Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Former Fresno Councilmember and Assemblymember Mike Briggs Dies After Cancer Battle

3 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Committed to Sending National Guard Troops to Chicago

4 hours ago

Trump Dismisses Rumors He Is in Ill Health, Calls Them ‘Fake’

4 hours ago

Rubio Says US Military Conducted Lethal Strike Against Drug Vessel From Venezuela

5 hours ago

Trump Says He Is ‘Very Disappointed’ With Putin Over Ukraine

5 hours ago

Wall Street Hits Over One-Week Low on Tariff Uncertainty, Data in Focus

9 hours ago

US Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s Use of Troops in Los Angeles

10 hours ago

Garnet Fire in Fresno County Grows to 26,982 Acres, 12% Contained

10 hours ago
Top War-Crimes Court Issues Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas Officials
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 10 months ago on
November 21, 2024

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to a joint meeting of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (AP/Julia Nikhinson)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

THE HAGUE — The world’s top war-crimes court issued arrest warrants Thursday for the leaders of Israel and Hamas, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with their war that began more than a year ago.

The warrants against Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant focus on allegations Israel has used food as a weapon in its campaign against Hamas in Gaza, a charge Israeli officials deny. Experts have warned that hunger has become widespread across Gaza and may have reached famine levels in the north of the territory, which is under siege by Israeli troops.

The action by the International Criminal Court came as the death toll from Israel’s campaign in Gaza passed 44,000 people, according to local health authorities, who say more than half of those killed were women and children. Their count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Netanyahu condemned the arrest warrant against him, saying Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions” by the court. In a statement released by his office, he said: “There is nothing more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza.”

Warrants Turn Netanyahu and Others Into International Wanted Suspects

The decision turns Netanyahu and the others into internationally wanted suspects and could further isolate them, as well as complicate efforts to negotiate a cease-fire. But its practical implications could be limited since Israel and its major ally, the United States, are not members of the court.

Israeli leaders, politicians and officials across the spectrum denounced the warrants and the ICC. The new defense minister, Israel Katz, who replaced Gallant earlier this month, said Thursday’s decision is “a moral disgrace, entirely tainted by antisemitism, and drags the international judicial system to an unprecedented low.”

Human rights groups applauded the move.

The warrants against both sides “break through the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law,” the associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, Balkees Jarrah, said in a statement.

The decision came six months after ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan requested the warrants.

The court issued a warrant for Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’ armed wing, over the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that triggered Israel’s offensive in Gaza. It said it found reasonable grounds to believe Deif was involved in murder, rape, torture and the taking of hostages amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In the Hamas-led attack, militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking some 250 others hostage. Around 100 Israelis remain captive in Gaza, around a third of them believed to be dead.

Khan withdrew his request for warrants for two other senior Hamas figures, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, who have both since been killed. Israel says it also killed Deif in an airstrike, but Hamas has never confirmed his death.

The warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were issued by a three-judge panel in a unanimous decision.

The panel said there were reasonable grounds to believe they “intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival,” including food, water, medicine, fuel and electricity.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in September that it had submitted two legal briefs challenging the ICC’s jurisdiction and arguing that the court did not provide Israel the opportunity to investigate the allegations itself before requesting the warrants.

ICC Is a Court of Last Resort

The ICC is a court of last resort that only prosecutes cases when domestic law enforcement authorities cannot or will not investigate. Israel is not a member state of the court. The country has struggled to investigate itself in the past, rights groups say.

Despite the warrants, none of the suspects is likely to face judges in The Hague anytime soon. Member countries are required to detain suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that.

For example, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is wanted on an ICC warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, recently visited Mongolia, a member state in the court but also a Russian ally. He was not arrested.

Still, the threat of arrest now complicates any travel abroad by Netanyahu and Gallant — including to close allies of Israel, such as France or Britain, said Yuval Shany, an international law expert at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University.

France signaled it could arrest Netanyahu if he came to its territory. Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine called it a “complex legal issue” but said France supports the court’s actions.

“Combating impunity is our priority,” he said. “Our response will align with these principles.”

Israel’s opposition leaders fiercely criticized the ICC’s move. Benny Gantz, a retired general and political rival to Netanyahu, said it showed “moral blindness” and was a “shameful stain of historic proportion that will never be forgotten.”

Yair Lapid, another opposition leader, called it a “prize for terror.”

Soon after Israel launched its campaign vowing to destroy Hamas after the October attacks, it announced a total seal on Gaza, vowing not to let in food, water or other supplies. Under U.S. pressure, it began allowing a trickle of humanitarian aid to enter a few weeks later. The campaign has caused heavy destruction across Gaza and driven almost the entire population of 2.3 million people from their homes, leaving most dependent on humanitarian aid to survive.

Israel now says it puts no limit on the amount of supplies into Gaza. Still, the flow of food and other goods is at nearly the lowest levels of the war, and the U.N. and other groups have said Israeli military restrictions are largely to blame, along with widespread lawlessness that has led to theft of aid shipments.

The case at the ICC is separate from another legal battle Israel is waging at the top U.N. court, the International Court of Justice, in which South Africa accuses Israel of genocide, an allegation Israeli leaders staunchly deny.

Lawyers for Israel argued in court that the war in Gaza was a legitimate defense of its people and that it was Hamas militants who were guilty of genocide.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Caught With 1,500 Fentanyl Pills Sentenced to Five Years

DON'T MISS

California Jury Clears Pop Star Cardi B of Assault Allegations in Civil Lawsuit

DON'T MISS

How the US Congressional Redistricting War is Playing Out State by State

DON'T MISS

Republican US House Committee Releases Thousands of Epstein Files

DON'T MISS

AI Will Require 60% of Workers to Retrain. Are Fresno Colleges Ready?

DON'T MISS

How One Blackstone Avenue Shelter Took Business Owners’ Concerns to Heart

DON'T MISS

They Were Convicted of Gang Crimes. New CA Supreme Court Rulings Trim Their Sentences

DON'T MISS

Former Fresno Councilmember and Assemblymember Mike Briggs Dies After Cancer Battle

DON'T MISS

US Congress Returns, With One Month to Avert Government Shutdown

DON'T MISS

Trump Says His Administration Will Ask Supreme Court for Expedited Ruling on Tariffs

UP NEXT

California Jury Clears Pop Star Cardi B of Assault Allegations in Civil Lawsuit

UP NEXT

How the US Congressional Redistricting War is Playing Out State by State

UP NEXT

Republican US House Committee Releases Thousands of Epstein Files

UP NEXT

AI Will Require 60% of Workers to Retrain. Are Fresno Colleges Ready?

UP NEXT

How One Blackstone Avenue Shelter Took Business Owners’ Concerns to Heart

UP NEXT

Former Fresno Councilmember and Assemblymember Mike Briggs Dies After Cancer Battle

UP NEXT

US Congress Returns, With One Month to Avert Government Shutdown

UP NEXT

Trump Says His Administration Will Ask Supreme Court for Expedited Ruling on Tariffs

UP NEXT

Trump Says He’s Committed to Sending National Guard Troops to Chicago

UP NEXT

Fresno Police Arrest Teen After Traffic Stop Leads to Foot Chase, Firearm Recovery

Republican US House Committee Releases Thousands of Epstein Files

2 hours ago

AI Will Require 60% of Workers to Retrain. Are Fresno Colleges Ready?

2 hours ago

How One Blackstone Avenue Shelter Took Business Owners’ Concerns to Heart

3 hours ago

They Were Convicted of Gang Crimes. New CA Supreme Court Rulings Trim Their Sentences

3 hours ago

Former Fresno Councilmember and Assemblymember Mike Briggs Dies After Cancer Battle

3 hours ago

US Congress Returns, With One Month to Avert Government Shutdown

4 hours ago

Trump Says His Administration Will Ask Supreme Court for Expedited Ruling on Tariffs

4 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Committed to Sending National Guard Troops to Chicago

4 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Teen After Traffic Stop Leads to Foot Chase, Firearm Recovery

4 hours ago

Trump Dismisses Rumors He Is in Ill Health, Calls Them ‘Fake’

4 hours ago

Fresno Man Caught With 1,500 Fentanyl Pills Sentenced to Five Years

A Fresno man was sentenced Tuesday to five years in federal prison for possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute, prosecutors said. Ady ...

55 minutes ago

The crest of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is seen at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 10, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File photo
55 minutes ago

Fresno Man Caught With 1,500 Fentanyl Pills Sentenced to Five Years

Cardi B looks on during the presentation of designer Rousteing's Spring/Summer 2025 Women's ready-to-wear collection show for fashion house Balmain during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France, September 25, 2024. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

California Jury Clears Pop Star Cardi B of Assault Allegations in Civil Lawsuit

Democratic lawmakers in Texas
1 hour ago

How the US Congressional Redistricting War is Playing Out State by State

U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10, 2019. New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
2 hours ago

Republican US House Committee Releases Thousands of Epstein Files

2 hours ago

AI Will Require 60% of Workers to Retrain. Are Fresno Colleges Ready?

3 hours ago

How One Blackstone Avenue Shelter Took Business Owners’ Concerns to Heart

The California Supreme Court (CalMatters/File)
3 hours ago

They Were Convicted of Gang Crimes. New CA Supreme Court Rulings Trim Their Sentences

Mike Briggs
3 hours ago

Former Fresno Councilmember and Assemblymember Mike Briggs Dies After Cancer Battle

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend