International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Israeli leaders

October 7 Hamas-led attack on IsraelMilitary engagements Civilian attacks Israeli invasion of the Gaza StripMilitary engagements Civilian attacks Impacts and repercussions Other theatersRed Sea crisis Attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan Israel–Hezbollah conflict Iran–Israel proxy conflict Assassinations and deaths of prominent individuals See also On 21 November 2024, following an investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for two senior Israeli officials, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav Gallant, the former Minister of Defense of Israel, alleging responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts during the Gaza war.

[3] 125 ICC member states are now required to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they enter their territory, including France and the United Kingdom.

[4] The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, who was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike on 13 July 2024.

[11] On 20 December 2019, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced an investigation into war crimes allegedly committed in Palestine by members of the Israel Defense Forces or Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups since 13 June 2014.

[24] On 21 November 2024, the ICC's Preliminary Chamber I's Judges Nicolas Guillou (Presiding, France), Reine Alapini-Gansou (Benin) and Beti Hohler (Slovenia)[25] issued arrest warrants under request from chief prosecutor Khan in regards to "the activities of Israeli government bodies and the armed forces against the civilian population in Palestine, more specifically civilians in Gaza"[26][27] for Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant and Mohammed Deif.

It found reasonable grounds that "the crimes against humanity were part of a widespread and systematic attack directed by Hamas and other armed groups against the civilian population of Israel".

[35][36] Yoav Gallant made a public speech in early October 2023, shortly after the Hamas attacks on Israel that sparked the war, saying, "there will be no more electricity, no more food, no more fuel ... We are fighting against human animals and will behave accordingly.

On 9 January 2025, Polish president Andrzej Duda requested the government led by Donald Tusk to protect Netanyahu from arrest were he to choose to attend the anniversary commemorations.

[42] On the same day, the government published a resolution[43] stating that it would "guarantee the free and secure participation to the ceremony to the highest representatives of Israel" (Polish: zapewni wolny i bezpieczny dostęp i udział w tych obchodach najwyższym przedstawicielom Państwa Izrael).

[42] Donald Tusk stated his interpretation of the resolution to the media, according to which any Israeli representative who made the visit, whether it were "the prime minister" or another leader, would not be detained.

[48] International law professors Matthias Goldmann and Kai Ambos said to Der Tagesspiegel that Germany was legally obliged to enforce the arrest warrants.