[Anchor]
The International Criminal Court has issued warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Galant and Hamas executives for war crimes.
Israel immediately reacted strongly, and Hamas welcomed it, saying it had set an important precedent.
Reporter Park Young-jin reports.
[Reporter]
In May, the International Court of Justice, the ICC, which sought arrest warrants for both Israel and Hamas leadership at the same time, issued the warrants in six months.
I'm going to hold you accountable for the war in Gaza.
The ICC determined that the crimes against humanity committed by Netanyahu and former Defense Secretary Galant had deliberately deprived Gaza civilians of the survival essentials and caused death.
Hamas leader Dave was also issued a warrant for a surprise attack on Israel in October last year.
Israel's prime minister's office dismissed it as a "outrageous and anti-Semitic" decision, stressing that it would not give in to pressure until it achieved the war's goals.
Israeli politicians and supporters have also slammed the ICC's decision, calling it a mockery of those fighting for justice.
[Anat Levy / Supporters of Netanyahu: The ICC is an antisemitic court in an antisemitic world, and they hate Netanyahu because he is now the greatest leader in the world.]
Hamas, on the other hand, hailed it as setting a historically important precedent, and called for the war's responsibility to be extended to all Israeli leaders.
The EU also urged the implementation of the ICC decision, saying it should end the tragedy in Gaza.
[Joseph Borrell / High Representative for EU Foreign and Security Policy: All parties, including all EU member states, are obliged to implement this court decision.]
If Netanyahu visits 124 ICC member states in the future, he could be arrested in principle, but the realistic possibility is not great.
This is because the ICC's arrest warrant, which is not compulsory, is less effective for living power, as seen in the case of Russian President Putin, who went on an overseas trip regardless.
I'm Park Youngjin of YTN.
Video editing: Jung Kook-yoon
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