What Really Happens When The ICC Issues An Arrest Warrant

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that it was issuing arrest warrants for several prominent figures accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The war has raged in Gaza and dominated headlines since Hamas' attack on Israel in October 2023. Those named include Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Mohammad Deif, despite reports of the latter's death. It represents another momentous development in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is currently at boiling point.

The warrants have made headlines around the world and been praised by human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. The latter called the authorization against Netanyahu a "historic breakthrough for justice." However, it has also drawn controversy, not least in the United States, as its government backs Israel. As reported by The Guardian, its national security council issued the following statement: "The United States has been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter. In coordination with partners, including Israel, we are discussing next steps." And the truth is that while an ICC arrest warrant may make headlines, its impact differs greatly to such a warrant issued domestically.

The ICC was established after July 17, 1998, when 120 world states agreed to adopt the Rome Statute. By doing so, they "accept[ed] the jurisdiction of a permanent international criminal court for the prosecution of the perpetrators of the most serious crimes committed in their territories or by their nationals after the entry into force of the Rome Statute on 1 July 2002." The ICC's focus is to help bring to justice those who commit serious offenses affecting the international community — ones that undermine commonly held standards around human rights, including war crimes. 

However, though the court has a mandate to investigate crimes and issue warrants for the arrest of those the court deems to have committed them, the ICC is unable to arrest such figures themselves. Instead, the states who have committed to the Rome Statute are required to enforce the court's rulings in their territory. For example, the United Kingdom would be expected by the ICC and the wider international community to bring Benjamin Netanyahu into custody were he to enter the country. The ICC would only try a figure under arrest if the country holding them were unable or unwilling to do so.

But with the warrant issued, Netenyahu would be unlikely to attempt to enter such a country, and he remains safe from arrest in Israel. Another complication of the ICC, which currently has 124 members, is that several prominent nations, including the United States, are not members of the court and are not bound to abide by its decisions.

Despite the International Criminal Court having no power to arrest accused criminals themselves, its warrants still hold great sway on the world stage. In a statement released at the time of the November 2024 arrest warrants (per Al Jazeera), the ICC said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe that the Israeli leaders named in the warrants had "intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival."

Though both Israel and the United States have both voiced their opposition to the warrants, the findings undermine claims by the former that the state has made efforts to allow aid to pass to Palestinian citizens in Gaza. And according to the United Nations, around 2 million people in the region are now displaced. The ICC claims that Israel has used starvation as a weapon of war and purposefully exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The finding will have repercussions for the country's allies, several of which are reportedly legally bound to cease supplying weapons to countries that commit war crimes.