Jerusalem: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes carried out in Palestinian territories, including Gaza. The warrants represent a significant development in efforts to hold Israel accountable for its actions in Gaza, which is now in its second year, and its escalating aggression on the occupied West Bank. According to Anadolu Agency, the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber I stated that the warrants cover 'crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest.' The court unanimously rejected Israel's challenges to jurisdiction under Articles 18 and 19 of the Rome Statute, the ICC's governing treaty. The court found reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant each bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and the crim es against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts. The ICC has also issued a warrant for senior Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, commonly known as Deif. Israel claims Deif was killed in a July air raid in southern Gaza, but Hamas has not confirmed it publicly. The warrants for the Israelis make them accused war criminals and are the first ever for leaders of a Western-allied country. The announcement has significant repercussions for Netanyahu and Gallant, as all 124 of the court's signatory countries are now obliged to arrest and hand them over for prosecution if they enter their territories. These countries include some of Israel's staunchest Western allies, such as the UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, and Norway. Other European nations where the Israeli leaders would be off limits include Spain, Switzerland, Denmark, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Portugal, and Poland. Major ICC signatories also include Greece, New Zealand, Sou th Korea, Japan, South Africa, Nigeria, Mexico, Kenya, Colombia, and Brazil. A notable exception is the United States, which withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2002 and is not legally obliged to take action against Netanyahu and Gallant. However, the ICC encourages non-states parties to execute the warrants, as the court itself has no enforcement mechanism. An ICC manual states that some non-signatories have played an active role in previous surrender operations. When the UNSC triggers the Court's jurisdiction over a given situation, the duty to cooperate binds relevant UN Member States, regardless of their status concerning the Rome Statute. Legal scholar Gerhard Kemp told Anadolu that the ICC's decision is significant for several reasons and puts pressure on nations supporting Israel despite international backlash over its actions in Gaza. It reconfirms the ICC's jurisdiction over the situation in Palestine, rejects Israel's jurisdiction challenges, and makes important observations regarding the conflict's nature and the evidence's strength. The ICC principle that official capacity is not a bar to executing arrest warrants and ultimately trying senior government officials, including Israel's Prime Minister, is also confirmed. The arrest warrant for Netanyahu, like those for Sudan's Omar Al-Bashir and Russian President Vladimir Putin, poses diplomatic and political challenges for ICC member states, especially those in the West. States party to the Rome Statute have legal obligations, but as seen with Bashir and recently with Mongolia's failure to arrest Putin, member states often find it politically difficult to fulfill these obligations. Kemp suspects European countries and other traditional allies of Israel in the West will come under pressure to quickly decide whether they will execute the arrest warrants if the occasion arises.