'Israel' challenges ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant
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The Israeli occupation is attempting to challenge the ICC's rulings aimed at detaining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Security Minister Yoav Gallant.
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View of the ICC, the International Criminal Court, in the Hague, Netherlands, Monday, September 16, 2024 (AP)
The Israeli occupation announced on Friday that it had formally contested a request from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for an arrest warrant against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The ICC's prosecutor, Karim Khan, had in May asked the court to issue warrants for Netanyahu and Security Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in relation to the ongoing war on Gaza.
"The State of Israel submitted today its official challenge to the ICC's jurisdiction, as well as the legality of the prosecutor's requests for arrest warrants against Israel's prime minister and minister of defense," said Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein on social media platform X.
The ICC prosecutor's request also includes Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Mohammed Deif, all accused of "war crimes and crimes against humanity." However, Khan dropped the request for Haniyeh following his martyrdom in Tehran on July 31. The court has yet to rule on the applications regarding Sinwar, Deif, Netanyahu, and Gallant.
Khan's office has urged the ICC to act with urgency, insisting that the court has jurisdiction in this matter.
A report published by Walla! earlier in the month says the Israeli occupation requested 25 countries to provide an opinion against the ICC prosecutor's request to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.
The site explained that Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz sent letters to 25 foreign ministers around the world, asking them to "join Britain in submitting a legal opinion to the International Criminal Court in The Hague against the Prosecutor General's request to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant."
Walla! also quoted senior officials in the Israeli occupation's ministry as saying that "if these countries, or even some of them, send such a legal opinion to the court in The Hague, the judges may be convinced that there is no chance of responding to the Prosecutor General's request."
