"The Criminal Court" rejects an appeal by the occupation and maintains the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

The International Criminal Court has reaffirmed its support for the arrest warrants it issued against both the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, in connection with committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The court in The Hague rejected, for the second time on Friday, an appeal submitted by the occupying state against the arrest warrants, on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

The court clarified in a 10-page decision that "Israel is repeating its previous arguments," referring to its first appeal that was rejected in July 2025, in which it also argued that the court lacked jurisdiction.

The Hebrew newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth" reported from informed sources that "Israel renewed in its second appeal the claim that the court lacks jurisdiction to consider crimes committed on Palestinian territory."

However, the court confirmed in its decision that it "is not obligated to discuss the issue of jurisdiction raised by Israel before executing the arrest warrants," explaining that the issuance of the warrants was carried out in an independent process.

Israeli legal circles believe that the ceasefire agreement and prisoner exchange in Gaza may halt the court's prosecutions against Netanyahu and Gallant, but the agreement "does not officially affect the proceedings of the case."

The International Criminal Court had previously rejected in July a formal request from "Israel to cancel the arrest warrants and suspend the investigation against Netanyahu and Gallant."

It is noteworthy that the International Criminal Court recognized Palestine as a state party to the Rome Statute on February 5, 2021, which granted it jurisdiction over the occupied Palestinian territories since 1967.