ICC decisions will not affect Israel’s actions, set dangerous precedent: Netanyahu

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that any decisions by the International Criminal Court, which is investigating Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks and Israel’s military assault on Gaza, would not affect Israel’s actions but would set a dangerous precedent.

“Under my leadership, Israel will never accept any attempt by the International Criminal Court in the Hague to undermine its basic right to defend itself,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Telegram. “While decisions made by the court in the Hague will not affect Israel’s actions, they will set a dangerous precedent that threatens soldiers and public figures,” he said.

One of Israel’s leading television news outlets, Channel 12, reported last week that Israel was increasingly worried by the possibility that the ICC would issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and other top officials for alleged violations of international law in Gaza.

The report said that the Prime Minister’s Office held an “emergency discussion” on the issue. A government spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions on the Channel 12 report or its details. Israel is not a member of the court, based in The Hague, and does not recognise its jurisdiction, but the Palestinian territories were admitted as a member state in 2015.

An Israeli strike in Lebanon’s Beqaa region has killed a member of a Lebanese militant group that has fired rockets across the southern border at Israel, the Israeli military and a security source said on Friday.