War on Gaza: Israeli officials worried about 'secret ICC arrest warrants'
Lawyers acting on behalf of Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Dutch city of The Hague are worried arrest warrants against Israeli officials may have been issued secretly, according to Israeli media.
A report by Ynet says lawyers are concerned that Israeli officials may only find out about the warrants without warning after arriving in European countries.
The report said that the basis of such warrants could be statements made by many Israeli leaders during the course of the ongoing war on Gaza, in which they warned Palestinians in the besieged territory that they would be denied food and aid.
A source who spoke to the media outlet said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is apparently using "threatening" tactics against the ICC's prosecutor Karim Khan, comparing his behaviour to an "elephant in a china shop".
The Israelis are also seeking assurances from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Washington would intervene to stop any ICC action from taking place.
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The Israeli newspaper Maariv earlier reported that Netanyahu is "frightened and unusually stressed" by the possibility of an imminent arrest warrant.
Washington has already said that the ICC has no authority to pursue Israeli leaders.
Support in US Congress
Israel is already facing separate charges of genocide over its ongoing military assault in Gaza at the International Court of Justice after a case was filed by South Africa.
The war has killed at least 34,500 Palestinians in Gaza so far, the majority of them women and children.
Politicians in the US Congress, where Israel has vast influence and support, have vowed to take punitive measures against the ICC if it pursues Israeli officials.
The speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, warned that if a precedent is set in issuing warrants for Israeli leaders, American officials could be next.
While Johnson is Republican, his rival Democrat party are also overwhelmingly pro-Israel and against any ICC move.
According to Axios, members of Congress are planning to push through legislation sanctioning the ICC, while some are debating whether to pull out of the Rome Statute, upon which the court was established.
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