The pre-trial tribunal of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has postponed a decision on whether to allow ICC prosecutor Karim Khan to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and three leaders of the Palestinian Hamas movement.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the hearing was postponed after Great Britain said that the matter should be considered in another jurisdiction rather than the ICC. As a result, the ICC gave Great Britain and other countries with claims to the court until July 12 to submit their findings.
Not only Israel and Great Britain are against the jurisdiction of the ICC in the matter of the charges against Netanyahu and Galant. The US is also on Israelʼs side and has criticized Prosecutor Khanʼs request, threatening sanctions.
Earlier, The New York Times newspaper wrote that Netanyahu was very alarmed by the prospect of becoming a figure in the case in The Hague, so he made numerous phone calls trying to change the plans for the ISS — in particular, with US President Joe Biden.
- On May 20 , ICC prosecutor Karim Khan requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, as well as three leaders of the Palestinian movement Hamas for alleged war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip after the attack on Israel by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023.
- Netanyahu and a number of Israeli government officials sharply criticized such a request and declared open anti-Semitism.
- The decision on the issuance of warrants is at the processing stage. This should be decided by the panel of judges of the International Court of Justice.