Gaza: The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has rejected, for the second time, an appeal filed by Israel against the arrest warrants issued against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, the court provided a 10-page ruling explaining its reasons for rejecting the appeal. The court noted that Israel reiterated its previous arguments from its first appeal, which was rejected in July 2025. Israel contended that the court lacked jurisdiction in this matter.
The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that informed sources disclosed Israel's insistence that the court "does not have jurisdiction to hear crimes committed on Palestinian territory." Despite this, the court maintained that it "is not obligated to discuss the jurisdiction issue raised by Israel before executing the arrest warrants," emphasizing that the issuance of the warrants was an independent process and not legally tied to the jurisdiction issue.
Israeli legal circles believe that the ceasefire agreement and prisoner exchange in Gaza might halt the court's prosecutions against Netanyahu and Gallant. However, Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Israeli sources stating that the agreement "does not formally affect the course of the case," as the warrants concern crimes committed between October 8, 2023, and May 20, 2024.
In July 2025, the ICC rejected a formal request from Israel to revoke the arrest warrants and suspend the investigation into Netanyahu and Gallant, submitted on May 9 of the same year. At that time, the court clarified that suspending an investigation, as per Article 19(7) of the Rome Statute, only applies when a state challenges the "admissibility of the case," which Israel did not do since its objection was confined to the jurisdiction issue.
It is significant that on February 5, 2021, the International Criminal Court recognized Palestine as a State Party to the Rome Statute, granting it jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, including Gaza and the West Bank. On March 3, 2021, the Office of the Prosecutor of the Court announced the opening of a formal investigation into the situation in Palestine.
On September 23, 2024, Israel filed its objection to the Court's jurisdiction under Article 19(2) of the Statute. Two months later, on November 21, 2024, Pre-Trial Chamber I issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
