The International Criminal Court has issued international arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a Hamas military leader.
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00:00Palestinians in Gaza search for survivors after Israel's latest strike on the enclave.
00:07More than 44,000 people have been killed here since Israel began its campaign against Hamas
00:12over a year ago.
00:14Now the men leading the charge are wanted for crimes against humanity.
00:19The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime
00:23Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Galant.
00:28The ICC judges found reasonable ground to accuse the men of bearing criminal responsibility
00:33for acts including murder, persecution and using starvation against Palestinian civilians
00:39as a weapon of war.
00:41They also issued a warrant for the military commander of Hamas, Mohammad Daif, who Israel
00:46says was killed in an airstrike.
00:49Both Hamas and Israel have rejected the ICC allegations, with the Israeli leader saying
00:54he does not recognize the validity of the decision.
00:57This is an anti-Semitic group that has one goal, to deprive us of our natural right to
01:06defend ourselves against enemies who rise up against us to destroy us.
01:11They accuse the State of Israel of murder.
01:14When we are working to defend ourselves from an enemy who is trying to commit murder against us.
01:19Israeli political leaders have joined Netanyahu in condemning the ICC's decision, and the
01:25country has been backed by their most crucial ally, the U.S.
01:28We fundamentally reject the court's decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israel
01:34officials.
01:35We remain deeply concerned by the prosecutor's rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling
01:40process errors that led to this decision.
01:43The United States has been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter.
01:48The U.S. has been a staunch defender of Israel, and this week, for the fourth time, vetoed
01:53a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, saying
01:58it did not guarantee the release of hostages taken by Hamas last year.
02:02And as they struggled to survive, Palestinians in Gaza welcomed the ICC's decision, seeing
02:08it as an important step on the path to justice.
02:12But many wish it had come sooner.
02:14This decision came much too late, but I believe that issuing these warrants to Netanyahu and
02:22the former Minister of War is the right thing to do, especially after the U.S. vetoed yesterday
02:28to stop the ceasefire and to revoke that decision in the U.N. Security Council.
02:32Today, we are talking about pursuing the perpetrator of the war, the criminals, in order to cut
02:38the road to these crimes, and this is the right thing to do.
02:41But those accused may not face prosecution any time soon.
02:45The International Criminal Court doesn't have the power to enforce arrests, relying
02:50on its 124 member states to apprehend alleged criminals if they step foot in their countries.
02:56Israel and the U.S. are not ICC members.
03:00Friends of the court really need to step up and show that they are willing to back the
03:06court.
03:08And so, you know, you may have the reputation that, boy, it's this big, powerful court
03:14with lots of resources and lots of cooperation, but we haven't had sufficient cooperation.
03:20Several of Israel's allies, including Italy, France and Canada, have indicated that they
03:24would implement the ICC warrants if given the chance.
03:29Overall, the likelihood of a trial is very low, but the issuance of arrest warrants against
03:34Israeli leaders is expected to impact their relationship with other countries, potentially
03:40applying pressure, analysts say, for Netanyahu's government to scale back the conflict.
03:46Devon Tsai and Rosie Greninger for Taiwan Plus.