ICC cancels the arrest warrant for Hamas Mohammed Deif leader

International Criminal Court (ICC) He canceled the arrest warrant against the leader Hamas, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Meri, also known as Mohammed Deif, on Wednesday, after confirming he was killed last July, obtaining “sufficient and reliable information” from criminal prosecution.

ICC has issued arrest warrants for DeifTogether with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the former Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, in November 2024.

A arrest warrant He was issued for Deif, even though Israel confirmed that he was killed in an Israeli air attack, and Hamas informed Arab ASHARQ Al-Awat that Deif was killed in early November. This seemed to suggest that the arrest warrant for Deif was issued in an attempt to maintain a certain level of sealing between the sides of the conflict.

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

Now, when ICC has canceled the arrest warrant of Deif, only the mandates for Netanyahu and gallant remain.

Muhammed Deif’s newest photo (right) holding US dollars and a plastic cup. (Credit: IDF’s spokesperson)

The court stated that there are reasonable reasons to believe that Deif, as commander of the Al-Qassam brigades, was responsible for both humanity and war offenses, who were “part of a widespread and systematic attack, directed by Hamas and other armed groups against the civilian population.” The offenses committed by Deif have included murder, extermination, raw treatment, taking hostages, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence.

Why the decision?

In his decision to cancel Mandate for DeifThe ICC quoted Article 58 (4) of the ICC status, stating that “jurisdiction cannot be exercised on a deceased person. Therefore, the procedures against a deceased person must be terminated. “

Also, the criminal prosecution initially filed applications for arrest warrants for Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar. Following the confirmation of their deaths, the camera granted the requests to withdraw in August and in October respectively.

Regarding the guarantees for Netanyahu and Gallant, ICC said that there are reasonable reasons to believe that they have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, however, Israel criticized the legitimacy of each of these statements.

While Israel and the US have condemned ICC, UK, and some EU countries have expressed that they will support the Court’s decision.