In a significant decision announced today, the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber I said there were reasonable grounds to believe that the pair were responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity since the beginning of Israel’s military operations in Gaza in October 2023.

The ICC’s prosecutor, Karim Khan KC, announced in May that he was seeking arrest warrants for Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — who the Israeli government says have all since been killed.

A warrant has nonetheless been issued in respect of Mr Deif, with the court saying it is “not in a position to determine whether Mr Deif has been killed or remains alive”.

Judges say there are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant bear criminal responsibility as co-perpetrators for committing, jointly with others, the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.

They also found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.

In respect of Mr Deif, they found reasonable grounds to believe he is responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder, extermination, torture, and rape and other form of sexual violence, as well as the war crimes of murder, cruel treatment, torture, taking hostages, outrages upon personal dignity, and rape and other form of sexual violence.

Mr Deif is accused of having committed these acts jointly and through others, having ordered or induced the commission of the crimes, and having failed to exercise proper control over forces under his effective command and control.

All of the arrest warrants are classified as “secret” in order to protect witnesses and to safeguard the conduct of the investigations.

However, the ICC said in a statement that it has made the warrants public “since conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing” and because it is “in the interest of victims and their families”.

Israel is not among the 125 states parties to the Rome Statute and rejects the court’s jurisdiction.