“ICC is enemy of humanity,” says Netanyahu over his arrest warrants

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised the arrest warrants issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Gaza, which have resulted in the deaths of over 44,000 Palestinians.

On Thursday, six months after ICC prosecutor Karim Khan’s request, the Hague-based court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Mohammed Deif, the leader of Hamas' military wing, also known as Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri.

The ICC’s three-judge Pre-Trial Chamber I stated in an official announcement that it had rejected Israel’s challenges to its jurisdiction over the case.

In a video response, Netanyahu called the ICC's decision a "black day in the history of nations." He asserted that the court, established to protect humanity, had now become "an enemy of humanity."

Netanyahu described the court as “biased” against him and his former Defense Minister, alleging that the war crimes charges were based on "unfounded evidence" and claiming, “The truth is completely opposite.”

He further labeled the ICC’s actions as "moral bankruptcy," accusing the court of anti-Semitism and stating that its decision was intended to deter Israel from defending itself.

“It is meant to deter me, deter us, from exercising our natural rights to defend ourselves against our enemies who rise up against us to destroy us,” Netanyahu said.

Despite the orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to cease military operations in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army has intensified its attacks on the enclave while simultaneously imposing an aid blockade on the starving Palestinians.

The overall Palestinian death toll since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza has reached at least 44,757 with more than 104,008 wounded. Thousands more remain trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings.