Israel has filed an appeal against the International Criminal Court's decision to issue arrest warrants for the country's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant. This was announced by Netanyahu's office, emphasizing that the appeal "thoroughly demonstrates how absurd the issuance of the arrest warrants was and how it lacks any factual or legal grounds."
The statement also noted that if the appeal is rejected, it will only "show Israel's friends in the U.S. and around the world how biased the International Criminal Court is against Israel."
Last week, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the war against Hamas in Gaza.
While the appeal is being considered, Israel has also requested the ICC to suspend the execution of these two arrest warrants.
Meanwhile, earlier on Wednesday, the French Foreign Ministry stated that Netanyahu would not be arrested under the ICC warrant on French territory. The foreign office explained that Netanyahu and other serving ministers from a country that has not signed the Rome Statute enjoy immunity.
The statement followed just hours after a ceasefire was established between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Israeli media outlets Haaretz and Kan reported that Israel set this condition for France's participation in the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.
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ICC's accusations of war crimes against Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant have been firmly rejected by Israel, which termed it a "disgraceful" and "antisemitic" move. U.S. President Joe Biden called the issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli politicians outrageous. "Whatever the ICC implies, there is no equality between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand by Israel," Biden stated.