The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. UN officials said the decision was a historic step and emphasized that it was an important turning point in the process of holding the crimes accountable.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a historic ruling on war crimes in Gaza, issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing Balakrishnan Rajagopal described the decision as a historic step.
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing Balakrishnan Rajagopal described the ICC’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant as historic. Rajagopal said that this is an important step towards accountability for atrocities. This carries the potential for actual arrests and reputational and legacy costs, adding that the decision could have significant global ramifications.
Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, stressed the importance of the decision, saying, that Better late than never. Alsalem stated that the ICC’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Gallant was taken for war crimes, such as the starvation and cruelty of civilians in Gaza.
The ICC also confirmed its jurisdiction over crimes committed in the Palestinian territories. Alsalem said the ICC confirmed its jurisdiction over the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem and rejected Israel’s objections to this jurisdiction. This decision paves the way for international accountability for crimes in Palestine.
Alsalem also expressed hope that the ICC would focus more on the sex and gender-specific aspects of these crimes in the future. However, it was also noted that in the past, this had far underperformed. The text of this decision does not mention specific consequences for Palestinian women, but it can be inferred, Alsalem said.
According to CNN, “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,” The UK-based NGO, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said.
“Palestinians can wait no longer for justice and protection under the law, and the UK must not be an ally to atrocities.”
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office responded to the ICC’s decision saying, “Israel utterly rejects the absurd and false actions and accusations against it by the International Criminal Court, which is a politically biased and discriminatory body.”
