immediately endorse this decision.”
“That is the bare minimum,” Corbyn wrote on social media. “Will the U.K. government now, finally, honor its international obligations to prevent genocide and end all arms sales to Israel?”
Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.
This article is from Common Dreams with contribution from Consortium News staff.
Is there any more than a remote chance that Netanyahu et al will be arrested?
Was there any possibility that Putin would be arrested in Mongolia on behalf of the International Criminal Court?
In June 2015, while in South Africa for an African Union meeting, the former dictator of Sudan (and one of 15+ on the ICC’s most wanted list), al-Bashir, was prohibited from leaving while a court decided whether he should be handed over to the ICC for war crimes. Was he?
The answer to all the above is NO! It is futile to punish such odious individuals whilst ignoring the vicious conditions which made them possible. War criminals are not responsible for war, which is caused by the struggles between competing capitalist states over markets and economic resources. War will only end with the abolition of capitalism. The dictators of yesterday, and the dictators and leaders of today, with their frightening military machines, only reflect the preparedness of their workers to ignore the bloodshed of all the conflicts before, during and after the war to end all wars and still to die for capitalism.
“War will only end with the abolition of capitalism”
Hilarious.
War predates capitalism, and war is not limited to only capitalist societies. There is no form of government that is a panacea for war. War is an unfortunate symptom of human nature. Indeed, it is a symptom of nature itself. Nature is red in tooth and claw, from the lowest single-celled organism to the dominant species that sits atop the food chain. War is as natural to all life on Earth as the biological drive to reproduce. War will be part of life on Earth until the sun goes red giant and slowly absorbs the inner solar system.
One Dr. Rogers, researching into early societies, is quoted in the Guardian (17 December 1980) as saying: *I do not think aggression is innate. I think aggression is something that man learns. Aggression comes as soon as you get possessions.’ More recently (29 October 2017) in the same paper there is a fascinating report on the Ju/’hoansi people of the Kalahari. ‘They have always been fiercely egalitarian. They hate inequality or showing off, and shun formal leadership institutions. It’s what made them part of the most successful, sustainable civilisation in human history.
Aggression stems from the instinct of self preservation, IMHO. We we it in nature. If the man expects to survive, think in the terms of the first humans, he must exhibit fierce aggression in his effort to kill large prey. Nothing can build more confidence in the human. At that point interpersonal conflict is born.
Steve has it right.
I just now watched Fareed Zakaria & Eric Schmidt about his new book Genisis.
I have of recent discussed here I’m weary of discussing the obvious over and over. We here as a concerned group need to move faster and work harder at staying current apparently. Or at least I do.
Eric Schmidt is the former Google CEO and Chairman. This segment discussed AI and very rapid Development.
I strongly recommend everyone find this programs and watch at the very least this portion of it. Mr. Schmidt has a strong message about where AI is heading and the dangers it poses to use humans.
We know the devils we face now, not so much with AI. Schmidt’s is a warning about what is to come unless this advances of this technology is closely monitored
I gotta go.
Thanks CN
While it’s unlikely Netanyahu will be brought to trial this ruling is a breakthrough at last because it’s a stain he and America can’t simply brush away. It will be with him not only for the rest of his life but will follow him into the history books. It will be the black mark against his name for hundreds of years while the Arabs will remember him for perhaps a few thousand more. It’s not a mere opinion piece but a ruling of international law.
Yes. Curious as to how CNN is reporting on this, I watched a 3 minute report. I think mainstream is backpedaling, because the reality of the mayhem cannot be contained as smugly as usual. I was surprised that the report was accurate.
Even boob-tube watchers must (occasionally) face reality!
As the Judge so succinctly points out, now they may at least have some kind of inkling that the rest of the world strongly opposes the carnage and lust of the sociopaths that are in control of our planet.
Right wing leadership in Israel has become a cancer that has spread throughout the the U.S. and the influence of the cancer is killing the political process used, touted by U.S. politicians who still habit the two major political parties in the America, which have morphed into a duopoly ran by the Deep State over the last sixty years.
The governmental mechanics have spun out of control Fasten those seat belts folks and hang on for your lives. Lives endangered everyday by a standard of living falling like a rock through the air.
Simply ask yourself are you doing better now and do you feel safer than before 911. I didn’t think so.
The problem since 9/11 has been too much intervention. Everything that the American military/intelligence community touches turns to poop. Intervention only makes things worse. America could do with a bit more isolationism. Let the rest of the world handle it’s own business while America minds it’s own business. Let Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza and China-Taiwan sort themselves out and quit meddling.
The gallows await them!
USA “fundamentally rejects” international law.
This is what they have officially done. The Genocide Treaty, these courts of the UN, these are the physical representations of ‘international law’. The USA fundamentally rejects them. Like all gangsters, they reject all rulings that go against them, and issue threats against the courts or officials who dare to rule against them.
I think it has more to do with the strong disdaining the weak. America is not the only country that ignores the international courts. It’s pretty much all countries with powerful active militaries. China and Russia would do the same thing. Because the ICC is a fundamentally weak organization with no enforcement mechanism and nuclear lions don’t concern themselves with the opinions of sheep.
Thank you for bringing Jeremy Corbyn into the story. His voice still needs to be heard in any way possible.
I hope many independent countries will voice their support for this ICC ruling.
I also agree with a comment below, that we need to use force and violence to stop Israel.
“We remain deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision. The United States has been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter”.
So how much credibility does the US have who never ratified the Rome Treaty, is not a member of the ICC and wholeheartedly supports the Israeli genocide? Except for the threat to anyone who disagrees with the official US doctrine, I don’t see that anyone can take our government seriously.
Notice that the Emperor claims that the ICC is in the Emperor’s jurisdiction, and that the court must follow the decrees laid down by the Emperor. “The US has been clear …” The court apparently remembers some older rulings that say that ‘following orders is not a defense’, and has thus declined to follow orders.
This war will be remembered as the first to use starvation as a method of warfare.
WHY does the ICC still allege “rape and other form of sexual violence” by Hamas when it is so clearly debunked? Lest we forget, Israelis now claim a religious basis to gang rape Palestinian prisoners.
Sadly, no, it is not the first.
One noticeable time starvation was used as a method of warfare was in the Nazi siege of Leningrad from 1941 to 1944. I recall tales of people stripping the wallpaper from the walls to get to the paste that had flour and some nutrition in it. But, there have been many, many others. Both the USA and UK have relied on seapower, and this has been used in the past to ‘blockade’ enemies. I have memories of John Pilger reporting from Iraq on the effect of the Bush/Clinton ‘sanctions’. I seem to recall the US Army ‘forcing’ Indian tribes onto reservations. Different names for ‘starvation’, but that’s only semantics. This is a list that could grow very long, even if one restricted themselves to Europe and America.
This is not the first time, but it is a marker that ‘the west’ is now shedding any notions it had of ‘civilization’ and ‘rules of war’. No more pretending to be ‘the good guys’.
It is interesting to recall that Vladimir Putin’s parents survived the siege of Leningrad and he was born in 1953! How different would the word be without these facts?
Thanks. I stand corrected. Yes, what a legacy the US leaves behind, as, hopefully, its empire is about to collapse.
Yes, “it is a marker that ‘the west’ is now shedding any notions it had of ‘civilization’ and ‘rules of war’. No more pretending to be ‘the good guys’.”
Again, starvation war is not a legacy of the US. It predates the founding of America by a few thousand years. Burning crops, slaughtering livestock, salting the earth and poisoning wells is one of the oldest forms of warfare. You can see the same tactics in the ancient histories of every country on earth (including the pre-Colombian Americas).
Not even remotely close to the first time.
Siege warfare was used throughout the ancient world, and that is essentially starvation warfare. Starvation is one of the most common forms of warfare throughout history.
The whole world knows Bibi and his entire gang are vicious, depraved criminals. This would be wonderful if anything ever comes of it.
Sadly, they didn’t include Biden and Blinken.
Israel’s, the United States’, and Sen. Waltz’s comments read like something from The Onion. ‘A modern Dreyfus trial’ ? The same dead ‘antisemitism’ horse that’s been beaten into dust. ‘The prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants.’ ? It’s been nearly 7 months since the ICC began it’s proceedings. Who exactly takes these thoroughly discredited and criminal actors seriously ? The majority of the world’s people – not Zionist or morally voided, political enablers of torture and genocide – see exactly what is happening. Everyone who cares has watched Israel’s savagery and sadism unfold on their devices for over a year. Will the arrest warrants have any practical or legal impact on the executioner’s of Gazan’s and Lebanese ? Unless a plane with Netanyahu and/ or Yoav Gallant on it experiences a mechanical failure, forcing it to land in a EU country, probably not. Like Sen. Bernie Sanders’ recent bill calling for a cessation of arms being sent to the Zionist state, the International Criminal Court’s issue of warrants is at least an indication of humanity’s disgust with Israel’s maniacal murder spree. But that’s cold comfort for those being tortured and slaughtered.
This will do nothing.
The only way Israeli leaders will be brought to justice is via force and violence, period. That’s it.
The only thing these Zionist supremacists react to or respond to is force and violence. All the UN resolutions in the world, all the ICC rulings, World Court rulings won’t amount to anything. The Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah have shown the way.
Agreed
Let them fight.
It will never be settled until one side is dead or both sides are so tired of bloodshed they learn how to live together in peace.
If the Jews win, so be it. If the Islamists win, so be it. It’s none of our business.
The Zionists must be defeated. The only way to defeat them, unfortunately, is through force and violence. Therefore, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis must be supported every step of the way.
For genuine justice to prevail, the Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah must prevail over the Nazi-like, racist and sadistic Zionist enterprise.