The Chamber issued warrants of arrest for Netanyahu and Gallant, who have committed "crimes against humanity and war crimes" from October 8, 2023, to May 20, 2024—the date the Prosecution filed for their arrest warrants, the Hague-based ICC said in a statement.

The decision turns Netanyahu and the others into internationally wanted suspects and is likely to further isolate them as the Gaza war shows no sign of stopping.

But its practical implications could be limited since Israel and its major ally, the United States, are not members of the court and several of the Hamas officials have been subsequently killed in the Israeli war on Gaza.

“The Chamber considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity,” the three-judge panel wrote in its unanimous decision to issue warrants for the Israeli officials.

The court also issued a warrant for the arrest of Mohammed Deif, one of the leaders of Hamas. The ICC chief prosecutor had also sought warrants for two other senior Hamas figures, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, but they were both killed by Israel in its war on Gaza.

The arrest warrants had been classified as "secret", to protect witnesses and to safeguard the conduct of the investigations, the court said.

"However, the Chamber decided to release the information below since conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing," the tribunal said.

"Moreover, the Chamber considers it to be in the interest of victims and their families that they are made aware of the warrants' existence."

The ICC is a court of last resort that only prosecutes cases when domestic law enforcement authorities cannot or will not investigate. Israel is not a member state of the court. The country has struggled to investigate itself in the past, rights groups say.

Despite the warrants, none of the suspects is likely to face judges in The Hague any time soon. The court itself has no police to enforce warrants, instead relying on cooperation from its member states.

Khan sought warrants in May, accusing Netanyahu and Gallant of crimes including murder, intentionally attacking civilians, and persecution.

In a statement at the time, Khan stressed that Israel “has intentionally and systematically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of objects indispensable to human survival” by closing border crossings into the territory and restricting essential supplies including food and medicine.

At the same time, he accused three Hamas leaders—Sinwar, Deif, and Haniyeh—of committing alleged crimes, including murder, extermination, hostage-taking, rape, and torture.

Prosecutors withdrew their request for a warrant for Haniyeh, who was assassinated in what was believed to be an Israeli strike in Iran in July. Israel also claims to have killed Deif, but Hamas hasn’t confirmed his death. Sinwar, who was promoted to succeed Haniyeh as Hamas’ leader, was killed in a chance front-line encounter with Israeli troops in October.

Human rights groups have applauded the decision, which came more than six months after Khan made his initial request.

“The ICC arrest warrants against senior Israeli leaders and a Hamas official break through the perception that certain individuals are beyond the reach of the law,” the associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, Balkees Jarrah, said in a statement.

Gaza's health ministry said Thursday that at least 44,056 people had been killed in more than 13 months of Israel's deadliest war on Gaza, mostly women and children.

More than 100,000 have been wounded, the ministry added, while thousands are presumed dead under the rubble or scattered on roads across the war-torn strip.

Additionally, more than 85 percent of the population, or 1.9 million people, has been displaced at least once. Meanwhile, most Palestinians, particularly in the north, are on the brink of famine due to an Israeli siege on the territory.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.