Netanyahu and Gallant in spotlight as international court prepares warrants

Alarm is mounting in senior Israeli circles as the International Criminal Court prepares arrest warrants for suspected humanitarian crimes in Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Israeli military Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi are believed to be the officials who would be served warrants, according to reports.

Israel and its allies are trying to persuade the ICC to delay the move, which would be one of the most severe diplomatic blows to Israel and its image since the war on Gaza began in October.

The warrants would allege that Israel “deliberately starved Palestinians in Gaza”, a source told The Times of Israel.

For months, Israel has faced accusations that its forces deliberately kill, injure, displace and harass civilians in Gaza and prevent humanitarian aid from entering the enclave, where food and medicine are in short supply.

There are concerns about rights abuses in the occupied West Bank and with the Israeli prison system.

“There is nothing more twisted than trying to prevent Israel from defending itself against a murderous enemy that openly calls for the destruction of Israel,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday.

He said his country abides by “all the laws of war”.

Mr Katz has called for water supplies to Gaza to be cut as a punishment for the October 7 attack on Israel led by Hamas.

ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan, a British lawyer, said in October that the court could also issue warrants for war crimes that Hamas is alleged to have committed in Israel.

Israel does not recognise the authority of the ICC, but arrest warrants would still mean that the 124 countries that are signed up would be obliged to arrest Israeli officials if they entered their territory.

States that recognise the court’s authority include Britain, the Netherlands and Germany, all major allies.

The US, Israel’s most important ally, does not.

Mr Netanyahu said on Friday that ICC action would not change Israel’s war plans.

Word of arrest warrants comes as Israel prepares for an operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which many countries and international agencies said would result in a humanitarian disaster.