TEL AVIV, September 20. /TASS/. Israel has challenged International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as ICC’s jurisdiction over this case, Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Oren Marmotstein said.

According to the spokesperson, Israel has presented "two separate legal documents." One states that the ICC has no jurisdiction over this case, and the other one "gives a detailed description of the ICC prosecutor’s breaching the court statute and the principle of complimentarity," which says that the ICC jurisdiction is valid only when national legal systems cannot or are reluctant to exercise jurisdiction. The Israeli side insists that this way the ICC "has stripped Israel of the possibility to exercise its right to independently investigate the charges brought by the prosecutor before the litigation," he said.

"Leading countries (including ICC member states), organizations and experts on legal issues from the entire world share Israel’s position on these matters. No other democracy with an independent and respected legal system, like in Israel, has ever been treated in such a biased manner by the prosecutor. But, nevertheless, Israel is firmly committed to the supremacy of law and justice and will continue defending its citizens from continuing attacks and atrocities by Hamas and other Iran-backed terrorist organizations in the region," the statement says.

On August 24, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan released a report insisting that arrest warrants be urgently issued for Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and two more Hamas senior officials.

On May 20, Khan requested that Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, saying that the ICC has "reasonable grounds to believe" that they "bear criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least October 8, 2023.