On Thursday, November 21, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as the country’s former defence secretary Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif. All three are accused of committing war crimes in relation to the ongoing violence in Gaza.

The ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan requested the warrants in May, saying there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for Israel’s actions in the Strip. The alleged offences include “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder persecution,” amongst others.

In its statement, the court wrote that there is reason to believe both men “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.”

Since October 7, 2023, the death toll in Palestine has surpassed 44,000 as a result of Israel’s escalated military offensive. Additionally, 104,269 have been wounded and around 90% of the population has been displaced, often multiple times.

The ICC also issued a warrant for Hamas’ Mohammed Deif on suspicion of committing war crimes as part of his role in the October 7 attack on Israel. However, it is unclear if the man is still alive, as Israeli officials claim he was killed in an airstrike earlier this year. Prosecutor Khan originally sought warrants for two other senior Hamas figures, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, whose deaths have been confirmed.

Israel has strongly condemned the ICC’s decision, while Hamas welcomed the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant saying it “constitutes an important historical precedent, and a correction to a long path of historical injustice against our people.”

The ICC’s 124 states – which do not include Israel or the US – will now decide whether or not to enforce the warrants, meaning Netanyahu and Gallant risk arrest if travelling to any country that has signed the 1998 Rome statute.