The International Criminal Court ( ICC ) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader, Mohammed Deif. The court claims that since Hamas ‘ October 7 attack on Israel, both sides have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel has claimed Deif was killed in an airstrike in July despite the release of a permit for him. Hamas has not, however, confirmed or refuted this assertion. If they were ever to become judged at the ICC, a judgment is probable.
Netanyahu faces serious charges from the judge. The three-judge board universally said that he and Gallant are” co-perpetrators for committing the war murder of hunger as a method of war, and the crimes against humanity of death, persecution, and another cruel works”.
The judges even “found fair grounds for believing that they are criminally responsible” for the war crime of intentionally attacking the population. The International Court of Justice‘s investigation, which determined that it is “plausible” that Israel has committed a crime against the Gaza Genocide Convention, supports the allegations.
If arrested, Netanyahu would go through a trial, and he could therefore be acquitted, or convicted. In the latter event, Netanyahu may join the ranks of officials considered perpetrators of crimes against humanity, such as Charles Taylor of Liberia, Hissène Habré of Chad, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Augusto Pinochet of Chile, Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia, Radovan Karadžić of Serbia, Idi Amin of Uganda, Pol Pot of Cambodia, Joseph Stalin of the former Soviet Union, Mao Zedong of China, and Adolf Hitler of Germany.
Subsequent steps
The execution of the arrest permits depends on the actions of ICC member state. And this is by no means a foregone conclusion. Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, has been wanted by , the jury since 2023 , for his role in directing attacks on civilians in Ukraine and the unlawful imprisonment of Russian children.
Putin was recently in Mongolia, a position that is a member of the ICC, after the Mongolian government assured him that he would be healthy. However, he was unable to go to South Africa when the BRICS financial bloc’s leaders, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, convened in Johannesburg in 2023.
This was due to the practice in South Africa of past Syrian leader, Omar Al-Bashir. Bashir, for whom the ICC granted arrest warrants in 2009 and 2010 for supposedly directing a campaign of mass killing, rape and pillage against citizens in Darfur, traveled to South Africa in 2015 to enter an African Union conference. But because he was afraid of being arrested, he had to abandon immediately.
South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal ruled in 2016 that the government’s failing to assault him was unconstitutional. And South Africa was penalized by the ICC for” terrible failure” to arrest Bashir the next year. He was even able to travel freely to other ICC part states, including Chad, Kenya and Jordan.
In a military coup in 2019, Bashir was put in jail. He has been subject to an investigation for his role in the revolt that brought him to strength and has been found guilty of corruption in Sudan.
The ICC, which already has a poor track record of trials, is damaged if offenders are not arrested. For instance, after former president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagb, was charged next acquitted. However, it also negates a sizable option for major crime victims to obtain justice.
Serious political implications
Netanyahu’s chances of appearing at the Hague are slim. He is the first president of a European nation to be accused of being indicted by the ICC. But the social implications of the arrest warrants for Netanyahu are, at any rate, serious.
Netanyahu was aware that he would be held accountable for his social choices by the ICC, which is why he opposed the ICC’s membership in 2015.
In reality, Netanyahu could gain even more of his own country’s validity than he has now lost with some organizations. Israeli civil society organizations are carefully following the ICC’s activities.
B’Tselem, a Jerusalem-based non-profit firm that documents human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories, has said that the ICC action and ICJ rulings “are a chance for us, Israelis, to understand that … upholding a regime of supremacy, violence and oppression always involves crimes and serious violation of human rights”.
In addition, he will have a limited range of travel options and be viewed as a pariah in many of the 124 ICC says. Most rulers of Western nations, including Germany, would agree on this position. In May, a government spokesman suggested that if permits were issued, Germany would jail Netanyahu.
The EU’s current global human rights restrictions program, which allows targeted sanctions against foreigners who are deemed to be responsible for flagrant human rights violations, is unlikely to be used by the EU.
This is because uniformity across the alliance is required, and some states such as Austria, Czechia, Hungary and Germany may become reluctant to agree to this. Perhaps the French foreign ministry director said:” It’s a place that is officially complex”. There will be pressure on the institutions of all Union nations to operate against Netanyahu because the EU is a strong supporter of the ICC.
Netanyahu is not the only one with regard to this decision’s social relevance. Since October 7, pro-Palestinian protests have occurred at more than 500 US institutions. And the UK has now joined most EU states in supporting Netanyahu’s imprisonment.
Due to its lack of support for international laws, the US is currently largely isolated among the West. On the other hand, the ICC is becoming more and more prominent as it seeks to bring about global justice for patients.
Catherine Gegout is associate professor in foreign relationships, University of Nottingham
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