By Romana Rubeo 
A legal expert representing Gaza victims before the ICC told The Palestine Chronicle that the arrest warrants remain valid, contrary to misleading media reports.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) rejected on Thursday one of Israel’s key appeals aimed at overturning the arrest warrants issued against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, confirming that the warrants remain legally binding and enforceable.
While the Appeals Chamber dismissed Israel’s argument that it should have been notified prior to the investigation, it accepted that the Pre-Trial Chamber should have addressed Israel’s jurisdictional challenge.
However, the decision does not affect the validity of the arrest warrants or the legal obligation of ICC member states to carry them out.
Professor Triestino Mariniello, Professor of Law at Liverpool John Moores University and member of the legal team representing the Gaza victims before the ICC, spoke to the Palestine Chronicle to clarify the legal implications of the ruling.
Two Israeli Appeals
“Israel had submitted two different appeals to the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court,” Mariniello said.
“The first appeal argued that the prosecutor should have notified Israeli authorities about the initiation of the investigation, as they had the right to then challenge its admissibility—in other words, to inform the Court that they were conducting genuine investigations,” he added.
“The second appeal concerned jurisdiction,” Mariniello continued, “arguing that Israel should have had the opportunity to challenge the jurisdiction of the Court before the issuance of the arrest warrants.”
According to Mariniello, the Court has now ruled on both matters, rejecting the first and partially accepting the second.
“The first appeal has been rejected as inadmissible. In other words, the prosecutor was not under an obligation to notify the Israeli authorities at the start of the investigation,” he explained.
However, in the second appeal, the ICC Appeals Chamber determined that the Pre-Trial Chamber should have addressed Israel’s jurisdictional challenge before issuing the warrants.
But, Mariniello emphasized, this decision “doesn’t really change anything.”
“What does this mean in practice? It doesn’t have any real effect because even after the issuance of the arrest warrants, Netanyahu and Gallant still have the right, under the Rome Statute, to challenge the Court’s jurisdiction. They would have had this right anyway.”
“So the only concrete effect now is that Israel can formally submit this challenge—but again, that was always going to be the case. It’s just, you know, a ‘three-card monte’,” Mariniello said.
Warrants Still Stand
“The most important point—which has not been made clear in most initial media reports—is that the arrest warrants are still valid. They have not been affected by this decision,” according to Mariniello.
The international law expert clarified that the ICC Appeals Chamber “did not accept the challenge to the Court’s jurisdiction itself. It only said that the Pre-Trial Chamber should have considered Israel’s request.”
As a result, “the arrest warrants remain in place. The legal obligation of states to enforce these warrants has not changed.”
While some states may now use the ruling to claim they are not obliged to implement the arrest warrants, Mariniello made clear that such a move would be a violation of the Rome Statute.
Next Steps
According to Mariniello, a jurisdictional challenge by Israel is now likely to be presented to the Pre-Trial Chamber.
“From a legal perspective, I don’t think it has any alternative but to reject that challenge and close the issue—an issue that has already dragged on for five years,” he said.
As for the broader implications, Mariniello said he remains focused on accountability: “The key takeaway is: the arrest warrants are still in place. Hopefully, new arrest warrants will follow soon. That is what we’re expecting and what we, as legal representatives of victims, are requesting.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing editor of The Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online newspapers and academic journals. She holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages and Literature and specializes in audio-visual and journalism translation.
The ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu will never result in his arrest, and Netanyahu knows it, which is demonstrated by his continuation and escalation of the genocide in Gaza. Netanyahu knows that as long as the Israeli lobby (AIPAC) maintains its iron fisted control over Trump and Congress, he will be protected by the U.S. government no matter how many international laws he violates. Thanks to Mossad agent Jeffery Epstein and his blackmail operation, Netanyahu has enough dirt on Trump and a majority of Congress to bring down the U.S. government, and that is why Netanyahu has the unconditional support of the U.S. government. Only God will hold Netanyahu to account for his crimes.
Always remember Omar Al-Bashir. All it takes for Satanjahu to end up in the Hague is a new government. Or taking the wrong flight route. Or he might be Simon Wiesenthaled…
With the current US government’s ham-fisted mishandling of other things, I don’t think the US will retain much of its power for long. So it’s likely that AIPAC will go down in history as a mistake, like the Spanish Inquisition.