Hague (TDI): Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have rejected Israel’s attempt to revoke arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant. The Ruling, dated July 9 and released on Wednesday, reasserted that warrants hold while the court reviews its jurisdiction over the Gaza crisis.
This ruling is a notable development in the ICC’s ongoing probe into plausible war crimes and violations of international law by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza.
In May, prosecutor Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants against both Israeli and Hamas officials, calling out Netanyahu and Gallant for targeting civilians and using starvation tactics in Gaza.
Israel, which disputes the court’s jurisdiction, requested the criminal court to withdraw the warrants which the latter rejected on the premise of non-existence of any legal foundation for this request.
Simultaneously, the ICC has come under immense pressure to drop its war crimes probe.
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A top legal advisor from the US State Department, earlier this month, issued a strong warning to the ICC body that oversees the Criminal Court, threatening that the US would consider ‘all options’ in response to what it sees as the ICC overstepping its authority.
Reed Rubinstein, representing the US, remarked that the government would use every political, diplomatic, and legal tool available to oppose ICC’s actions.
These comments were made shortly before the Trump administration announced sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on Palestine.
This decision mainly followed her report released on June 30, in which she regarded over 60 companies including major US firms like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft as playing a role in a shift from Israel’s occupation to what she called ‘an economy of genocide.’
Despite consistent pressure from Israel and its allies, attempts to stop ICC’s work have so far failed and the court continues to resist any kind of threats issued against it.
