Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on October 27, 2024. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / POOL / AFP)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas’ military chief Mohammed Deif.
“The Chamber issued warrants of arrest for two individuals, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest,” the Hague-based ICC said in a statement, adding a warrant was also issued for Deif.
Netanyahu joins Russia’s President Vladimir Putin as a sitting head of state with an ICC arrest warrant hanging over his head.
The ICC issued a warrant for Putin in March 2023, accusing him of being responsible for war crimes committed in Ukraine after the Russian invasion of its neighbouring country.
© Agence France-Presse
