ICC replaces judge considering Netanyahu arrest warrant on health grounds

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has announced it will replace on health grounds one of the judges deciding whether to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

In May, the ICC announced it was seeking arrest warrants for the two Israeli leaders, as well as three Hamas leaders, stating that there were reasonable grounds that they had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The three Hamas leaders named, Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, have all since been killed by Israeli attacks. 

The presiding judge in the case, Romanian magistrate Iulia Motoc, asked to be replaced on health grounds on Friday. She was immediately replaced by Slovenian ICC judge Beti Hohler.

The replacement is expected to further delay a decision on possible arrest warrants, with the new judge expected to need time to catch up on the filings.