The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for the former head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, who was reportedly killed last July in an IDF strike in Khan Younis. In the same decision, the court also issued warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Deif was charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes months after the IDF announced Deif's assassination. According to the ICC, the reason behind the warrant is the inability to determine whether Deif was killed.
The serious charges against him include “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.”
The ICC's announcement said the alleged crimes attributed to Deif took place “on the territory of the State of Israel and the State of Palestine from at least 7 October 2023.”
It was also noted the prosecution initially filed requests for arrest warrants against two other Hamas leaders, Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, who have since been killed.
“Following confirmation of their deaths, the Chamber granted the withdrawal of the applications on 9 August 2024 and 25 October 2024, respectively. With respect to Mr. Deif, the Prosecution indicated that it would continue to gather information with respect to his reported death,” the statement read.
“On 15 November 2024, the Prosecution, referring to information from both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities, notified the Chamber that it is not in a position to determine whether Mr Deif has been killed or remains alive. Therefore, the Chamber issues the present warrant of arrest,” it added.
“The warrant of arrest for Mr. Deif is classified as ‘secret’ in order to protect witnesses and to safeguard the conduct of investigations. However, the Chamber decided to release the information below since conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing, in particular the holding of a number of hostages captive. The Chamber considers it is also in the interest of victims and their families to be aware of the warrant’s existence,” the ICC stressed.
“The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Deif, born in 1965, the highest commander of the military wing of Hamas (known as the al-Qassam Brigades) at the time of the alleged conduct, 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.”
“The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Deif bears criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes for having committed the acts jointly and through others and having ordered or induced the commission of the crimes, and for his failure to exercise proper control over forces under his effective command and control,” it added.
“The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that during the relevant time, international humanitarian law related to international armed conflict (between Israel and Palestine) and non-international armed conflict (between Israel and Hamas) applied.
The Chamber also found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crimes against humanity were part of a widespread and systematic attack directed by Hamas and other armed groups against the civilian population of Israel.”
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