Double Standards in International Law: The ICC’s Decision on Israeli and Hamas Leaders
Taut Bataut
New Eastern Outlook

In a shocking mocking, the Hague-based Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant – former Israeli Defense Minister, and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, aka Deif – the military Wing Commander of Hamas on November 21st, sparking ambivalent reaction globally.
The ICC’s Decision and Its Global Impact—The ICC Prosecutor took almost 8 months to file the petitions against the people nominated in these arrest warrants. Moreover, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber took 6 months to issue a decision on these arrest warrants. This sluggishness of the Pre-Trial chamber is beyond comprehension. The ICC decision stipulated that it had “reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare.”
Netanyahu and Gallant have been accused of intentionally using starvation as a tool of warfare to deprive the innocent civilians of Gaza of rudimentary supplies including medicine, water, and food. The ICC prosecutors have alleged in the decision that these actions were unnecessary, arguing that they violate international law. In addition, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber has charged Muhammad Deif with hostage-taking, and orchestrating torture and mass murder. However, Israel claims that it killed Deif in an airstrike, while Hamas is silent over this claim.
These warrants are an outcome of a broader ICC investigation that investigated the alleged war crimes by both sides in the Israel-Hamas war. The inquiry was initiated after Israel’s alleged retaliation to the October 7 attacks by Hamas, which resulted in 250 kidnappings by the latter. More than 44000 Palestinians have been killed and 1.9 million displaced since October 7, 2023. Nonetheless, the international community is deeply divided over this ICC decision.