By Stephanie van den Berg and Nidal al-Mughrabi
THE HAGUE (Reuters) -The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief, as well as a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict.
In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza".
Judges said there were also reasonable grounds to believe the blockade on Gaza and lack of food, water, electricity, fuel and medical supplies "created conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the civilian population in Gaza, which resulted in the death of civilians, including children, due to malnutrition and dehydration".
The decision was met with outrage in Israel, which called it shameful and absurd. Gaza residents expressed hope it would help end the violence and bring those responsible for war crimes to justice. Hamas welcomed the warrants against the Israelis, and a senior official told Reuters it was a first step towards justice.
The warrant for Masri lists charges of mass killings during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, and also charges of rape and the taking of hostages.
Israel has said it killed Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in July but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this. The prosecution indicated it would continue to gather information with respect to his reported death.
Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza.
The United States, Israel's main diplomatic supporter, is also not a member of the ICC. It said it "fundamentally rejects" the move.
"We remain deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision," a White House National Security Council spokesperson said, adding that the U.S. is discussing next steps with its partners.
Global powers Russia, China and India have also not signed onto the ICC, the world's permanent war crimes court, which is backed by all of the European Union, Australia, Canada, Britain, Brazil, Japan and dozens of African and Latin American countries.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan had announced on May 20 that he was seeking arrest warrants for alleged crimes connected to the Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the Israeli military response in Gaza. Israeli and Hamas leaders have dismissed allegations that they committed war crimes.
The court does not have its own police force to carry out arrests and relies on its 124 member states for that, with only limited diplomatic means to force them if they do not want to.
Khan called on signatories of the court's founding treaty "to live up to their commitment to the Rome Statute by respecting and complying with these judicial orders."
In a statement he said "we count on their cooperation in this situation, as with all other situations... We also welcome collaboration with non-states parties in working towards accountability and upholding international law."
GLOBAL REACTION
"Netanyahu and Gallant now are war criminals and sooner or later some country will bring them to justice, no matter how long it takes," said Shaban Abed, 47, a technical engineer and a resident of Gaza City, now displaced in the Khan Younis area. He said the court's move was "late, but never too late".
Rabeeha, a mother of five and a resident of Gaza City who only gave her first name, said she hoped it would help bring an end to the war.
"I hope we can soon see Netanyahu and the criminal Gallant in jail," she said. "Now they can't travel, now they are being hunted."
Netanyahu's office said the ICC decision was "antisemitic" and he will "not yield to pressure, will not be deterred" until Israel's war objectives are met.
The ICC has "lost all legitimacy" after issuing the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said.
"A dark moment for the International Criminal Court," Saar said on X, adding that it had issued "absurd orders without authority".
There was no immediate comment from Gallant.
In a statement, Hamas welcomed the warrants against Gallant and Netanyahu and urged the court to expand accountability to all Israeli leaders.
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters the warrants against the Israelis were an important step towards bringing justice for the victims and that all countries should back them.
The EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the decision was not political but made by a court and thus should be respected and implemented.
"The tragedy in Gaza has to stop," he said.
Jordan's foreign minister Ayman Safadi also said the ICC's decision must be implemented, adding that Palestinians deserved justice after what he termed Israel's "war crimes" in Gaza.
The Netherlands' foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp said his country acts on arrest warrants for people on its territory and will not engage in "non-essential" contacts.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, said: "The court is a dangerous joke. It is now time for the U.S. Senate to act and sanction this irresponsible body."
Israel's 13-month campaign in Gaza has killed about 44,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly all the enclave's population while creating a humanitarian crisis, Gaza officials say.
It launched the campaign in response to the October 2023, Hamas-led attack which killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, with more than 250 others taken hostage, Israel has said.