Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on Wednesday rejected Israel’s request to cancel arrest warrants issued against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. The warrants stem from an investigation into Israel’s alleged war crimes during the Gaza war.
The court also dismissed Israel’s demand to suspend the broader probe into alleged crimes in the Palestinian territories. According to the decision published on the ICC’s official website, the arrest warrants remain in effect pending a separate ruling on the court’s judicial authority.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant
(Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo, Haim Goldberg/Flash90)
Israel disputes the ICC’s jurisdiction, arguing its actions in Gaza constitute self-defense following Hamas’s deadly massacre on October 7, 2023. In April, Israel appealed for a review of the court’s legal authority, asserting the arrest warrants lack a legal basis while the issue remains unresolved.
The judges, however, dismissed this argument. No timeline has been set for a final ruling on the court’s jurisdiction, though the decision was not unexpected, as Israel anticipated the rejection. The ICC is reportedly seeking ways to scale back the case, partly due to U.S. sanctions that have rendered the court largely non-functional.
The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, has been sidelined amid a UN investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against him. Currently, the court is handling only one other case, involving the arrest of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
In June, the U.S. imposed sanctions on four ICC judges linked to the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, citing Executive Order 14203 signed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The sanctioned judges—Solome Bossa from Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza from Peru, Reine Alapini-Gansou Gansou from Benin and Beti Hohler from Slovenia—include two who rejected Israel’s appeal.
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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated the sanctions targeted their involvement in ICC efforts to investigate, arrest or prosecute U.S. or Israeli citizens without consent, noting neither country is a party to the Rome Statute.
Netanyahu and Gallant face allegations of denying Gaza civilians essential resources like water, food, medicine, medical supplies, fuel and electricity, using starvation as a warfare tactic and committing murder, persecution and deliberate attacks on civilians. The ongoing legal battle underscores the tensions between the ICC’s actions and Israel’s rejection of its authority, with no immediate resolution in sight.