The Hague: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has rejected Israel's request to cancel arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, and to suspend the ongoing investigation into crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.
According to TRTworld.com, the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC dismissed Israel's dual request made on May 9, 2025: One seeking the withdrawal, cancellation, or invalidation of the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, and another calling for the suspension of the prosecutor's investigation into the situation in Palestine.
The court rejected Israel's argument that the ICC lacks jurisdiction over crimes committed in the Palestinian territories, reaffirming its previous decisions. It emphasized that Palestine is a State Party to the Rome Statute, and the court's jurisdiction extends to Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, territories occupied by Israel since 1967.
The chamber also denied Israel's request to prevent Palestine from presenting its views, asserting that the court already had sufficient information and did not require additional submissions. The ICC Office of the Prosecutor officially opened an investigation into the situation in Palestine on March 3, 2021, following the court's ruling on February 5, 2021, regarding the jurisdiction.
Israel's challenge to the court's jurisdiction under Article 19(2) of the Rome Statute on September 23, 2024, was a key element of its legal strategy. The ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber had issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on November 21, 2024, citing alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
On April 24, 2025, the ICC Appeals Chamber annulled an earlier procedural ruling that had dismissed Israel's objection as premature, referring the matter back to the Pre-Trial Chamber for a substantive decision.
