Israel said expecting ICC decision on warrants soon, with officials cautiously optimistic

Israel expects the International Criminal Court (ICC) to announce within days or weeks its decision on whether to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, the Haaretz daily reports, citing unnamed Justice Ministry sources.

The sources are cited as estimating that the chances of the warrants being issued aren’t high since it would be “unreasonable” for the court to announce three warrants, two against Israeli leaders and one against the October 7 massacre mastermind. This is because the original request sought five warrants, three of them against Hamas leaders, but two of those leaders — Ismail Haniyeh and Muhammad Deif — have since been assassinated.

Another factor said to be contributing to the optimistic assessment is the dozens of legal briefs filed last month to the court, many of them supporting Israel’s position.

However, the failure inside Israel to form a state commission of inquiry into wartime decisions, as well as what is seen as inadequate prosecution by the Israeli justice system of wartime wrongdoing, are seen as factors that raise the chances of the warrants being issued, the report says.