THE HAGUE (Reuters)

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief, as well as a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict.

In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a “widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza”.

The decision was met with outrage in Israel, which called it shameful and absurd. Hamas welcomed the warrants against the Israelis, and a senior official told Reuters it was a first step towards justice.

The warrant for Masri lists charges of mass killings during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, and also charges of rape and the taking of hostages.

Israel has said it killed Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in July but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this. The prosecution indicated it would continue to gather information with respect to his reported death.

Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza. The United States, Israel’s main diplomatic supporter, is also not a member of the ICC.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan had announced on May 20 that he was seeking arrest warrants for alleged crimes connected to the Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the Israeli military response in Gaza. Israeli and Hamas leaders have dismissed allegations that they committed war crimes.

The court does not have its own police force to carry out arrests and relies on its 124 member states for that. Whether they are arrested or not depends on the member states. They have an obligation to do so but the court has only limited diplomatic means to force them if they do not want to.

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Netanyahu’s office said the ICC decision was “anti-semitic” and he will “not yield to pressure, will not be deterred” until Israel’s war objectives are met.

The ICC has “lost all legitimacy” after issuing the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said.

“A dark moment for the International Criminal Court,” Saar said on X, adding that it had issued “absurd orders without authority”.

There was no immediate comment from Gallant.

In a statement, Hamas welcomed the warrants against Gallant and Netanyahu and urged the court to expand accountability to all Israeli leaders.

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters the warrants against the Israelis were an important step towards bringing justice for the victims.

“But it remains a limited and spiritual step if it was not backed practically by all countries to get this decision implemented in compliance with law and justice,” he said.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the decision was not a political one but made by a court and thus should be respected and implemented.

“The tragedy in Gaza has to stop,” Borrell said.

Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi also said the ICC’s decision must be implemented, adding that the Palestinians deserved justice after what he termed Israel’s “war crimes” in Gaza.

The Netherlands’ foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp said his country was prepared to act upon the warrants, Dutch news agency ANP reported.

In the United States, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, said: “The Court is a dangerous joke. It is now time for the U.S. Senate to act and sanction this irresponsible body.”

Israel’s 13-month campaign in Gaza has killed about 44,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly all the enclave’s population while creating a humanitarian crisis, Gaza officials say.

It launched the campaign in response to the October 2023, Hamas-led attack which killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, with more than 250 others taken hostage, Israel has said.