International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

The move makes the Israeli Prime Minister an internationally wanted suspect Credit: AP

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the former defence minister Yoav Gallant, as well as the military commander of Hamas.

The court has accused the three men of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The ICC is a last resort court whose job it is to investigate when domestic authorities have not done so or cannot do so.

Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Credit: AP

The move makes Netanyahu an internationally wanted suspect but could potentially complicate efforts to negotiate a cease-fire to end the 13-month war in Gaza.

The court panel says it believes "there are reasonable grounds to believe" Netanyahu and his former minister "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".

However, the material impacts of the warrant for Netanyahu's arrest are limited. Neither Israel nor the United States, who have supported Israel throughout the conflict, are members of the ICC.

Also, Hamas' military leader Mohammed Deif and several other group officials included in the warrants are thought to have died since the start of the conflict.

This graphic released by the IDF that said Mohammed Deif was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July. Credit: AP

Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have condemned ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for warrants as disgraceful and "antisemitic".

In a post on X, Netanyahu said: "This was a dark day for justice. A dark day for humanity.

"(The ICC) has chosen the side of terror and evil over democracy and freedom, and turned the very system of justice into a human shield for Hamas’ crimes against humanity."

US President Joe Biden blasted the prosecutor and expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas.

Hamas welcomed the decision by the ICC, describing it as an “important and historic precedent” after what it said was decades of injustice at the hands of a “fascist occupation".

The Netherlands is one of the first countries that has confirmed it will arrest Netanyahu if he arrives on Dutch soil.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has said it challenged the judgement in September. Still, they were not given the opportunity to investigate the allegations from the ICC before the warrants were issued.

A spokesperson from the Ministry claimed that "no other democracy with an independent and respected legal system like that which exists in Israel has been treated in this prejudicial manner by the Prosecutor".

Charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), welcomed the ICC's decision and accused Israel of war crimes including “starvation as a method of warfare” and “the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.

"Israel's ongoing violations against Palestinians have been emboldened by decades of impunity and the attacks on Gaza in the past year have devastated the health system and caused enormous civilian suffering. This must be a turning point for Gaza and the broader region," it said.

It has urged the UK to ensure the arrest warrants are "upheld," and "to review all relations with Israel in light of this decision, and to suspend immediately all arms licences and transfers".

The warrants follow an overnight Israeli air strike in northern Gaza on Wednesday night.

Paramedics and Hamas-affiliated media said at least 66 were killed in a strike that hit a shelter for displaced people and a hospital in the town of Beit Lahia.

The Civil Defence agency - run by Hamas - said another 22 people were killed in a further strike on a house in Gaza City.

A hospital in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis also said the bodies of 24 people were admitted on Thursday morning, thought to have been killed in Israeli military action.

Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.

Since October 7, more than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed and 104,000 injured in the Israel-Hamas war, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said on Thursday.

This particular conflict began when Hamas militants launched an attack on southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 250. Around 100 hostages remain in Gaza.

Figures provided by the Hamas-run health ministry are considered reliable by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch. A paper published in the Lancet found "no evidence of inflated mortality reporting from the Gaza Ministry of Health".

Have you heard The Trapped? Listen as Daniel Hewitt exposes the UK's dirty secret