ICC Judge Rejects Israeli Request To Revoke Netanyahu's Arrest Order

US President Donald Trump with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu/PHOTO via Instagram @isselipm

JAKARTA - Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday rejected Israel's request to revoke an arrest warrant against its prime minister and former defense minister.

As reported by Reuters, in a ruling published on the ICC website, the judges also rejected Israel's request to suspend a broader ICC investigation into alleged atrocities crimes in the Palestinian Territories.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant on November 21 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict.

In February, the court stated that the judges had revoked an arrest warrant for al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Defif, following a credible report about his death.

Israel rejects the jurisdiction of a court based in The Hague and denies war crimes in Gaza, where Israel launched a military campaign that it claims aims to eliminate Hamas since the deadly attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group on October 7, 2023. Israel is suing a search warrant for Netanyahu and Gallant.

Israel argued the appeals panel's decision in April ordering the pretrial assembly to review Israel's objections to the court's jurisdiction means there is no legal jurisdictional basis for the warrant.

The judges rejected the reason as incorrect, saying on Wednesday, July 16, Israel's jurisdictional lawsuit against an arrest warrant was still pending and the warrant would remain in effect until the court ruled on the matter in particular.

There is no time limit for the jurisdiction's ruling in this case.

In June, the United States imposed sanctions on four judges at the ICC, an unprecedented retaliation for the issuance of an arrest warrant for Netanyahu by the war court.

Two of the sanctioned judges were on a panel deciding to reject Israel's request to revoke the warrant.