CORRECTS - Israeli council considers issuing international arrest warrant for Netanyahu: Report

CORRECTS INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE TO INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

By Zain Khail

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli National Security Council held secret discussions on the possibility of issuing international arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, a local media outlet reported Wednesday.

Israel's Channel 13 reported that the discussions took place “in anticipation of the possibility of international arrest warrants being issued in the coming days against senior officials in Israel.”

“According to the information and indications available to senior officials in Israel, there is a possibility that the International Criminal Court in The Hague will issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and Halevi,” the channel added.

It said that as part of the discussions, several immediate measures were approved for Israel to take in response to this potential move, including “launching a political campaign” at the international level against it.

The channel revealed that Netanyahu would hold talks later Wednesday with his counterparts from the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Austria as part of efforts to hinder the potential step.

Meanwhile, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and Israel’s ambassador to the US, Michael Herzog, would contact the US Congress and President Joe Biden's administration.

The channel cited unnamed senior Israeli officials as saying that if this step were taken, it brings to mind the measures taken against Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, in light of the war it has been waging against Ukraine since February 2022.

The officials added that the International Criminal Court is expected to focus on “policy makers rather than low-ranking soldiers” in the arrest warrants.

In this context, Israel’s political-security Cabinet is scheduled to hold a meeting Thursday which is expected to address the issue of potential arrest warrants, according to the private broadcaster.

Last Friday, Israel's private Channel 12 reported that the International Criminal Court is considering issuing international arrest warrants in the near future against Netanyahu and other senior officials for committing “war crimes” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

At the time, the channel said that Netanyahu urgently met with Strategic Affairs Minister Dermer, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz to discuss the matter and appeal to Western allies for assistance.

Israel has launched a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 34,200 Palestinians have since been killed and 77,200 others injured amid a tight siege imposed by Israel, which left the entire population, especially residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala