ICC arrest warrants: What are Netanyahu and Gallant accused of?

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant are wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

(Article by Rayhan Uddin republished from MiddleEastEye.net)

They have been issued arrest warrants for "the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts".

All 124 members of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, are now compelled to arrest the two Israelis and hand them over to the court.

A trial cannot commence in absentia and the court does not have enforcement powers.

Below, Middle East Eye takes a deeper look at the specific alleged crimes.

War crime of starvation as method of war

In its statement, the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber I, a panel of three judges, said there were reasonable grounds to believe that the two Israelis "intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival".

These include food, water, medicine, medical supplies, fuel and electricity.

It said they played a role in impeding humanitarian aid, disrupting the ability of humanitarian organisations to distribute essential goods in Gaza, and cutting off electricity and reducing fuel supplies in the enclave.

The court found that Israeli decisions to allow or increase humanitarian assistance were often conditional, and were not made to fulfill Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law.

It said these decisions were often made in response to requests by the United States or the international community.

It found reasonable grounds to believe that there was no clear military need or other justification for the restriction on aid.

"The chamber considered the prolonged period of deprivation and Mr Netanyahu’s statement connecting the halt in the essential goods and humanitarian aid with the goals of war," the statement said.

"[It] found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare."

Crime against humanity of murder

The ICC's judges said that lack of food, water and other objects indispensable to survival "created conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the civilian population in Gaza".

The statement noted that this resulted in the death of civilians, "including children due to malnutrition and dehydration".

It said that based on evidence presented by the prosecution until 20 May, it could not determine that all elements of the crime against humanity of extermination were met.

"However, the chamber did find that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crime against humanity of murder was committed in relation to these victims."

Crime against humanity of persecution

Further, the intentional limiting of medical supplies, such as anaesthetics and anaesthesia machines, meant Netanyahu and Gallant bore responsibility "for inflicting great suffering by means of inhumane acts on persons in need of treatment".

It said that doctors being forced to carry out amputations without anaesthetics and sedate patients via unsafe means amounted to "the crime against humanity of other inhumane acts".

All these actions "deprived a significant portion of the civilian population in Gaza of their fundamental rights", including the rights to life and health. The Palestinian population was also targeted "based on political and/or national grounds".

"It therefore found that the crime against humanity of persecution was committed," the statement said.

Finally, the chamber found grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant were criminally responsible "for the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population of Gaza".

This was based on two incidents from material provided by the prosecution that qualified as attacks intentionally directed at civilians.

It said that while the two leaders had "measures available to them to prevent or repress the commission of crimes or ensure the submittal of the matter to the competent authorities", they failed to do so.