Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday rejected one in a series of legal challenges brought by Israel against the court's probe into its conduct of the Gaza war, Reuters reported.
The judges refused to overturn an earlier decision allowing the prosecution’s investigation into alleged crimes under its jurisdiction to include events following Hamas’s deadly assault on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The ruling means the investigation will continue, and the arrest warrants issued last year for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant remain in effect.
In response, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said: “Israel rejects the ICC Appeals Chamber’s decision, by a narrow majority, to deny Israel’s right to receive advance notice, as demanded by the principle of complementarity particularly with regard to a democratic state with an independent and robust judicial system.”
The ministry added, “This is yet another example of the ongoing politicization of the ICC and its blatant disregard for the sovereign rights of non-party states, as well as its own obligations under the Rome Statute.”
“This is what politics in the guise of ‘International Law’ looks like,” the statement concluded.
The ICC initially issued a warrant for Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but later withdrew it following credible reports of his death.
Monday’s ruling addresses only one of several legal challenges filed by Israel regarding the ICC’s jurisdiction and the arrest warrants for its leaders. There is no set timeline for the remaining challenges to be decided.