Hague court rejects Israeli request to vacate warrants, suspend investigation of Netanyahu, Gallant

The International Criminal Court, an independent court in The Hague that is not part of the United Nations, said on Wednesday that it rejected Israel’s request that it withdraw or vacate the arrest warrants it sought for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.

The Jewish state has also asked the court to suspend its investigation of alleged war crimes in Gaza until it first settles the question of whether or not it has jurisdiction to do so. Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute, which created the International Criminal Court.

The court also dismissed that request in a decision its pre-trial chamber published on Wednesday.

“There is no legal basis for withdrawing, vacating or declaring them of no force or effect at this point in time,” the court said of the warrants. “The impact of Israel’s jurisdiction challenge on the warrants, if any, is something that can only be determined when the chamber will have ruled on the substance thereof.”