ICC rejects Israel appeal bid over arrest warrants

THE HAGUE — The International Criminal Court Friday rejected Israel's bid to appeal against arrest warrants for its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over the Gaza war.

In a ruling that made headlines around the world, the ICC in November found "reasonable grounds" to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore "criminal responsibility" for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

The ICC also issued arrest warrants for three top leaders from Hamas but dropped these after they were all killed by Israel.

The warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant — who have overseen Israel's onslaught against Gaza and the killing of tens of thousands of people — sparked outrage in Israel and also in the United States, which has since slapped sanctions on top ICC officials.

Netanyahu described it as an "anti-Semitic decision" and the then U.S. president Joe Biden slammed it as "outrageous."

Israel had asked the court in May to dismiss the warrants while it weighed a separate challenge over whether the ICC had jurisdiction in the case. The court rejected this on July 16, saying there was "no legal basis" for quashing the warrants while the jurisdiction challenge was pending.

A week later, Israel asked for leave to appeal that ruling, but judges ruled on Friday that "the issue, as framed by Israel, is not an appealable issue."

"The Chamber therefore rejects the request," said the ICC in a complex, 13-page ruling. ICC judges are still weighing a wider Israeli challenge over jurisdiction.

When the court originally issued the arrest warrants in November, it simultaneously rejected an Israeli appeal against its jurisdiction. However, in April, the ICC's Appeals Chamber ruled the Pre-Trial Chamber was wrong to dismiss the challenge and ordered it to look again in detail at Israel's arguments.

It is not clear when it will hand down a ruling on that issue.