ICC rejects Israel’s appeal, upholds arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has, for the second time, rejected Israel’s appeal against the arrest warrants issued for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Galant.

The ICC: not backing down over war criminals

In a ten-page ruling issued on Friday 17 October, the ICC stated that Israel was ‘repeating its previous arguments,’ referring to its first appeal, which was rejected in July 2025 and was also based on the argument that the court lacked jurisdiction to consider the crimes in question.

The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted informed sources as saying that Israel reiterated in its latest appeal its position that the court ‘lacks jurisdiction to consider crimes committed on Palestinian territory.’

In its decision, the ICC confirmed that it was not obliged to discuss the issue of jurisdiction raised by Israel before executing the arrest warrants, noting that the warrants were issued in an ‘independent legal process’ not directly related to the issue of jurisdiction.

In Israeli legal circles, it is believed that the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza may have an impact on the court’s proceedings against Netanyahu and Galant, although Israeli sources told the same newspaper that the agreement ‘will not officially affect the course of the case.’ as the indictments relate to crimes allegedly committed between 8 October 2023 and 20 May 2024.

It is noteworthy that in July 2025, the ICC rejected an official request from Israel to cancel the arrest warrants and suspend the investigation against Netanyahu and Galant, explaining at the time that the suspension of the investigation under Article 19(7) of the Rome Statute only applies in the event of a challenge to the ‘admissibility of the case’ , which Israel did not do, as its objection was limited to the issue of jurisdiction only.

Palestine is recognised

The ICC recognised Palestine as a State Party to the Rome Statute on 5 February 2021, granting it jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

On 3 March 2021, the Court’s Office of the Prosecutor announced the opening of a formal investigation into ‘the situation in Palestine,’ before Israel lodged a formal objection to the Court’s jurisdiction on 23 September 2024.

Two months later, on 21 November 2024, the First Pre-Trial Chamber issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant on charges related to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Featured image via the Canary