Israel announced on Wednesday that it will appeal the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
The country also requested that the ICC suspend the warrants until the appeal is resolved, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
The ICC issued the warrants last week, citing suspicions of crimes against humanity and war crimes related to Israel’s military actions in Gaza following Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023.
Netanyahu and other Israeli officials criticized the warrants, with the prime minister accusing the ICC of bias and saying, “The State of Israel challenges the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the legitimacy of the arrest warrants issued.” “Israel’s notice of appeal reveals in detail how the decision to issue the arrest warrants was baseless and devoid of any factual or legal basis,” the statement further said.
The statement added that a rejection of the appeal would highlight what he described as the ICC’s bias against Israel.
“If the court rejects this request, it will further demonstrate to Israel’s friends in the United States and around the world how biased the International Criminal Court is against the State of Israel,” it said.
The ICC has not commented directly on the appeal. Fadi El-Abdallah, an ICC spokesperson, said that the decision would rest with the judges if an appeal is submitted.
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif. Israel had claimed in August that Deif was killed in a July airstrike in southern Gaza, but Hamas has not confirmed his death.
The court said on November 21 that it had “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu and Gallant were criminally responsible for the war crime of starvation as a warfare method, as well as for crimes against humanity, including murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
According to the rules of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the United Nations Security Council can adopt a resolution to pause or defer an investigation or prosecution for one year, with the option to renew it annually.
Once an arrest warrant is issued, the concerned country or the individual named in the warrant can also challenge the court’s jurisdiction or the admissibility of the case.
