The hague: The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday rejected Israel's request to cancel arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and to suspend the ongoing investigation into crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.

According to Anadolu Agency, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC stated that it had dismissed Israel's dual request made on May 9, 2025: one seeking the withdrawal, cancellation, or invalidation of the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, and another calling for the suspension of the prosecutor's investigation into the situation in Palestine.

The court rejected Israel's argument that the ICC lacks jurisdiction over crimes committed in the Palestinian territories, reaffirming its previous decisions. It further clarified that the Appeals Chamber's ruling of April 24, 2025, could not be interpreted as undermining the court's jurisdiction.

The decision emphasized that 'suspension of the investigation is only applicable when a state challenges the admissibility of a case,' under Article 19(7) of the Rome Statute. However, the judges noted that Israel had not filed such a challenge regarding admissibility.

Additionally, the chamber denied Israel's request to prevent Palestine from presenting its views, asserting that the court already possessed sufficient information and did not require additional submissions.

The ICC had ruled on February 5, 2021, that Palestine is a State Party to the Rome Statute, extending the court's jurisdiction to Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, areas occupied by Israel since 1967. Following this, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor opened an investigation into the situation in Palestine on March 3, 2021.

Israel challenged the court's jurisdiction under Article 19(2) of the Rome Statute on September 23, 2024. Subsequently, the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on November 21, 2024, citing alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. On April 24, 2025, the ICC Appeals Chamber annulled an earlier procedural ruling that had dismissed Israel's objection as premature, referring the matter back to the Pre-Trial Chamber for a substantive decision.