The Dutch foreign minister’s trip to Israel has been cancelled, Dutch News Agency ANP reported on Thursday, citing leaked plans of the trip as the reason.
Earlier on Thursday, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants to, among others, Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, which the Netherlands has said it would comply with if they came to the country.
Summary
It’s nearing 9pm in Tel Aviv, Gaza and Beirut. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
The international criminal court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war. The chamber ruled that there were reasonable grounds to believe the senior Israeli officials bore criminal responsibility as co-perpetrators for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”. It is the first time that leaders of a democracy and western-aligned state have been charged by the court.
The court’s top prosecutor, Karim Khan, urged the body’s 124 members to act on the arrest warrants, and called on countries that are not members of the ICC to work together towards “upholding international law”. Khan also said his investigation into the situation in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, would continue.
Netanyahu’s office denounced the chamber’s decision as “antisemitic”, while Gallant said it “sets a dangerous precedent against the right to self-defense and moral warfare.” Israeli leaders from across the political spectrum united to condemn the decision. Benny Gantz, a retired general and political rival to Netanyahu, condemned the ICC’s decision, saying it showed “moral blindness” and was a “shameful stain of historic proportion that will never be forgotten”. Yair Lapid, another opposition leader, called it a “prize for terror”. Far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said Israel should annex the West Bank in response to the ICC’s issuance.
The US – not an ICC member – issued a statement “fundamentally” rejecting the court’s decision. “The United States has been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter. In coordination with partners, including Israel, we are discussing next steps,” the US national security council said. The US has previously welcomed ICC war crimes warrants against Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials for atrocities committed in Ukraine. US Republican congressman Mike Waltz, who is president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security advisor in the incoming US administration, warned that “you can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC and UN come January,” when Trump takes office.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the arrest warrants are binding for all EU member states. Italy would have to arrest Netanyahu if he came to the country, defence minister Guido Crosetto said. The Netherlands also said it is prepared to act upon the arrest warrants issued. A spokesperson for France’s foreign ministry said it supports “the action of the prosecutor of the court, which acts fully independently.”
Other countries also said they would comply with the court’s decision. The UK is expected to agree to any request from the ICC to arrest Netanyahu if he came to Britain, although Keir Starmer’s spokesperson refused to directly confirm this, saying only that it would “respect” the court’s independence. Canada will abide by all rulings issued by international courts, its prime minister Justin Trudeau said. Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi said the ICC’s decision must be respected and implemented.
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for the Hamas military leader, Mohammed Deif. Israel claims to have killed Deif in an airstrike in July, but the court’s pre-trial chamber said it would “continue to gather information” to confirm his death.
The ICC warrants were broadly welcomed by human rights groups. Human Rights Watch said it hoped that the warrants “finally push the international community to address atrocities and secure justice for all victims in Palestine and Israel.” Amnesty International said Netanyahu is “officially a wanted man” and that the ICC decision “represents a “historic breakthrough for justice”.
At least 47 people have been killed and 22 others wounded in Israeli strikes in eastern Lebanon on Thursday, according to the governor of the Baalbek-Hermel province, Bachir Khodr. Israeli airstrikes also struck the southern suburbs of Beirut about a dozen times on Thursday, sending up clouds of debris in some of the most intense airstrikes yet, Reuters reported.
At least 44,056 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza since October 2023, the territory’s health ministry said on Thursday. That figure includes 71 deaths in the previous 24 hours, it said. More than 104,268 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began, it said.
Israeli authorities have permitted Mazyouna Damoo, a 12-year-old Palestinian girl whose face was “ripped off” when an Israeli missile struck her home in June, to leave Gaza for medical treatment, five days after the Guardian reported that repeated requests for her urgent medical evacuation had been denied.
Updated
Dozens killed in Israeli strikes in eastern Lebanon
At least 47 people have been killed and 22 others wounded in Israeli strikes in eastern Lebanon on Thursday, according to the governor of the Baalbek-Hermel province, Bachir Khodr.
Rescue operations are under way, he said on X.
Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on several locations in the eastern Bekaa Valley killed 22 people, with state media reporting at least four members of the same family were killed in one village.
Israeli airstrikes also struck the southern suburbs of Beirut about a dozen times on Thursday, sending up clouds of debris in some of the most intense airstrikes yet, Reuters reproted.
Italy would have to arrest Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, if he came to the country, Italy’s defence minister Guido Crosetto said after the international criminal court’s arrest warrant.
Karim Khan, the international criminal court’s chief prosecutor, also said in his statement that his investigation into the situation in the State of Palestine would continue.
We are taking forward additional lines of inquiry in areas under the Court’s jurisdiction, which include Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
He said he was “deeply concerned”” about “reports of escalating violence, further shrinking humanitarian access, and continued expansion of allegations of international crimes” in Gaza and the West Bank.
The international criminal court’s top prosecutor, Karim Khan, has urged the body’s 124 members to act on arrest warrants issued against Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif,
“Based on the evidence presented by my Office, the judges have confirmed that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Rome Statute crimes have been committed,” Khan said in a statement on Thursday.
The decision of the independent judges of the International Criminal Court affirms that international humanitarian law must be upheld in all circumstances through fair and impartial judicial processes … I appeal to all States Parties to live up to their commitment to the Rome Statute by respecting and complying with these judicial orders.
He also called on countries that are not members of the ICC to work together towards “upholding international law”.
Gallant says ICC arrest warrant 'sets dangerous precedent'
Yoav Gallant, the former Israeli defence minister who is the subject of a new arrest warrant by the international criminal court, said the court’s decision “sets a dangerous precedent against the right to self-defense and moral warfare and encourages murderous terrorism.”
“Gone are the days when we could be denied the right to defend ourselves,” Gallant, in a statement posted to X, said.
He said he was “proud” to have led Israel’s security system “in the difficult and successful war that was imposed on us”.
The Israeli authorities have permitted Mazyouna Damoo, a 12-year-old Palestinian girl whose face was “ripped off” when an Israeli missile struck her home in June, to leave Gaza for medical treatment, five days after the Guardian reported that repeated requests for her urgent medical evacuation had been denied.
Last Friday, the Guardian highlighted the Damoo family’s desperate battle to get Mazyouna evacuated from Gaza to the US to receive emergency surgery on devastating injuries to her face sustained in a missile attack by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which tore off half of her cheek and exposed her jawbone.
The family said that, since June, five requests for medical evacuation had been refused, with no explanation from the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (Cogat), the Israeli military body in Gaza responsible for issuing permits to travel abroad.
Doctors had warned that Mazyouna’s life would be in danger if she did not receive urgent surgery. There is still shrapnel in her neck causing her immense pain every time she moves and her wound has become infected. She requires specialised maxillofacial surgery, which is not available in Gaza.
Canada will abide by all rulings of international courts, says Trudeau
Canada will abide by all rulings issued by international courts, its prime minister Justin Trudeau said.
Asked about the ICC’s arrest warrants at a news conference, Trudeau said:
It’s really important that everyone abide by international law. We stand up for international law, and we will abide by all the regulations and rulings of the international courts.
Argentina's Milei says ICC decision 'ignores' Israel's right to self-defence
Argentina’s president Javier Milei said the international criminal court (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant “ignores” the country’s right to defend itself.
Argentina “declares its deep disagreement” with the decision, which “ignores Israel’s legitimate right to self-defence against the constant attacks by terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah,” Milei said in a statement on X, AFP reported.
Israel faces brutal aggression, inhumane hostage-taking and indiscriminate attacks on its population … Criminalising the legitimate defense of a nation while ignoring these atrocities is an act that distorts the spirit of international justice.
Updated
Jeremy Corbyn, the former UK Labour leader, has called on the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and foreign secretary David Lammy to immediately endorse the “long overdue” arrest warrant by the international criminal court.
“That is the bare minimum,” Corbyn posted to X.
Will the UK government now, finally, honour its international obligations to prevent genocide and end all arms sales to Israel?
UK expected to agree if ICC request Netanyahu arrest
The UK is expected to agree to any request from the international criminal court (ICC) to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to Britain, although Downing Street refused to directly confirm this, saying only that it would “respect” the court’s independence.
Questioned about what Keir Starmer’s government would do, the PM’s spokesperson – who by convention speaks on the record but is not named – said:
We respect the independence of the international criminal court, which is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern.
This government has been clear that Israel has a right to defend itself in accordance with international law – there is no moral equivalence between Israel and democracy and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which are terrorist organisations.
We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza. This is essential to protect civilians, ensure the release of hostages, and to increase humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Asked whether this meant the government would abide by the ICC’s view over Netanyahu, as set out last month by Richard Hermer, the attorney general, last month, the spokesperson refused to comment, but added:
There has not been a policy change in relation to our position on the ICC.
There is a UK-based court procedure which would need to happen to approve any ICC request, the spokesperson added, but refused to say if Netanyahu would be welcome to visit the UK, saying he could not deal with “hypotheticals”.
It does seem clear that the UK would not block the ICC over this, but that No 10 is being cautious, not least given US opposition to the idea.
Updated
Here’s some more US reaction to the international criminal court’s arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader, said:
The decision by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials is shameful. I stand with the Biden administration in fundamentally rejecting this unserious decision. America’s commitment to the security of Israel is ironclad and we will continue to stand by Israel’s right to defend itself against terror.
Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress, said the ICC’s decision was “long overdue” and called for Netanyahu and Gallant to be arrested and brought before the court.
The Biden Administration can no longer deny that those same US weapons have been used in countless war crimes … Today’s historic arrest warrants cannot bring back the dead and displaced, but they are a major step towards holding war criminals accountable.
Jared Moskowitz, a Democratic congressman from Florida, accused the ICC of turning a “blind eye to many atrocities, including Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons to kill hundreds of thousands of Syrians.”
When it comes to Israel defending itself against Hamas, the ICC doesn’t hesitate to exercise this antisemitic double standard.
Bill Hagerty, the Republican senator from Tennessee, also accused the ICC of “engaging in anti-semitic lawfare”, adding:
This sham of a body masquerading as a “court” has no jurisdiction over Israel or the US. The consequences of this shameful act will be felt soon.
The Palestinian Authority has welcomed the international criminal court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
In a statement carried by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, it said the court’s decision “restores hope and trust not only in international law along with UN institutions, but also in the importance of justice, accountability and prosecution of war criminals”.
The Palestinian people is still subject [to] genocide, war crimes taking the form of the deployment of starvation [as] a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity manifest in killing, oppression and displacement, among others.
UK 'respects the independence' of ICC, says Downing Street
The UK government “respects the independence of the international criminal court”, a No 10 spokesperson has said after the ICC issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif.
The court is “the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern,” the spokesperson for the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, said.
Downing Street would not say if Netanyahu would be arrested if he visited the UK, saying that “we are not going to get into hypotheticals.” The spokesperson added:
This government has been clear that Israel has a right to defend itself in accordance with international law. There is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which are terrorist organisations. We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza.
The head of Amnesty International said the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is “officially a wanted man” after the international criminal court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for him.
The ICC arrest warrant represents a “historic breakthrough for justice”, Amnesty’s secretary general, Agnès Callamard, said in a statement.
She urged “the beginning of the end of the persistent and pervasive impunity at the heart of the human rights crisis” in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Callamard’s statement reads:
The wheels of international justice have finally caught up with those who are alleged to be responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Palestine and Israel.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu is now officially a wanted man,” she continued, as she called on ICC member states and the international community to “stop at nothing until these individuals are brought to trial”.
“There can be no ‘safe haven’ for those alleged to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity,” she said.
By issuing these arrest warrants the ICC is also at long last bringing real hope for justice to countless victims of crimes under international law and restoring some faith in the universal value of international legal instruments and justice.
What are the implications for the ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu?
The international criminal court (ICC) relies on 124 member states of the Rome statute, which established the court, to execute arrest warrants.
Member states are obliged to arrest individuals wanted by the ICC who set foot on their territory and, while they do not always do so, it means that the accused will have to consider whether they are willing to risk travelling.
Last year, Vladimir Putin decided not to go to South Africa amid speculation that he would be detained under an arrest warrant issued by the ICC for overseeing the abduction of Ukrainian children in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Neither Israel nor its closest ally, the US, are members, nor are the possible venues for ceasefire talks, Qatar and Egypt, although that may be a moot point as none of those charged have attended the talks. Jordan and Tunisia are the only Arab member states other than Palestine.
Another staunch Israel ally, Germany, is a member of the ICC, as are all European Union countries. Switzerland is a member, as is Japan. All Latin American countries, bar Cuba and Haiti, are ICC members, as are 33 African countries.
The ICC has jurisdiction for both alleged crimes committed by a national of a member country and alleged crimes committed in the territory of a member state.
Palestine acceded to the Rome statute in 2015, and the ICC ruled in 2021 that it was a state, thereby extending the court’s jurisdiction to territories occupied by Israel since 1967, Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The international criminal court’s arrest warrant against Hamas’s military chief, Mohammed Deif, is a sign that victims are being heard, a representative for families of the victims of the October 7 Hamas attacks said.
AFP carries a quote from Yael Vias Gvirsman, who represents families of 300 Israeli victims of the Hamas attacks:
This arrest warrant against Mr Deif is massively significant. It means these victims’ voices are being heard.
ICC arrest warrants binding for all EU states, says Borrell
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said the arrest warrants of the international criminal court (ICC) for Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif are binding for all EU member states.
In a statement posted to X, Borrell said he took note of the ICC’s decision, adding that they are “binding on all States party to the Rome Statute, which includes all EU Member States.”
US 'fundamentally rejects' ICC decision, says White House
The US “fundamentally rejects” a decision by the international criminal court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant, the White House said.
A statement from a US national security council spokesperson reads:
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.
The US – which is not an ICC member – has previously welcomed ICC war crimes warrants against Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials for atrocities committed in Ukraine. Washington has previously denounced the court’s pursuit of Netanyahu and Gallant, a mixed stance which has exposed the Biden administration to accusations of double standards from many UN members, particularly from the global south.
The mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, home to one of the largest Arab communities in the US, has pledged that Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant would be arrested if they stepped foot within the city limits.
Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, in a statement posted to X, called on other cities to do the same.
“Our president may not take action, but city leaders can ensure Netanyahu & other war criminals are not welcome to travel freely across these United States,” Hammoud added.
Summary of the day so far …
It is approaching 5pm in Beirut, Tel Aviv and Gaza City, and 4pm in The Hague. Here are the headlines …
The international criminal court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war
It is the first time that leaders of a democracy and western-aligned state have been charged by the court, in the most momentous decision of its 22-year history. Netanyahu and Gallant are now at risk of arrest if they travel to any of the 124 countries that signed the Rome statute establishing the court. Israel claims to have killed Deif in an airstrike in July, but the court’s pre-trial chamber said it would “continue to gather information” to confirm his death
The chamber ruled that there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore criminal responsibility as co-perpetrators for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”. The three-judge panel also said it had found reasonable grounds to believe that Deif was responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes including murder, torture, rape and hostage taking relating
Netanyahu’s office denounced the chamber’s decision as “antisemitic”. Israel Katz, Gallant’s replacement as defense minister, described it as “a moral disgrace, entirely tainted by antisemitism”
A member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, Itamar Ben-Gvir called for Israel to permantly annex and settle the occupied West Bank in response to the warrant
In a statement Hamas said it welcomed the decision, and encouraged the court to“expand the scope of accountability to all criminal occupation leaders”
Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said today’s decision was important because it breaks “the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law”
US Republican representative Mike Waltz, who is president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security advisor in the incoming US administration, has said “You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC and UN come January,” when Trump takes office
The Taoiseach of Ireland has said that the decision to issue arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant “could not be more serious.”
Simon Harris, Reuters reports, said that Ireland respects the role of the international criminal court, and that anybody in a position to help it carry out its work should do so “with urgency”.
Avi Mayer, who is former editor of the Jerusalem post, has said the fact that the international criminal court chose to issue an arrest warrant on the same day to a Hamas leader who is believed in some quarters to be dead “should tell you just how ridiculous and politically motivated these warrants are.”
In the post Mayer wrote:
In order to create a false impression of fairness, the international criminal court also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif … who is dead. That should tell you just how ridiculous and politically motivated these warrants are. The ICC is a joke.
This accusation doesn’t strictly follow the chronology of the court process. In May 2024 the ICC announced that it was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli leaders Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, and also for three senior figures from Hamas: Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif.
Subsequent to the ICC seeking the arrests, Israel assassinated Haniyeh in Tehran on 31 July, and killed Sinwar on 17 October. The status of Deif remains unclear. Israel has also claimed to have killed him, but Hamas has never officially confirmed it.
In the court documents Deif stands accused of “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 form of sexual violence.”
Israeli security minister Ben-Gvir: Israel should annex West Bank in response to ICC arrest warrants
A member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government has called for Israel to annex the West Bank in response to the international criminal court issuing an arrest warrant for Israel’s prime minister, who is accused of war crimes.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister said the court was “antisemitic from beginning to end” and the decision “an unprecedented disgrace.”
Ben-Gvir, who has repeatedly called for Jewish settlement of the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, referred to the area by its biblical name, saying:
The response to the arrest warrants: applying sovereignty over all areas of Judea and Samaria, Jewish settlement throughout the entire land.
On Friday the Times of Israel reported that Ben-Gvir said he was the only cabinet member who voted against more humanitarian aid for the beseiged Gaza Strip, saying “I believe that as long as we have hostages in Gaza, we must not give any concessions to the Strip, not even to the civilian population.”
Democratic party US senator John Fetterman has given perhaps the most concise political reaction to the decision of the international criminal court in The Hague to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s former defense minister Yoav Gallant – alongside Hamas leader Mohammed Deif – for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.
In a post to social media, coupled with a screenshot of a BBC News headline about the arrest warrants, Fetterman wrote “No standing, relevance, or path. Fuck that,” adding an emoji of the Israeli flag.
One thing that is likely to provoke additional reaction among pro-Israeli politicians in the US is that the court announcement today specifically at one point mentions Israel responding to pressure from across the Atlantic.
In one passage, it says:
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.
It goes on to say that Israel ignored pleas from “the UN security council, UN secretary general, states, and governmental and civil society organisations about the humanitarian situation in Gaza”, and says that “only minimal humanitarian assistance was authorised.”
As a result of this, and “Mr Netanyahu’s statement connecting the halt in the essential goods and humanitarian aid with the goals of war,” it said “The Chamber therefore found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare.”
Defense minister Katz: ICC decision is 'moral disgrace entirely tainted by antisemitism'
Israel Katz, who recently replaced Yoav Gallant as defense minister, has described the decision to issue his predecessor with an arrest warrant alongside Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif as “a moral disgrace, entirely tainted by antisemitism.”
Katz, who took up the defense post after Netanyahu sacked Gallant, triggering protests across Israel, said in a social media post:
The decision … is a moral disgrace, entirely tainted by antisemitism, and drags the international judicial system to an unprecedented low. This shameful decision serves Iran, the head of the snake, and its proxies.
The ICC has chosen to lend support to a biased and corrupt prosecutor rather than confront those who openly seek the destruction of the State of Israel.
We will not allow a hostile, hypocritical, and illegitimate body to harm our leaders or our soldiers. We will continue to defend the citizens of Israel with determination and pride, standing firm against anyone who attempts to undermine our right to self-defense.
Anyone who thinks they can deter us from achieving all our war objectives through absurd decisions that serve Iran and its proxies will face a strong and resolute state, acting with power in every arena—military, political, and legal—to counter every threat.
Katz added that he stands firmly with Netanyahu and Gallant.
US Republican representative Mike Waltz, who is president-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security advisor in the incoming US administration, has said “You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC and UN come January,” when Trump takes office.
In a post on social media Waltz said “The ICC has no credibility and these allegations have been refuted by the US government. Israel has lawfully defended its people and borders from genocidal terrorists.”
Reuters reported Waltz would be Trump’s pick for the role earlier this month. The national security adviser does not require Senate confirmation, and isresponsible for briefing the president on key national security issues and coordinating with different agencies.
Here is more of the statement from Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, in which the decision of the international criminal court to issue an arrest warrant for him is described as being driven by “antisemitic hatred toward Israel”:
Israel utterly rejects the absurd and false actions and accusations against it by the international criminal court, which is a biased and discriminatory political body.
There is no war more justified than the one Israel is conducting in Gaza since 7 October, 2023, after the terrorist organisation Hamas launched a deadly attack against it, committing the largest massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
The decision was made by a corrupt chief prosecutor attempting to save himself from serious allegations of sexual harassment, and by biased judges driven by antisemitic hatred toward Israel.
France’s foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine appears to have sidestepped a question about French reaction to the international criminal court issuing arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.
Reuters reports that asked about it, Lemoine said “It’s a point that is legally complex so I’m not going to comment on it today.”
Julian Borger, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent, offers this analysis, saying being accused of war crimes will be a hard stigma for Benjamin Netanyahu to shrug off
The arrest warrants issued by the international criminal court (ICC) represent an earthquake on the world’s legal landscape: the first time a western ally from a modern democracy has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity by a global judicial body.
Inside Israel itself, the warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, will not have an immediate impact. In the short term they are likely to rally support around the prime minister from a defiant Israeli public.
In the longer term, however, the enormity of the charges against Netanyahu and Gallant could grow heavier over time, shrinking the patch on the globe still open to them. The stigma of accused war criminal is a hard one to shrug off.
In the world as viewed from The Hague, the approval of warrants by the ICC judges will forever transform the court’s standing. The US – not an ICC member anyway – will react furiously but at a cost to its own international credibility, and its remaining claim to stand for global justice.
Other Israeli allies like Germany will distance themselves (the Starmer government in the UK can be expected to craft a studiously neutral response), but many countries, who have hitherto seen the ICC as a tool of the western world, are likely to embrace the decision and the tribunal itself.
Read more of Julian Borger’s analysis here: Accused war criminal status will be hard stigma for Netanyahu to shrug off
In the UK, Amnesty International have put pressure on the government to support the decision by the international criminal court.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, said:
In opposition the foreign secretary said in government his party would comply with any arrest warrants issued by the international criminal court, and we now need to see David Lammy and the whole UK government unequivocally backing this vitally important move by the ICC.
The UK’s standing as a genuine supporter of the rule of law requires consistency and even-handedness. If war crimes are wrong when carried out by Russian forces in unlawfully-occupied Ukraine, then they’re equally wrong when carried out by Israeli forces in unlawfully-occupied Palestinian territory.
In one portion of today’s announcement by the international criminal court it appears to concede that it has not agreed with all of the assessments of evidence put forward to it by the prosecution.
In a section regarding what it describes as “intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population of Gaza,” it says:
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.
In this regard, the Chamber found that the material provided by the prosecution only allowed it to make findings on two incidents that qualified as attacks that were intentionally directed against civilians.
Reasonable grounds to believe exist that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant, despite having measures available to them to prevent or repress the commission of crimes or ensure the submittal of the matter to the competent authorities, failed to do so.
Reuters has a quick snap that Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi said the ICC’s decision must be respected and implemented, adding Palestinians deserved justice after what he described as Israel’s “war crimes” in Gaza.
The EU’s outgoing top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has said the ICC arrest warrants for two senior Israeli leaders and one Hamas leader are not “political”.
He said the court’s decisions should be respected and implemented.
Borrell will leave the post at the end of the month, with Kaja Kallas, the former prime minister of Estonia taking his place.
Sam Jones is the Guardian’s Madrid correspondent
Yolanda Díaz, Spain’s labour minister and one of the country’s deputy prime ministers, has posted a message on BlueSky and X in which she shares news of the issuing of the arrest warrants.
“Always on the side of justice and international law,” it says. “The genocide of the Palestinian people cannot go unpunished.”
Spain’s socialist-led coalition government has been one of the most outspoken critics of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
A year ago, the Israeli government recalled its ambassador in Madrid and said it would be reprimanding Spain’s top diplomat in Tel Aviv after the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said he had “genuine doubts” about whether Israel was complying with international humanitarian law in its offensive in Gaza.
At the end of May this year, Spain joined Ireland and Norway in officially recognising a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu's office: ICC ruling is 'absurd and false lies' and 'antisemitic'
In his first response to the ICC issuing a warrant for his arrest on allegations of war crimes, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has described the ruling as “absurd and false lies” and said the decision is “antisemitic.”
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office say they categorically reject the claims levelled against Israel’s prime minister. Former defense minister Yoav Gallant has also been issued with an arrest warrant.
Netanyahu’s office said the country will “not yield to pressure, will not be deterred, and will not retreat” until, it said, all of Israel’s war aims are achieved.
The three-judge panel wrote in its unanimous decision to issue the warrants: “The chamber considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals 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.”
In October 2023, two days after the surprise attack by Hamas inside southern Israel which killed about 1,200 people and led to about 250 people being seized and abducted as hostages, Gallant said “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”
About 100 people are still believed held hostage by Hamas and other groups in Gaza, at least some of which are known to have been killed. Hamas-led authorities in Gaza have put the death toll from Israel’s 13-month long military campaign at over 40,000, although it has not been possible for journalists to verify the casualty figures.
Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said today’s decision was important because it breaks “the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law.”
In a statement, Jarrah said:
The ICC arrest warrants against senior Israeli leaders and a Hamas official break through the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law. This is all the more important given the brazen attempts to obstruct the course of justice at the court.
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. These warrants should finally push the international community to address atrocities and secure justice for all victims in Palestine and Israel.
Last week a report by Human Rights Watch said Israel was using evacuation orders to pursue the “deliberate and massive forced displacement” of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, which amounted to a crime against humanity.
Reuters reports that in a statement Hamas has said it welcomes the decision of the international criminal court to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.
In the statement, Hamas said “We call on the international criminal court to expand the scope of accountability to all criminal occupation leaders.”
Israel’s position has always held that the rulings of the international criminal court do not apply to it, as it is not a member.
Foreign minister Gideon Saar on Thursday said that it had “issued absurd orders with no authority” against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant because “Israel is not a member of the court.”
In its announcement today, the court specifically addressed the legitimacy of it making a ruling, writing:
The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that during the relevant time, international humanitarian law related to international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine applied. This is because they are two High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and because Israel occupies at least parts of Palestine.
The Chamber also found that the law related to non-international armed conflict applied to the fighting between Israel and Hamas.
The Chamber found that the alleged conduct of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant concerned the activities of Israeli government bodies and the armed forces against the civilian population in Palestine, more specifically civilians in Gaza.
It therefore concerned the relationship between two parties to an international armed conflict, as well as the relationship between an occupying power and the population in occupied territory.
For these reasons, with regards to war crimes, the Chamber found it appropriate to issue the arrest warrants pursuant to the law of international armed conflict.
The Chamber also found that the alleged crimes against humanity were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza.
The Netherlands has said it is prepared to act upon the arrest warrants issued by the international criminal court (ICC), Reuters reports.
Dutch news agency ANP reported on Thursday, citing the country’s foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp as its source, that the country would act against Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu if needed.
ICC says warrant for Hamas leader Deif remains 'secret' to protect witnesses and safeguard investigation
As well as issuing arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defense minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the court had sought arrest warrants against three Hamas leaders – Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif.
Sinwar was killed on 17 October, after a surprise encounter with Israeli forces inside Gaza. Haniyeh, by then, had already been assassinated by Israel in a strike on Tehran on 31 July.
The status of Deif remains unclear, and the court has said Deif’s warrant remains “classified as ‘secret’ to protect witnesses and safeguard the conduct of investigations.”
Israel’s military has claimed to have killed him, in July of this year, but Hamas has never officially confirmed his death. He was said to have survived at least seven previous Israeli assassination attempts.
Israel's president: ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu is 'dark day for humanity'
Israel’s president Isaac Herzog has described the decision of the international criminal court to issue arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant – alongside the Hamas leader Mohammed Deif – for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war as “a dark day for humanity.”
In a post to social media, Herzog said:
This is a dark day for justice. A dark day for humanity.
Taken in bad faith, the outrageous decision at the ICC has turned universal justice into a universal laughing stock. It makes a mockery of the sacrifice of all those who fight for justice – from the Allied victory over the Nazis till today.
It ignores the plight of the 101 Israeli hostages held in brutal captivity by Hamas in Gaza. It ignores Hamas’ cynical use of its own people as human shields. It ignores the basic fact that Israel was barbarically attacked and has the duty and right to defend its people. 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.
Herzog went on to say the case was bought as a “cynical exploitation of the international legal institutions” and blamed “an Iranian empire of evil”.
Herzog said:
The decision has chosen the side of terror and evil over democracy and freedom, and turned the very system of justice into a human shield for Hamas’ crimes against humanity.
In one section of its announcement, the ICC claims 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.”
In announcing arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the court said:
The Chamber 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. On the basis of material presented by the Prosecution covering the period until 20 May 2024, the Chamber could not determine that all elements of the crime against humanity of extermination were met. However, the Chamber did find that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crime against humanity of murder was committed in relation to these victims.
In addition, 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. 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.
Israel's foreign minister calls on world to 'reject this injustice with disgust' after ICC issues arrest warrants
Israel’s recently appointed foreign minister, Gideon Saar, has said the world should reject ICC warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant with “disgust” as an “injustice”.
Posting in Hebrew to social media, Saar said:
These are orders that are not only directed against them personally. In fact, this is an attack on Israel’s right to defend itself. This attack is directed against the most attacked and threatened country in the world, which is also the only country that other countries in the region openly call for and work to destroy.
From a moral perspective, this is a moral aberration that turns good into bad and serves evil.
From a political perspective – issuing the orders against a country that operates according to international law is a reward and encouragement to the axis of evil, which violates it blatantly and consistently.
Decent countries and every decent person in the world must reject this injustice with disgust.
In its announcement of the decision to issue arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant of Israel, the International criminal court has said that “conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing.”
Here is a segment of the announcement about the Israeli prime minister and the former defense secretary:
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.
The arrest warrants are classified as ‘secret’, in order to protect witnesses and to safeguard the conduct of the investigations. However, the Chamber decided to release the information below since conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing. Moreover, the Chamber considers it to be in the interest of victims and their families that they are made aware of the warrants’ existence.
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 defense 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.
Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett said arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were 'mark of shame' for ICC
The international criminal court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, are a “mark of shame” for the ICC, former prime minister Naftali Bennett said on Thursday.
Reuters reports Israel’s main opposition leader Yair Lapid also denounced the move by the The Hague-based court, calling it “a reward for terrorism”.
There has been no immediate comment yet from Netanyahu or Gallant.
The ICC has also issued a warrant for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.
The US has welcomed ICC war crimes warrants against Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials for atrocities committed in Ukraine, while denouncing the court’s pursuit of Netanyahu and Gallant, a mixed stance which has exposed the Biden administration to accusations of double standards from many UN members, particularly from the global south.
Some member states have ignored ICC warrants before, but Netanyahu and Gallant would nonetheless risk arrest if they travelled to any country which had signed the 1998 Rome statute.
Khan had requested warrants for three Hamas leaders, two of whom have since been killed, for alleged war crimes relating to the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel in which fighters killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 250.
The arrest warrant could increase the external pressure on Netanyahu’s government as the US seeks to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but could well strengthen the prime minister’s political position in Israel in the short term, as most Israelis reject the ICC’s jurisdiction as interference in their country’s internal affairs.
Joe Biden has said he does not believe Netanyahu is doing enough to secure a ceasefire, after the Israeli leader vowed not to compromise over Israeli control over strategic territory inside Gaza. Netanyahu has accused Hamas of failing to negotiate in good faith.
Updated
ICC issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif
The international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the county’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.
The warrants put Netanyahu and Gallant at risk of arrest if they travel abroad. There have been unconfirmed reports that Deif may have been killed by Israel.
The court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, had requested the arrest warrants in May, saying there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for causing mass starvation in Gaza that constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity.
On Thursday the court said it had found reasonable grounds to believe that Deif was responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes including murder, torture, rape and hostage taking.
We’ll bring you the latest updates on this developing story…
