The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas officials, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza and the October attacks that triggered Israel’s offensive in the Palest

Summary

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas officials, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and during the October 2023 attacks.

The court alleges actions like depriving Gaza civilians of essential resources.

Israel and the U.S., non-members of the ICC, reject the warrants, with Netanyahu calling them antisemitic.

Hamas also criticized the decision.

The practical enforcement of these warrants remains uncertain, as the ICC lacks authority to compel arrests.

  • FlowVoid@lemmy.worldEnglish
    32·
    22 days ago

    ICC charges are directed at individuals, not entire countries. They wouldn’t justify sanctions for the same reason governments don’t sanction Saudi Arabia for being the home of bin Laden.

    • BMTea@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      22 days ago

      I couldn’t think of a more absurd analogy. If Osama Bin Laden was Saudi Arabia’s head of state, and 9/11 was carried out by the Saudi military, and Saudi was party to the Rome Statute, then maybe you make such an analogy. As it actually stands, Netanyahu’s crimes were carried out by the state of Israel and that certainly has legal bearing inside the EU’s courts, with very recent precedent - sanctions on Russia citing the ICC arrest warrant for Putin. And Russia is not even party to the Rome Statute - the state of Israel is, and would be violating by not giving Netanyahu up.

      • FlowVoid@lemmy.worldEnglish
        14·
        22 days ago

        crimes were carried out by the state

        The same is true of others facing ICC charges. For example, Hamas leaders face ICC charges, but that does not justify sanctions against Palestine.

        sanctions on Russia citing the ICC arrest

        Sanctions against Russia couldn’t cite the ICC charges, because they began long before Putin was charged by the ICC.

        the state of Israel is

        Like the US and Russia, Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute.

        • BMTea@lemmy.worldEnglish
          6·
          22 days ago

          Hamas leaders face ICC charges, but that does not justify sanctions against Palestine.

          The EU does not recognize Hamas as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian Territories. It defines it as a non-state actor and a terror group, so what you said is also a terrible analogy. I don’t know why you keep using the word “justify”. Do you mean legally or morally? Sanctions would be targetted at specific individuals, firms and military/government components, not the state of Israel as such.

          Sanctions against Russia couldn’t cite the ICC charges, because they began long before Putin was charged by the ICC.

          Packages 11-14 were all issued after the ICC judgement. European Commission’s statements on the ICC warrant speak quite clearly about Russian culpability, not just Putin’s culpability.