The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, six months after a request by Prosecutor Karim Khan.

The Hague-based court also issued a warrant for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the Hamas military chief better known as Mohammed Deif.

The chamber said the arrest warrants are classified as "secret" but that it has decided to release them because "conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing," referring to the ongoing Israeli onslaught on Gaza and the continued detention of Israeli captives by Hamas.

All 124 member states of the Rome Statute are now under an obligation to arrest the wanted individuals and hand them over to the court in the Hague. A trial cannot commence in absentia, as stipulated in Article 63 of the statute.