THE International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence secretary Yoav Gallant.
The warrants are for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The court says the alleged crimes have been committed from at least October 8, 2023 until at least May 20, 2024.
The court said it found that the alleged crimes against humanity were part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza".
The arrest warrants are classified as "secret", in order to protect witnesses and to safeguard the conduct of the investigations.
However, the court decided to release the information since conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest "appears to be ongoing".
The court also said it considers it to be in the interest of victims and their families that they are made aware of the warrants’ existence.
Another warrant was issued for the arrest of Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri.
Al Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, was the mastermind behind the October 7 attacks on Israel.
A statement from the ICC said it found "reasonable grounds" to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bear "criminal responsibility" for committing the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.
A statement from the ICC said: "With regard to the crimes, the Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu, born on 21 October 1949, Prime Minister of Israel at the time of the relevant conduct, and Mr Gallant, born on 8 November 1958, Minister of Defence of Israel at the time of the alleged conduct, 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.
"The Chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population."
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians has said this is the "most significant ruling in the history of international humanitarian law."
Director Tayab Ali has stated: "The ICC just smashed Israel’s decades long impunity to pieces. It is now clear that there is a prima facie case for Israel to answer that it has committed war crimes on an industrial scale in Gaza.
"Those accused should be arrested and brought to face trial at the ICC immediately. No longer can states allied to Israel turn a blind eye to its belligerent occupation and war crimes in Palestine."
The court said it considered that there are 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, from at least October 8, 2023, to May 20, 2024.
It said this finding is based on the role of Netanyahu and Gallant in "impeding humanitarian aid in violation of international humanitarian law" and their failure to "facilitate relief by all means at its disposal".
The court found that their conduct "led to the disruption of the ability of humanitarian organisations to provide food and other essential goods" to the population in need in Gaza.
The decision goes on: "The aforementioned restrictions together with cutting off electricity and reducing fuel supply also had a severe impact on the availability of water in Gaza and the ability of hospitals to provide medical care.
"The Chamber also noted that decisions allowing or increasing humanitarian assistance into Gaza were often conditional.
"They were not made to fulfil Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law or to ensure that the civilian population in Gaza would be adequately supplied with goods in need. In fact, they were a response to the pressure of the international community or requests by the United States of America.
"In any event, the increases in humanitarian assistance were not sufficient to improve the population’s access to essential goods."
Neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC. Israel has rejected the court's jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza.
The court also found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, and specific medical supplies, created "conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the civilian population in Gaza", which resulted in the death of civilians, including children due to malnutrition and dehydration.
"By intentionally limiting or preventing medical supplies and medicine from getting into Gaza, in particular anaesthetics and anaesthesia machines, the two individuals are also responsible for inflicting great suffering by means of inhumane acts on persons in need of treatment," the court added.
"Doctors were forced to operate on wounded persons and carry out amputations, including on children, without anaesthetics, and/or were forced to use inadequate and unsafe means to sedate patients, causing these persons extreme pain and suffering. This amounts to the crime against humanity of other inhumane acts.
"The chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that the abovementioned conduct deprived a significant portion of the civilian population in Gaza of their fundamental rights, including the rights to life and health, and that the population was targeted based on political and/or national grounds. It therefore found that the crime against humanity of persecution was committed."
