New York
\nArrest warrants or any other steps taken by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli officials will not affect the country\u2019s military operation in Gaza, but will set \u201ca dangerous precedent,\u201d Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned.
\nEarlier this week, British journalist Douglas Murray published an article in the New York Post claiming that the ICC, which is investigating Hamas\u2019 incursion into Israel on October 7 and the Jewish state\u2019s response to it, is planning to bring individual war-crimes cases against Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and one of the country\u2019s top military commanders, most likely the chief of the general staff.
\nOn Friday, Netanyahu shared Murray\u2019s article on X (formerly Twitter), insisting that as long as he is in power, \u201cIsrael will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defense.\u201d
\n\u201cThe threat to seize the soldiers and officials of the Middle East\u2019s only democracy and the world\u2019s only Jewish state is outrageous. We will not bow to it,\u201d he said.
\nIsrael\u2019s military operation in Gaza is a \u201cjust war against genocidal terrorists,\u201d which will continue until victory is achieved, the prime minister insisted.
\n\u201cWhile the ICC will not affect Israel\u2019s actions, it would set a dangerous precedent that threatens the soldiers and officials of all democracies fighting savage terrorism and wanton aggression,\u201d he warned.
\nAccording to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry, the death toll from Israel\u2019s airstrikes and ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave has already reached 34,388 people, with 77,437 others wounded. The campaign was launched in response to an incursion into Israel by Palestinian armed group Hamas on October 7, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.
\nThe ICC launched an investigation into alleged war crimes by the Israeli military and Palestinian armed groups in the occupied West Bank and Gaza back in 2021. The probe covers the events since 2014. The Hague-based court insists that violations committed during the Israeli-Palestinian escalation which followed the October 7 attack are also within the jurisdiction of its investigation.
\nIsrael\u2019s Channel 12 reported last week that Netanyahu\u2019s government had known about the possible ICC warrants even before Murray\u2019s article and held an \u201cemergency discussion\u201d on the issue at the prime minister\u2019s office involving several ministers and legal experts.
\nIsrael is not a member of the ICC and does not recognize its jurisdiction, but the Palestinians joined the organization in 2015. If warrants against Netanyahu and other Israeli officials are issued, the 124 ICC member-states would be obliged to arrest them if they set foot in their countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New York Arrest warrants or any other steps taken by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli officials will not affect the country\u2019s military operation in Gaza, but will set \u201ca dangerous precedent,\u201d Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned. Earlier this week, British journalist Douglas Murray published an article in the New York Post claiming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365154,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-403396","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n