Israel reacts to ICC's issuance of an arrest warrant for Netanyahu
President Isaac Herzog has stated that the Hague-based court has transformed the justice system into "a human shield for Hamas' crimes." Read the full article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
Senior Israeli officials have criticized the International Criminal Court (ICC) following its issuance of arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, alleging that the Hague-based institution demonstrates anti-Semitism and aligns itself with terrorists.
On Thursday, the ICC accused the two leaders of “crimes against humanity” related to Israel’s ongoing conflict with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog described the decision as “outrageous,” asserting that “it makes a mockery of the sacrifice of all those who fight for justice – from the Allied victory over the Nazis till today.” He further claimed that the ICC “has chosen the side of terror and evil over democracy and freedom, and turned the very system of justice into a human shield for Hamas’ crimes against humanity,” Herzog wrote on X.
Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, contended that the ICC had “once again shown that it is anti-Semitic through and through.”
In response to the arrest warrants, Ben Gvir proposed that the solution should be to “apply sovereignty over all the territories of Judea and Samaria and settlement in all parts of the country and severing ties with the terrorist [Palestinian] authority, along with sanctions,” according to his post on X.
Orit Strock, the Settlements and National Projects Minister, took a more extreme stance, labeling the ICC “the successor of the court of Sodom,” a reference to the Biblical city destroyed for its wickedness. “I expect the nations of the free world to withdraw from it in disgust, before they are stained with this terrible stain,” Strock remarked.
Amir Ohana, speaker of the Israeli parliament, argued that the true crimes against humanity during this conflict have been perpetrated by Hamas. “The ICC has chosen to politicize its mandate, turning itself into a tool of terrorists and those who seek to delegitimize Israel’s right to exist and defend its citizens from genocidal terror,” Ohana stated, as quoted by the Times of Israel.
On the same day, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, known as ‘Deif’, for alleged war crimes. Israel claims to have killed him in an airstrike earlier this year.
The current military operation by Israel in Gaza was initiated as a response to a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 250 individuals taken hostage; as of now, at least 101 hostages have not been returned. According to Gaza’s health ministry, over 44,056 Palestinians have lost their lives and more than 104,000 have been injured as a result of Israeli assaults on the enclave.
UN reports indicate that nearly 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza – around 90% of the population – have been internally displaced due to the ongoing fighting, with many forced to relocate multiple times.
Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC. Nonetheless, the two Israeli politicians could face arrest in any of the 124 countries that recognize the court's authority.
Jessica Kline for TROIB News
On Thursday, the ICC accused the two leaders of “crimes against humanity” related to Israel’s ongoing conflict with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog described the decision as “outrageous,” asserting that “it makes a mockery of the sacrifice of all those who fight for justice – from the Allied victory over the Nazis till today.” He further claimed that the ICC “has chosen the side of terror and evil over democracy and freedom, and turned the very system of justice into a human shield for Hamas’ crimes against humanity,” Herzog wrote on X.
Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, contended that the ICC had “once again shown that it is anti-Semitic through and through.”
In response to the arrest warrants, Ben Gvir proposed that the solution should be to “apply sovereignty over all the territories of Judea and Samaria and settlement in all parts of the country and severing ties with the terrorist [Palestinian] authority, along with sanctions,” according to his post on X.
Orit Strock, the Settlements and National Projects Minister, took a more extreme stance, labeling the ICC “the successor of the court of Sodom,” a reference to the Biblical city destroyed for its wickedness. “I expect the nations of the free world to withdraw from it in disgust, before they are stained with this terrible stain,” Strock remarked.
Amir Ohana, speaker of the Israeli parliament, argued that the true crimes against humanity during this conflict have been perpetrated by Hamas. “The ICC has chosen to politicize its mandate, turning itself into a tool of terrorists and those who seek to delegitimize Israel’s right to exist and defend its citizens from genocidal terror,” Ohana stated, as quoted by the Times of Israel.
On the same day, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, known as ‘Deif’, for alleged war crimes. Israel claims to have killed him in an airstrike earlier this year.
The current military operation by Israel in Gaza was initiated as a response to a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 250 individuals taken hostage; as of now, at least 101 hostages have not been returned. According to Gaza’s health ministry, over 44,056 Palestinians have lost their lives and more than 104,000 have been injured as a result of Israeli assaults on the enclave.
UN reports indicate that nearly 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza – around 90% of the population – have been internally displaced due to the ongoing fighting, with many forced to relocate multiple times.
Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC. Nonetheless, the two Israeli politicians could face arrest in any of the 124 countries that recognize the court's authority.
Jessica Kline for TROIB News
