THE HAGUE, November 21. /TASS/. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the press release said.

According to the document, "the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber unanimously issued two decisions rejecting challenges" filed by Israel under the Rome Statute. "It also issued warrants of arrest for Mr Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Yoav Gallant," the press release said.

The Israeli side's objections concerned the court's jurisdiction over the situation in Palestine in general and Israeli citizens in particular, as well as the right of states to conduct investigations independently before referring cases to the ICC.

"The Chamber issued warrants of arrest for two individuals, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least October 8, 2023 until at least May 20, 2024," the day the prosecution filed a petition for the arrest warrants. The alleged crimes were committed in the Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip. According to the Pre-Trial Chamber, both are criminally responsible for crimes such as murder, persecution and other inhumane acts, as well as wilfully inflicting starvation on the civilian population as a method of warfare.

"The arrest warrants are [usually] classified as 'secret', in order to protect witnesses and to safeguard the conduct of the investigations," the ICC said. "However, the Chamber decided to release the information below since conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing. Moreover, the Chamber considers it to be in the interest of victims and their families that they are made aware of the warrants’ existence," it pointed out.

The ICC Office of the Prosecutor opened an investigation in the Palestinian territories in 2021. The office said at the time that the investigation concerns possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces, as well as by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. On May 20, 2024, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan asked the Pre-Trial Chamber to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.