MWE Correspondent
The International Criminal Court (ICC) Appeals Chamber has instructed a lower panel to reconsider Israel’s objections to the court’s jurisdiction over arrest warrants issued for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to a ruling published on Thursday.
The chamber noted that an earlier decision did not adequately address Jerusalem’s arguments asserting its right to contest the court’s jurisdiction.
This ruling represents a procedural victory for Israel, as all five judges affirmed its right to appeal the jurisdiction issue, although they did not address the case’s substance. The Appeals Chamber criticized the Pre-Trial Chamber for failing to consider the merits of Israel’s challenge.
The Appeals Chamber clarified that it was not ruling on Israel’s request to suspend arrest warrants issued for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant last year for alleged war crimes in Gaza, stating that this matter was not directly related to jurisdiction and should be determined by the Pre-Trial Chamber.
An aide to Netanyahu expressed disapproval of the decision not to suspend the arrest warrants, stating, “Israel expects the ICC to cancel the warrants immediately.”
Additionally, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, remarked that the decision to revisit the jurisdiction question “exposes the lack of legitimacy behind the political arrest warrants.”
Prof. Yuval Shany of Hebrew University’s Faculty of Law, who filed an amicus brief to the ICC in July last year challenging the court’s jurisdiction, said the Appeal’s Chamber ruling “does not reflect very positively on the Pre-Trial Chamber’s performance.”
In May 2024, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced he was seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant over their conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza, on charges of crimes against humanity and other war crimes charges.
Specifically, Khan accused the two leaders of “causing extermination,” “causing starvation as a method of war including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies,” and deliberately targeting civilians in a conflict.
