ICC arrest warrants for Ben-Gvir, Smotrich 'ready': report

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in The Hague have been writing up arrest warrant applications for senior far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, according to a report.

Middle East Eye (MEE) reported that prosecutors have prepared arrest warrants against the pair on charges of apartheid.

The cases have yet to be submitted to the court, although deputy prosecutors do have the authority to make the submission in place of Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, who went on leave over sexual misconduct allegations made against him, which he denies.

However, MEE reported that the deputy prosecutors have refrained from submitting the completed warrants to the court because of US pressure, which has seen sanctions against Khan and four ICC judges.

The US sanctions, which came into place after Donald Trump's return to the White House in January, were made in a bid to pressure the ICC to withdraw warrants made against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

Netanyahu and Gallant had been handed arrest warrants by the court over war crimes charges relating to Gaza.

Additionally, unnamed sources told MEE that the applications for the warrants are done, but that Khan's leave of absence had disrupted their filing earlier in the year.

One source worried that "if the Ben Gvir and Smotrich applications just disappear, the opportunity to prosecute one of the most blatant examples of apartheid in the world today will likely be lost forever".

Israel's war on Gaza has killed 61,827 Palestinians and wounded a further 155,275 others. Its war has laid waste to much of the enclave, leaving it uninhabitable, with a blockade of aid entry leading to deaths from starvation.

Alongside ICC warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, Israel is facing a charge of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a case brought forward by South Africa.

As well as ruling that Israel's war was in danger of breaching the genocide convention, another ruling in 2024 saw the court deem Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza as illegal.

Israel's government has flouted the rulings, with Smotrich and Ben-Gvir among others pushing for the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Both men have been sanctioned by several Western states, including the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway.