The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas officials, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza and the October 2023 attacks that triggered Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory.
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00:00The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister
00:04Benjamin Netanyahu.
00:06The court says it wants to try Netanyahu, his former defense minister and a top Hamas
00:10militant on war crimes charges.
00:13These are connected to Hamas' October 2023 attack that triggered the war in Gaza and
00:18Israeli military actions inside the territory since then.
00:23Gaza health authorities say the death toll from that offensive has now risen above 44,000
00:29people.
00:30In the short term, Netanyahu does not face any imminent risk of arrest.
00:36The ICC does not have any jurisdiction in Israel.
00:39Israel is not a member of the court, so it cannot send anyone here to arrest him.
00:45Nonetheless, this is a significant development.
00:47For starters, it's embarrassing.
00:49The Israeli leader is now the focus of an international criminal warrant.
00:55But also on a practical level, Netanyahu will have to think twice before traveling
01:00abroad.
01:01Some of Israel's closest allies, these include the UK, France, Italy and others, are members
01:08of the court and they could be obligated to arrest him if he steps foot on their soil.
01:13Netanyahu remains defiant.
01:15He has condemned this decision with disgust.
01:19He says the war against Hamas is justified and he is vowing to press on.