The International Criminal Court Rejects Israel's Request to Cancel Arrest Warrants Against Netanyahu and Galant

SadaNews - The International Criminal Court rejected last night the appeal submitted by Israel to cancel the arrest warrants issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant.

The court ruled in November that there were "reasonable grounds" to believe that Netanyahu and Galant bear "criminal responsibility" for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

The court also issued arrest warrants for three senior Hamas leaders but rescinded them after their deaths.

The arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Galant have provoked anger in Israel and the United States, which has since imposed sanctions on prominent officials of the International Criminal Court.

Netanyahu described the decision as "anti-Semitic," while U.S. President Joe Biden at the time considered it a "shameful act.".

Israel requested the court in May to cancel the arrest warrants while it reviewed a separate challenge regarding whether the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction in this matter.

The court rejected the Israeli request on July 16, finding that there is "no legal basis" for canceling the arrest warrants until the jurisdictional issue is settled.

One week later, Israel sought to appeal the ruling, but the judges ruled on Friday that "the case, as framed by Israel, is not subject to appeal.".