Israel Submits Challenges to ICC on Arrest Warrants Requests Against Netanyahu, Gallant

Israel submitted on Friday formal challenges to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its jurisdiction and the legality of arrest warrant requests against Israeli leaders for their conduct of the Gaza war, the Foreign Ministry said.

Israel‘s filings might further delay a decision on the warrants, requested in May against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan last month urged judges to rule on the warrants, sought also against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and others in the Palestinian terrorist group.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that its first legal brief outlined the ICC‘s “manifest lack of jurisdiction” in the case.

The second paper, it said, argues that the ICC Prosecutor breached court rules by “failing to provide Israel with the opportunity to exercise its right to investigate by itself the claims raised by the Prosecutor, before proceeding.”

Khan has come under fire for making his surprise demand for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on the same day in May that he suddenly canceled a long-planned visit to both Gaza and Israel to collect evidence of alleged war crimes. The last-second cancellation infuriated US and British leaders, and Reuters previously reported that the trip would have offered Israeli leaders a first opportunity to present their position and outline any action they were taking to respond to the war crime allegations.

The office of the prosecutor could not immediately be reached for comment.

In August, Khan said the court has jurisdiction over any war crimes in Palestinian territories and that rules saying the ICC cannot step in if a country is doing its own genuine investigation do not apply for the warrants sought for Netanyahu and Gallant.

Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed around 1,200 people with some 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli counts. Israel responded with a military campaign in neighboring Hamas-ruled Gaza aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling the terrorist group’s military and governing capabilities. Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza say that more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed during the campaign, although the figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Israel has dismissed allegations of war crimes and expressed outrage at the implied comparison in the arrest warrant requests between itself and Hamas, an internationally designated terrorist organization.

The ICC has charged Netanyahu and Gallant with war crimes in Gaza, accusing them of actions such as using starvation as a method of warfare and intentionally targeting civilians.

British lawyers have mounted a challenge against Khan, demanding a review of the arrest warrant application issued against Netanyahu and Gallant, which they claim is based on “entirely false” allegations.

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