Israel is appealing the ICC’s arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant

It reiterated that Israel denied both the authority of the ICC and the legitimacy of the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.

Netanyahu’s office also said that US Senator Lindsey Graham had briefed Netanyahu “on the efforts he is making in the US Congress against the ICC and the countries that have cooperated with it”.

US President Joe Biden last week called the arrest warrants “outrageous.”

“Whatever the ICC may imply, there is no equality – none – between Israel and Hamas. We will always support Israel against threats to its security,” he said.

Member states of the ICC – which do not include Israel and the US – are obliged to take action in detaining a wanted suspect if they are found to be within their jurisdiction.

Some European Union countries have indicated they will respect the ICC’s decision, while others have refused to say what they would do if Netanyahu entered their territory.

The British government has indicated that Netanyahu would be arrested if he traveled to Britain.

The French prime minister said last week it would “rigorously” comply with its obligations under international law.

But on Wednesday, the French Foreign Ministry said the Israeli leader may enjoy immunity from arrest under the ICC warrant because Israel is not an ICC member state.

“Such immunities apply to Prime Minister Netanyahu and the other ministers involved and will have to be taken into account should the ICC request our arrest and surrender,” a statement said.

She expressed this view the day after a ceasefire deal was announced to end the war between Israel and the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah in Lebanon. France and the US played an important role in negotiating the agreement.

Rights groups criticized France’s statement as a response to political pressure to maintain good relations with Israel.

“No one gets immunity from an ICC arrest warrant because they are in power – not Netanyahu, not Putin, no one,” said Andrew Stroehlein of Human Rights Watch.

The ICC prosecutor’s case against Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif dates back to October 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others as hostages to Gaza.

Israel responded by launching a military campaign to eliminate Hamas, killing at least 44,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry.

The ICC judges said they had found reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant bore criminal responsibility for:

Netanyahu said the ICC’s decision was a “dark day in the history of humanity” and “an anti-Semitic step that has one purpose: to deter me, to deprive us of our natural right to defend ourselves against enemies who try to destroy us.” to destroy.”

Gallant said the arrest warrants “align the State of Israel and the murderous leaders of Hamas, thereby legitimizing the murder of babies, the rape of women and the abduction of the elderly from their beds.”

The ICC judges said they found reasonable grounds to believe that Deif was responsible for:

Israel believes it killed Deif in an airstrike in Gaza in July, but the ICC prosecutor said it was unable to confirm that.

Hamas made no mention of the arrest warrant for Deif, but welcomed the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, saying the ICC decision “sets an important historical precedent.

The ICC – established in 2002 – investigates, arrests and tries individuals accused of the most serious international crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

There are more than 120 members. However, key powers, including the US, China, Russia and India, are not members because they have never signed or ratified the founding treaty, the Rome Statute.