Netanyahu office rips ICC after warrant issued

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that Israel "utterly rejects" the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrants issued Thursday for Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and a senior Hamas official for allegations related to war crimes from the Oct. 7 attack on Israel last year.

"Israel utterly rejects the false and absurd charges of the International Criminal Court, a biased and discriminatory political body," the statement from Netanyahu's office read.

"No war is more just than the war Israel has been waging in Gaza since October 7th 2023, when the Hamas terrorist organization launched a murderous assault and perpetrated the largest massacre against the Jewish People since the Holocaust," the statement continued.

In the statement, Netanyahu's office slammed the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, mentioning allegations brought against him related to sexual misconduct, as reported by The Associated Press in October. The statement labeled him as a "corrupt chief prosecutor" who is "motivated by antisemitic hatred of Israel."

In May, Khan had considered bringing forward arrest warrant for Netanyahu related to war crime allegations following the Oct. 7 attacks, AP reported.

In September, the Department of Justice charged former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed last month, and other militants over the group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, during which the group killed about 1,200 people — including more than 40 Americans. About 250 others were kidnapped and taken back to Gaza, including about a dozen Americans.

The statement from Netanyahu's office further underscored the prime minister's goal for Israel "pursue all the objectives."

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not give in to pressure. He will continue to pursue all the objectives that Israel set out to achieve in its just war against Hamas and the Iranian axis of terror," it read.