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

UPDATES WITH MORE REACTIONS

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – Israeli government ministers and opposition leaders rejected arrest warrants issued by the International Court of Justice (ICC) on Thursday for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister 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 called the ICC arrest warrants against him and Gallant “false, and politically biased.”

In a statement released by his office, the Israeli premier claimed that “There is nothing more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the arrest warrants were “a dark day for justice.”

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

Despite the ongoing bloodshed in the Palestinian enclave, the Israeli minister claimed that the Israeli army was operating "according to international law."

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

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

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir labeled the court decision “anti-Semitic," saying 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 ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, claiming that Israel is "defending itself."

Former War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz described the arrest warrants as "moral blindness."

In a landmark move, ICC on Thursday announced it had issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

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.”

“The Chamber considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity,” the decision said.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.