The court also issued warrants for Israel's former defence minister as well as Hamas's military chief Mohammed Deif.

The warrants were issued in response to accusations of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the bloody conflict set off by the Palestinian group's October 7, 2023 attacks and Israel's war on Gaza.
 

Palestinian Authority: 'Sign of hope'

The Palestinian Authority, a rival of Hamas, said "the ICC's decision represents hope and confidence in international law and its institutions".

It urged ICC members to enforce "a policy of severing contact and meetings' with Netanyahu and Gallant.
 

Hamas: 'Justice'
 

"(It's) an important step towards justice and can lead to redress for the victims in general, but it remains limited and symbolic if it is not supported by all means by all countries around the world," Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim said.
 

Israel: New 'Dreyfus trial'
 

"The anti-Semitic decision of the International Criminal Court is comparable to the modern-day Dreyfus trial -- and it will end in the same way," Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to the 19th-century Alfred Dreyfus affair in which a Jewish army captain was wrongly convicted of treason in France before being exonerated.

US: 'Fundamentally rejects'
 

The United States "fundamentally rejects" the ICC's decision and "we remain deeply concerned by the prosecutor's rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision. The United States has been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter," a National Security Council spokesperson said.
 

European Union: 'Binding'
 

EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell said the warrants were "binding" and should be implemented. "It is not a political decision. It is a decision of a court, of a court of justice, of an international court of justice. And the decision of the court has to be respected and implemented," he said during a visit to Jordan.
 

Human Rights Watch: 'Secure justice'
 

"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. These warrants should finally push the international community to address atrocities and secure justice for all victims in Palestine and Israel."
 

Amnesty International: 'Wanted man'
 

"Prime Minister Netanyahu is now officially a wanted man," said Amnesty's Secretary General Agnes Callamard. "ICC member states and the whole international community must stop at nothing until these individuals are brought to trial before the ICC's independent and impartial judges."
 

Canada: "Abide by the rulings"

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada is one of the founding members of the ICC and that the country will "stand up for international law" as well as "abide by all the regulations and rulings of the international courts."
 

Italy: 'we would have to arrest them'
 

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said his country would be obliged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited, after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant.

Crosetto told RAI television's Porta a Porta programme that he believed the ICC was "wrong" but said that if Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant "were to come to Italy, we would have to arrest them" under international law.
 

Argentina: 'Deep disagreement'
 

Argentina "declares its deep disagreement" with the decision, which "ignores Israel's legitimate right to self-defence against the constant attacks by terrorist organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah," President Javier Milei posted on X.

Turkey: 'Positive decision'
 

The ICC's decision "is a belated but positive decision to stop the bloodshed and put an end to the genocide in Palestine," Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said on X. "The barbaric Israeli authorities, who target our innocent Palestinian brothers and sisters... must be brought to justice as soon as possible for their war crimes and crimes against humanity."
 

Norway: 'Confidence'
 

"It is important that the ICC carries out its mandate in a judicious manner. I have confidence that the court will proceed with the case based on the highest fair trial standards," Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said.
 

Sweden: 'Independence and integrity'
 

"Sweden and the EU support the important work of the court and safeguard its independence and integrity," Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said.