The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged war crimes.
The Netherlands-based court also issued a warrant of arrest for the former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, rejecting Israel’s objection over the court’s jurisdiction to hear the matter.
The move comes after the ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced on May 20 that he was seeking arrest warrants for alleged crimes connected to the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas and the Israeli military response in Gaza.
In a statement on Wednesday, the court said it found “reasonable grounds” to believe that Netanyahu bears criminal responsibility for war crimes including “starvation as a method of warfare” and “the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
Israel has been fighting Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon and has been criticised for lack of adequate humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza.
The conflict escalated on October 7, 2023, after Hamas launched a brutal attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 persons and kidnapping hundreds.
Last week, Pope Francis called for an investigation into accusations that Israel’s retaliatory activities in Gaza constitute genocide.