STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We have news of arrest warrants for leading figures in the Israel-Hamas War, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. NPR's Berlin correspondent Rob Schmitz has been covering this story. Rob, welcome.
ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE: Thank you.
INSKEEP: What are you hearing from the International Criminal Court?
SCHMITZ: Well, this decision, Steve, stems from a case that began earlier this year when court prosecutor Karim Khan announced he was seeking arrest warrants for both Israeli leaders, as well as leaders of Hamas. Now, these warrants were issued for alleged crimes connected to the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas last year and Israel's military response. Today, the court's 18 judges unanimously rejected Israel's challenges regarding the jurisdiction of the court and went forward with these arrest warrants, saying there are reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant bear what judges called criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, as well as for murder, persecution and other inhumane acts, such as directing attacks against civilians. The court also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas' Mohammed Deif for war crimes, even though Israel says it killed him in an airstrike in Gaza. Hamas neither confirms or denies that. The original arrest warrant also included Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, but both of them have since been killed by Israel.
INSKEEP: Yeah, diminishing number of Hamas leaders who could be the subject of arrest warrants, but what do the warrants mean for Netanyahu and Gallant?
SCHMITZ: So the International Criminal Court is an international, intergovernmental tribunal with more than 120 member states. And even though the U.S. played a big role in setting up the court, it's worth noting here that the U.S. is not a member state nor is Israel. But what these arrest warrants mean is that theoretically, at least, should Prime Minister Netanyahu or former Defense Minister Gallant ever travel to these member states, which include nearly all of Europe and several other countries throughout the world, those states would be obliged through their membership in the ICC to arrest them. Despite this, though, some states might elect not to do that. Russian President Vladimir Putin is also wanted on an arrest warrant from the court for alleged crimes in Ukraine, and when he recently visited Mongolia, a member of the ICC, he was not arrested.
INSKEEP: I suppose states make their decisions about what they want to do. Has Israel responded to these arrest warrants?
SCHMITZ: Israel's Office of the Prime Minister called these arrest warrants, quote, "antisemitic," called the accusations against Netanyahu absurd and false and said that Netanyahu, quote, "will not yield to pressure," will not be deterred and will not retreat until all Israel's war objectives are achieved.
INSKEEP: Well, what was the Israeli case that the court rejected?
SCHMITZ: Well, so Israel first challenged the court's jurisdiction, which the court dismissed. And it also argued that the court did not provide Israel the opportunity to investigate the allegations itself before requesting the warrants. But the court unanimously dismissed that argument as well. You know, it should be mentioned here that according to several human rights groups and legal experts inside Israel, the state of Israel has struggled to investigate itself when it comes to war crimes.
INSKEEP: NPR's Berlin correspondent Rob Schmitz on arrest warrants for figures in the Israel-Hamas War, including Benjamin Netanyahu. Rob, thanks very much.
SCHMITZ: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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