(Bloomberg) -- The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip, adding to pressure on the country’s leadership over the conduct of its military campaign against Hamas.
The Hague-based court’s announcement on Thursday followed a request by the ICC’s chief prosecutor to judges in May, and relates to Israel’s ongoing war against the Iran-backed militant group. The court also issued warrants for former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, who Israel says was killed in Gaza months ago.
The Israeli government has repeatedly denied the allegations and said its operations against Hamas — designated a terrorist organization by the US — comply with international laws.
“Israel rejects the absurd and false actions and accusations,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement after the warrants were issued. “No anti-Israel decision will prevent Israel from protecting its citizens.”
Many of Israel’s Western allies, including the UK, France, Germany and Canada, are ICC signatories. That means they’re obligated to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they visit but there’s nothing that would force such a move.
Dutch and Canadian leaders signaled they would respect the warrants. At the same time, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the ICC decision was “shameful” and Argentina’s President Javier Milei expressed “profound disagreement.” But both the Netanyahu allies stopped short of saying they would ignore the warrants.
The US, Israel’s main backer, isn’t a signatory and has rejected the court’s authority.
“The ICC issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous,” President Joe Biden said. “Let me be clear once again: whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the prosecutor failed to give Israel a “meaningful opportunity” to engage and cited “troubling process errors.”
Israel wants the Biden administration to take a tough line on the ICC and impose sanctions that would ban its personnel from the US, among other steps, according to an Israeli official who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.
If Biden doesn’t act, Israel hopes President-elect Donald Trump will. Other ideas being discussed include sanctioning countries that accede to the ICC’s arrest warrant, the official said.
Representative Michael Waltz, who Trump has chosen as his national security adviser, responded to the ICC’s announcement by saying the court had “no credibility.”
“You can expect a strong response to the anti-Semitic bias of the ICC” in January, when Trump enters office, Waltz said on X.
Israel went to war with Hamas after the militant group raided the south of the country on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage. Around 44,000 people have been killed in Israel’s subsequent offensive in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health authority in the Palestinian territory, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.
The warrants were “for crimes against humanity and war crimes,” the court said. Those include “starvation as a method of warfare, and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
Much of Gaza has been destroyed and the conflict has triggered protests in the US, Europe and Arab world.
The United Nations says there’s a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, adding that aid organizations are struggling to provide enough assistance. The US and other countries have urged Israel to allow in more food, medicine and fuel.
‘Right to Defend’
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said the ICC decision failed to account for the plight of the roughly 100 hostages still held by Hamas and the group’s use of civilians as human shields.
“It ignores the basic fact that Israel was barbarically attacked and has the duty and right to defend its people,” Herzog said on X. “It ignores the fact that Israel is a vibrant democracy, acting under international humanitarian law, and going to great lengths to provide for the humanitarian needs of the civilian population.”
The ICC has jurisdiction over only those states that are signatories to its founding treaty. Israel, like China, the US and Russia, are among countries that are not signatories, while the ‘State of Palestine’ — comprising Gaza and the West Bank — is.
The court rarely issues warrants against sitting leaders. Last year, it issued one for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes related to the alleged deportation of children from Ukraine. While it has made Putin wary of traveling to signatory countries, in September he did visit Mongolia, which faced international criticism for failing to enforce the warrant.
Earlier this year, the ICC prosecutor’s office ordered an end to attempts to threaten court officials, without specifying who is trying to interfere in its investigations.
--With assistance from Alisa Odenheimer, Marissa Newman, Zoltan Simon, Greg Sullivan, Dan Williams and Romy Varghese.
(Updates with Biden statement in eighth and ninth paragraphs.)
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