ICC cancels the arrest warrant of Hamas Mohammed Deif leader

He International Criminal Court (ICC) He canceled the arrest warrant against Hamas leader, Mohammed Diabhim Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, on Wednesday after confirming that he had been killed last July, after having obtained “sufficient and reliable information” from the Prosecutor’s Office.

He ICC issued arrest orders for DEIFtogether with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024.

A arrest order He was issued for Deif, despite the fact that Israel confirmed that he had been killed in an Israeli air attack on Auguat, and Hamas had informed the Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat that Deif was killed in early November. This seemed to suggest that the arrest warrant for Deif was issued in an attempt to preserve some level of impartiality between the sides of the conflict.

The court declared in November that he was not able to determine whether Deif had been killed or remained alive and, therefore, issued an arrest warrant.

Now that the ICC has canceled the Deif arrest order, only Netanyahu and Gallant orders remain.

The newest photo of Muhammed Deif (right) that has American dollars and a cup of juice plastic. (Credit: IDF spokesman unit)

The court declared that there were reasonable reasons to believe that Deif, as commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, was responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes, that they were “part of a generalized and systematic attack led by Hamas and other armed groups against the civilian population of Israel.” The crimes committed by Deif included murder, extermination, cruel treatment, hostages, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence.

Why the decision?

In your decision to cancel the DEIF orderThe ICC cited article 58 (4) of the CPI statute as declaring that “jurisdiction cannot be exercised on a deceased person.” Therefore, procedures against a deceased person must be completed. ”

The Prosecutor’s Office had also initially submitted requests for arrest orders for Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar. After the confirmation of its deaths, the Chamber granted the withdrawal of applications in August and October, respectively.

Regarding the arrest orders for Netanyahu and Gallant, the CPI declared that there were reasonable reasons to believe that they had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, however, Israel criticized the legitimacy of each of these accusations.

While Israel and the United States condemned the actions of the ICC, the United Kingdom and some EU countries expressed that they would support the court’s decision.