Israel's attempt to appeal against arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over the Gaza war has been rejected by the International Criminal Court.
The court, last November, found “reasonable grounds” to believe Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
An arrest warrant was also issued for three senior Hamas leaders for arranging the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that started the war on Gaza. The warrants were dropped after the leaders were killed by Israel.
The court's move sparked international reactions and headlines. The US and Israel were outraged by the decision and Washington later imposed sanctions on senior ICC officials.
Mr Netanyahu denounced the ruling as an “anti-Semitic decision”, while then-US president Joe Biden called it “outrageous”.
Israel asked the court in May to dismiss the warrants while it pursued a separate challenge over whether the ICC had jurisdiction in the case.
The court rejected that request on July 16, saying there was “no legal basis” to quash the warrants while the jurisdiction issue was pending.
A week later, Israel sought permission to appeal against the July ruling, but judges on Friday dismissed the bid, stating that “the issue, as framed by Israel, is not an appealable issue”.
“The chamber therefore rejects the request,” the ICC said in its 13-page decision.
ICC judges are still considering Israel’s broader challenge over the court’s jurisdiction.
When the arrest warrants were issued in November, the court simultaneously rejected an earlier Israeli objection to its authority.
However, in April, the ICC’s appeals chamber ruled that the pre-trial chamber was wrong to dismiss Israel’s challenge and ordered it to review the arguments in greater detail.
It is not yet clear when the court will issue a final ruling on jurisdiction.
