The impact of the warrants announced by the ICC, external will depend on whether the court’s 124 member states – which do not include Israel or its ally, the US – decide to enforce them or not.
Several European countries have said they respect ICC decisions. Downing Street said the British government respected the independence of the ICC.
The prosecutor’s case against the three men stems from 7 October 2023, when Hamas gunmen attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 others back to Gaza as hostages.
Israel responded by launching a military campaign to eliminate Hamas, during which at least 44,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
For Deif,, external an ICC pre-trial chamber found reasonable grounds to believe he was “responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder; extermination; torture; and rape and other form of sexual violence; as well as the war crimes of murder, cruel treatment, torture; taking hostages; outrages upon personal dignity; and rape and other form of sexual violence”.
It also said there were reasonable grounds to believe the crimes against humanity were “part of a widespread and systematic attack directed by Hamas and other armed groups against the civilian population of Israel”.
For Netanyahu and Gallant,, external who was replaced as defence minister earlier this month, the chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that they “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”.
It also found reasonable grounds to believe that “each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population”.