UPDATE 2 - Israeli officials slam ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant for Gaza war crimes

UPDATES WITH NETANYAHU’S POSITION

By Ahmad Asmar​​​​​​​

ANKARA (AA) - Israeli government ministers and opposition leaders rejected arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense chief Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack last year, killing more than 44,000 people, most of them women and children, and injuring over 104,000.

The second year of genocide in Gaza has drawn growing international condemnation, with figures and institutions labeling the attacks and blocking of aid deliveries as a deliberate attempt to destroy a population.

Netanyahu said in a recorded speech that Israel will not recognize the ICC ruling and described it a “black day.”

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar called the arrest warrants a “dark moment," claiming that the Hague-based court "lost all legitimacy for its existence and activities."

Despite the bloodshed in the Palestinian enclave, Sa’ar claimed that the Israeli army was operating "according to international law."

Transport Minister Miri Regev termed the ICC arrest warrants a "legal absurdity."

"Israel will not apologize for protecting its citizens - this is not a crime," Regev wrote on X.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir labeled the court decision “anti-Semitic," and said the response to the Court will be through "applying sovereignty over all the territories of Judea and Samaria (West Bank)."

Opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed the warrants, claiming that Israel is "defending itself” against what he called “terrorist organizations."

Former War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz described them as "moral blindness."

The ICC announced Thursday it issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

The court’s Pre-Trial Chamber I said it “issued warrants of arrest for two individuals, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest.”

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.