JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL 

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have urged judges to reject Israel’s request to withdraw or vacate arrest warrants targeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The prosecutors also dismissed Israel’s attempt to suspend the court’s investigation into alleged crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, labeling the request as lacking “legal basis,” according to a 10-page filing published on the court’s website late Wednesday.

The ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on Nov. 21, 2024, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Israel submitted a request on May 9, 2025, calling on the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I to withdraw the warrants and suspend its investigation into the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

However, ICC prosecutors argued that Israel’s claims are unfounded, saying the Israeli request “has no legal basis and should be dismissed.”

They urged the court to reject both the requests to vacate the arrest warrants and pause the ongoing investigation.

“In the cases against Netanyahu and Gallant, there is no basis to withdraw or vacate the warrants,” it added.

Israel, not a member of the ICC, rejects the court’s jurisdiction over developments in the occupied Palestinian territories. Palestine, however, is a member state, and the ICC asserts its authority to investigate the situation in the region.

Israel has maintained a blockade on Gaza for 18 years, leaving approximately 1.5 million of the territory’s 2.4 million Palestinians homeless after their homes were destroyed in Israel’s ongoing genocidal war. The war has also triggered a famine in Gaza, claiming numerous lives, including children.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 53,800 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

Since the start of the Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip, nearly 970 Palestinians have also been killed and over 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories illegal, calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.