JERUSALEM

Seeking to avoid being arrested for war crimes, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert cancelled a visit to Switzerland set for Monday, according to local media reports.

"Olmert canceled his visit after the Israeli Foreign and Justice Ministries received a statement from Swiss authorities saying he would be taken for questioning on suspicion of committing war crimes," Channel 12 reported early Thursday.

Olmert served as prime minister when Israel launched an offensive on Gaza in 2008 and 2009, killing more than 1,400 Palestinians in three weeks.

He was elected prime minister in 2006 but resigned three years later over corruption charges. He was jailed in 2016 for bribery and obstruction of justice from his tenure as trade minister.

He was granted early release by a parole board after serving two-thirds of a 27-month jail sentence for corruption.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat