Israeli rights group urges enforcement of ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant

JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem has urged all member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to enforce arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense chief Yoav Gallant.

“Israel’s crimes of starvation, persecution, and intentionally directing an attack against civilians is one of the lowest points in Israeli history,” the group said in a statement.

Available evidence about Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip during the last year, carried out with the knowledge and direction of the prime minister and members of the ministerial cabinet, clearly “indicates that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity,” it said.

B’Tselem emphasized that holding decision-makers personally accountable “is a key element in the struggle for justice and freedom for all human beings.”

“All states parties to the court must respect the Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision and enforce the warrants,” according to the rights group.

The ICC currently has 124 member states, according to its website. Under the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, member states are required to fully cooperate with the court, including executing arrest warrants. Cooperation is essential to ensuring accountability and combating impunity.

B’Tselem also highlighted that it and other human rights groups have long warned about the severe human rights violations inherent in Israel’s apartheid system.

The severity of the abuses, however, has reached unimaginable dimensions in the last year, it said.

The ICC announced in a landmark move earlier on Thursday that it issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

The court’s Pre-Trial Chamber I said it “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 October 8 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest.”

“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, medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity,” the decision said.

Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza following an attack last year by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas. The ensuing response by Israel has killed more than 44,000 people, most of them women and children, and injured over 104,000.

Several analysts say the actual toll is more than 3-4 times the official toll, including those gone missing under the rubble, those dying of starvation and infectious diseases. This death toll makes up over 10% of the entire population of the area.