Israel agitated ICC could issue arrest warrant for Netanyahu over Gaza genocide

The far-right Israeli cabinet is in a state of agitation over the possibility of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing an arrest warrant for prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the regime’s senior officials in the wake of their months-long genocidal war against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Israeli media reported on Sunday that senior Israeli officials had held emergency meetings in Tel Aviv this week to discuss the possibility that the top United Nations court could issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant, and the occupation army’s chief of staff Herzi Halevi.

The Hebrew-language Maariv newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying that Netanyahu was “unnaturally afraid and worried” due to the possibility of the ICC’s arrest warrant in The Hague.

Netanyahu made telephone calls to international leaders and officials in recent days, especially to US President Joe Biden, to prevent the issuance of the arrest warrant.

This is while in an apparent rebuttal of the warrant, which could reportedly be issued in “the next few days,” Netanyahu said on Friday that an ICC ruling would not impact his war in Gaza, which has so far claimed more than 34,000 Palestinian lives.

“Decisions made by the court in the Hague will not affect Israel’s actions,” he said.

The Israeli regime has been ignoring the ICC’s preliminary ruling in January in which it was ordered to take all measures to protect civilian life in Gaza and to refrain from genocidal acts.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the occupying regime’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 34,388 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Another 77,437 individuals have sustained injuries as well.

Israel has also imposed a “complete siege” on Gaza, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

Last week, a group of United Nations experts said 80 percent of schools in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed since the war began in early October. Nearly 5,500 students have been killed, alongside 261 teachers and 95 university professors.