 "Hamas, Palestinian Authority welcome ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, keep mum on Deif")
Hamas and the Palestinian Authority welcomed the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. On Thursday, the international tribunal issued arrest warrants against the Israeli premier, defence minister and Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.
While Israel has claimed that Deif was killed in an airstrike in July, the court’s pre-trial chamber said that it would “continue to gather information” to confirm his death. It is pertinent to note that this would be the first time that leaders of a democracy and Western-aligned states have been charged by the court, with many calling it the most momentous decision of its 22-year history.
On Thursday, Hamas welcomed the court ruling and urged the international court to aggressively investigate the human rights violation in Gaza. “We call on the International Criminal Court to expand the scope of accountability to all criminal occupation leaders,” the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank also welcomed the decision and urged members of the court to implement it, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. In the Thursday order, the pre-trial chamber ruled that there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore criminal responsibility as co-perpetrators for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts."
ICC’s decision reflects hope: PA
While welcoming the court’s decision, the Palestinian Authorities said that the Thursday order reflected “hope”. “The ICC’s decision represents hope and confidence in international law and its institutions,” the Palestinian statement said, urging ICC member states to sever “contact and meetings” with Netanyahu and Gallant – who was sacked by the Israeli prime minister earlier this month.
However, the PA statement did not make any mention of the arrest warrant issued against Deif. Even Hamas’ own statement did not mention Deif’s name. While Hamas said that the warrants for the Israeli leaders were “an important step towards justice and can lead to redress for the victims in general,” it called the ruling “limited”.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“It remains limited and symbolic if it is not supported by all means by all countries around the world”, the group’s political bureau member Bassem Naim said. Meanwhile, countries like Italy, the Netherlands and Canada have maintained that they would arrest the Israeli premier and defence minister if they enter the country.
When asked by AFP about Deif’s arrest warrant, a Hamas official who wished to remain anonymous said there was “no comparison between the criminal occupier and the victim”. The Gaza war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people. Meanwhile, over 40,000 people lost their lives in Gaza after Israel launched its military operation in the coastal enclave.
With inputs from agencies.
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