Israel calls on ‘civilised nations’ to boycott ICC arrest warrants against its leaders

Israel has urged what it called "nations of the civilised world" to refuse to implement any international criminal court arrest warrants issued against its leaders.

Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the world's top court, announced on Monday that his office had applied to a pre-trial panel for arrest warrants for three senior Hamas officials, as well as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Hamas attack of 7 October and the ensuing seven-month-old war in Gaza.

What was widely interpreted in Israel as an equivalence between the named leaders of the Islamist group - Yahya Sinwar, Hamas's chief in Gaza, Mohammed Deif, the commander of its military wing, and Qatar-based Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the political bureau - and democratically elected Israeli politicians was met with outrage by Israeli officials, the public, and the country's allies.

On Tuesday, a government spokesperson, Tal Heinrich, said: "We call on the nations of the civilised, free world - nations who despise terrorists and anyone who supports them - to stand by Israel. You should outright condemn this step.

"Make sure the ICC understands where you stand. Oppose the prosecutor's decision and declare that, even if warrants are issued, you do not intend to enforce them. Because this is not about our leaders. It's about our survival."

Khan said on Monday that Israel had the right to defend itself from Hamas, but that it did not "absolve Israel or any state of its obligation to comply with international humanitarian law".

Whatever Israel's military goals in Gaza, the prosecutor's office believed its methods - "namely, intentionally causing death, starvation, great suffering, and serious injury to body or health of the civilian population" - were criminal, he added.