Israel scrambling to delay ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant

Israel is attempting to delay the issuing of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

According to Haaretz, Israeli officials and legal experts said that the government is exerting diplomatic pressure to delay the process, hoping that the judges would take weeks to issue the warrants, although it could come just days after reviewing the documents.

Dozens of states, organisations, and individuals have written to the ICC offering their legal interventions over whether the court has jurisdiction over the occupied Palestinian territories.

It comes after the UK's former government submitted a legal opinion in support of Israel that the court did not have the jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants, although this has since been retracted following the formation of a new Labour government.

Other states have followed in support of Israel, including Germany and the US, which argue that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this issue.

However, Norway and Ireland, as well as Colombia, Mexico and other countries have offered observations supporting the court's jurisdiction.

Israeli officials told Haaretz that another issue in anticipating the court's verdict was whether the killings of Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif, the latter according to Israel and not confirmed by Hamas, would impact the ICC's verdict against Netanyahu and Gallant as both were also subject to arrest warrant considerations.

"There's no similar precedent we can point to or from which we could learn [what may happen]," the officials told Haaretz.

In May, the chief prosecutor for the ICC Karim Khan announced his intentions to obtain arrest warrants against the two Hamas figures, as well as the movement's newly appointed political leader Yahya Sinwar - in addition to Netanyahu and Gallant - over alleged war crimes violations.

Both Israel and Hamas rejected the move, with Israel describing the announcement as a "historical disgrace".

Israel's war on Gaza has killed 39,965 people and wounded a further 92,294 others. Its incessant bombardment and ground invasion have left much of Gaza in rubble, leading to one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in living memory.