JERUSALEM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said that any ruling issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) would not affect Israel’s actions. 

His remarks come amid recent reports in Israeli media indicating the possibility of the ICC issuing international arrest warrants for Netanyahu.

"The threat to seize the soldiers and officials of the Middle East’s only democracy and the world’s only Jewish state is outrageous," Netanyahu wrote on X.

He emphasized Israel will continue its war and that under his leadership, it will “never never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defense.”

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 34,356 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 77,368 others injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide, and guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
   

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul