What the ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant, and Deif say

AMSTERDAM — Judges at the International Criminal Court have issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas’s military chief, Ibrahim Al-Masri — commonly known as Muhammad Deif — for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies the accusations of war crimes in Gaza. The decision marked the first time the ICC has ever issued arrest warrants against leaders of a democratic country.

Israel has said it killed Deif in an airstrike, but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this. The prosecution indicated it would continue to gather information with respect to his reported death.

Prior to their deaths, the prosecution had also sought arrest warrants for slain Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar for the terror group’s October 7, 2023, massacre that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.

Below are key quotes from the ICC’s statements announcing the arrest warrants.

On Netanyahu and Gallant

•  “The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Netanyahu … and Mr. Gallant … 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.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (foreground) and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant hold a press conference at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

• “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 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.”
• “The alleged crimes against humanity were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza.”
• “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, from at least 8 October 2023 to 20 May 2024.”
• There are “reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare.”
• “By intentionally limiting or preventing medical supplies and medicine from getting into Gaza … the two individuals are also responsible for inflicting great suffering by means of inhumane acts on persons in need of treatment.”
• There are “reasonable grounds to believe that (their) 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.”
• Full statement here.

The head of Hamas’s military wing Muhammad Deif in an undated photo. (Israel Defense Forces)

On Hamas military chief Deif

• Judges of the ICC “issued a warrant of arrest for Mr. Muhammad Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, commonly known as ‘Deif,’ for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on the territory of the State of Israel and the State of Palestine from at least 7 October 2023.”
• “The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that (Deif), the highest commander of the military wing of Hamas (known as the al-Qassam Brigades) at the time of the alleged conduct, is responsible for 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.”
• There are “reasonable grounds to believe that on 7 October 2023, shortly after a large number of rockets triggered the ‘Tzeva Adom’ alarm in several communities in Israel around 6:20-6:30 a.m., armed men entered these communities, as well as the site of the Supernova festival, a music event with a few thousand participants… Members of Hamas, notably fighters of the al-Qassam Brigades, carried out mass killings at and/or around the communities of Kfar Aza, Holit, Nir Oz, Be’eri, and Nahal Oz, as well as at the Supernova festival … These killings qualify as the crime against humanity and the war crime of murder.”
• “In light of the coordinated killings… of civilians at several separate locations, the Chamber also found that the conduct took place as part of a mass killing of members of the civilian population, and it, therefore, concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crime against humanity of extermination was committed.”
• “Hostage taking in the context of the 7 October Operation was conducted with the aim to negotiate their release in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.”
• “While they were held captive in Gaza, some hostages, predominantly women, were subjected to sexual and gender-based violence, including forced penetration, forced nudity, and humiliating and degrading treatment. On the basis of the material presented, the Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that the crimes of torture as a crime against humanity and war crime, rape and other forms of sexual violence as crimes against humanity and war crimes, cruel treatment as a war crime, and outrages upon personal dignity as a war crime were committed.”
• Full statement here.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.