The International Criminal Court(ICC) has proceeded with an issuance of warrants of arrests for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for war crimes committed in Gaza since October 2023.
The decision of the International Criminal Court judges was long overdue because the court's Prosecutor Karim Khan requested the warrants of arrest for Netanyahu and Gallant more than six months ago.
Khan was requested the warrants of arrest even for Hamas leaders such as Ismail Haniyeh,Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif which all of them now are dead after being assassinated by Israel forces and agents.
The court has charged Netanyahu and Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024 which is the day the prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest.
The court has said that the arrest warrants are classified as 'secret',in order to protect witnesses and to safeguard the conduct of the investigations.
The court statement also emphasized that with regard to the crimes,the Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu,born on 21 October 1949,Prime Minister of Israel at the time of the relevant conduct,and Mr Gallant,born 8 November 1958,Minister of Defence of Israel at the time of the alleged conduct,each bear criminal responsibility for the following crimes as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others:the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare;and the crimes against humanity of murder,persecution,and other inhumane acts.
The court statement added that the Chamber also found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.
The court statement revealed that the Chamber is convinced that Netanyahu and Gallant were 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 8 October 2023 to 20 May 2024.
The court's Chamber also took in consideration the decision of Israel government to block humanitarian aid to reach civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
The Chamber also noted that the limitation of supplies such as food,water,electricity and fuel,and medical supplies contributed to the death of civilian population in Gaza because of Netanyahu and Gallant.
Since 8 October 2023,Israel has killed more than 40,000 civilian population in Gaza and the majority of those killed are women and children,and thousands of unaccounted civilians which are believed to be dead and remained under rubble.