The International Criminal Court on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and the former Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
Karim Khan, the court’s chief prosecutor, had requested the arrest warrants in May for the two Israelis, alongside three top Hamas officials. Israel has fiercely contested the court’s allegations, which include the use of starvation as a weapon of war and “intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.”
The court on Thursday also issued a warrant for the arrest of Mohammed Deif, Hamas’ military chief, for crimes against humanity, including murder, hostage-taking and sexual violence. Israel said in August that it had killed Deif. Khan had also sought arrest warrants for Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, and Ismail Haniyeh, another top figure in the militant group, both of whom were later killed by Israel.
The warrants compounded Israel’s dwindling legitimacy on the world stage, where it has faced increasingly fierce condemnation over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza. Israel insists that it fights in accordance with the international laws of war.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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