The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is currently hearing a case accusing Israel of war crimes. Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Israeli officials fear that additional secret warrants may exist, targeting IDF officers and soldiers whose personal details were exposed in the media and on social networks. Beyond that, Israeli diplomats and legal teams are dealing almost daily with cases of former soldiers detained or questioned abroad amid growing anti-Israel sentiment.

According to information obtained by Israel Hayom, Israel has raised these concerns during ceasefire negotiations, insisting that any agreement must address them. It remains unclear whether this issue will be included in the so-called "21-point plan," since addressing these legal challenges involves complex processes with third countries and international bodies.

The ICC operates under the framework of the United Nations and the Security Council. In principle, the council has the authority to suspend an ICC investigation. But to prevent such a move from being blocked, Israel would need assurances that Russia and China would not use their veto power. The ICJ, on the other hand, is an independent body, making it even more difficult to halt its proceedings against Israel.

As previously reported, the war-ending agreement includes immunity for Gaza terrorists from prosecution. "It cannot be that they will receive international immunity while our people are pursued and arrested," a source familiar with the talks said.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio characterized the court as "a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare" against America and Israel, according to Reuters. The sanctions target Nicolas Yann Guillou of France, Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji, Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal, and Kimberly Prost of Canada, according to the US Treasury and State Department. "United States has been clear and steadfast in our opposition to the ICC's politicization, abuse of power, disregard for our national sovereignty, and illegitimate judicial overreach," Rubio stated.

These measures represent the second sanctions round within three months, following the administration's previous targeting of four separate ICC judges, among them Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor at the ICC. French judge Nicolas Yann Guillou presided over the pre-trial panel that authorized Netanyahu's arrest warrant. Khan and Niang serve as the court's deputy prosecutors, while Canadian Judge Kimberly Prost participated in an ICC appeals chamber that unanimously authorized prosecutor investigations into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan since 2003.

The ICC issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri, citing alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict. The Israeli prime minister's office welcomed the American sanctions announcement.

The US sanctions freeze any American assets the individuals possess and effectively bar them from the US financial system. The Trump administration's ICC opposition dates to his first presidential term, when Washington sanctioned then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and a senior aide in 2020 over Afghanistan-related work.

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Pillay, along with two additional members of the biased Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory resigned on Monday after the Trump administration chose to place sanctions on the UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese over her justifying of terrorism and other anti-Israel actions, including insensitive Holocaust comments.

Israel Hayom discovered that the main reason for the resignation is Pillay's concern that she won't be able to visit her daughter, Isvari Pather, who lives in New York.

Pillay, recognized for her substantial animosity toward Israel, was appointed by the Human Rights Council following Operation Guardian of the Walls to lead the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Through this work, Pillay has routinely presented findings to the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) – collaboration that the Trump administration considers an "attack on America."

Consequently, Secretary of State Marco Rubio imposed individual sanctions last week on Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine recognized as a Hamas supporter, because of her ICC cooperation. Among other measures, she was prohibited from entering the United States.

Pillay maintained even stronger connections with the Hague tribunal. She supervised an 18-person UN team that gathered "evidence" for use against Israel. Pillay also journeyed to The Hague to meet the court's deputy prosecutor, Nazhat Shameem Khan – who coincidentally or not appointed Pillay to her position in July 2021.

Now the Trump administration has transformed the game's rules. Based on information Israel Hayom received from a Western source familiar with the details, Pillay worried she wouldn't be able to visit her daughter, Isvari Pather, and her grandson, who reside in New York.

Given this situation, and likely due to concerns about additional sanctions repercussions, Pillay and the two other committee members resigned from their roles Monday night.

The group UN Watch disclosed Monday night that the three filed resignation letters. Pillay, the investigation committee chairwoman, explained the unexpected step by noting considerations of "age, medical problems and the burden of several additional commitments." Her colleagues, Miloon Kothari and Chris Sidoti, also filed resignation letters.

"The resignation of all three commissioners is long overdue," said Neuer. "This was a commission born in prejudice — mandated to investigate only Israel, while ignoring Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Authority. Its members were selected precisely for their hostility to the Jewish state."

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The Wall Street Journal reported that the proceedings target Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, focusing on their involvement in expanding Jewish settlements throughout the West Bank. Court personnel told The Wall Street Journal that the decision on pursuing these cases now rests with Khan's two deputy prosecutors, though their intended course of action remains uncertain.

Multiple officials and legal analysts expressed skepticism that the court would advance without a chief prosecutor present, considering the significant political risks such prosecutions could generate. The Wall Street Journal learned that proceeding would intensify the conflict between the ICC and Israel while expanding its focus beyond the Gaza war, which previously prompted the court to issue an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year.

Additional warrants would likely further damage relations with the US, potentially triggering new sanctions from Washington, The Wall Street Journal reported. The court refused to provide commentary on specific proceedings but confirmed its authority to investigate crimes committed within Palestinian territories since 2014, when the Palestinian Authority accepted ICC jurisdiction. Representatives for Smotrich and Ben-Gvir failed to respond to comment requests from The Wall Street Journal.

ICC prosecutors have been evaluating whether Smotrich and Ben-Gvir committed war crimes through promoting West Bank Jewish settlement construction, the current and former officials informed The Wall Street Journal. The Geneva Conventions prohibit states from transferring their populations into territories that are defined in international law as belligerent occupation, although Israel has denied this is the case. Prosecutors are additionally investigating other Israeli officials regarding their roles in West Bank settlement expansion, the current and former officials told The Wall Street Journal.

Israel contends that the prohibition doesn't apply within the West Bank because the territory wasn't legally part of another state when Israeli military forces assumed control during the 1967 Six-Day War and therefore isn't "occupied" under international law definitions. The International Court of Justice, serving as the UN's highest court, regards Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal.

Smotrich and Ben-Gvir have advocated for Israel's expansion of control throughout the West Bank. Both men reside in West Bank settlements and have advocated for Israel to assume control over the entire territory, The Wall Street Journal noted.

The court is considering cases against these men during a politically challenging period for the institution, according to The Wall Street Journal. The court's arrest warrants issued last year for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, regarding their conduct during the Gaza war, attracted condemnation from the US and sanctions against Khan imposed by the Trump administration. Khan also pursued warrants for three Hamas leaders who have since died in combat or through assassination.

Khan, serving as the court's chief prosecutor and public representative, began leave this month after The Wall Street Journal reported that one of his aides, a lawyer in her 30s, alleged Khan coerced her into sex on multiple occasions and invoked the court's investigations of Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas to pressure her to disavow her accusations. Khan denies engaging in any sexual misconduct, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Khan already faces US sanctions, which the ICC states have hampered its operations, The Wall Street Journal learned. The Trump administration is considering whether to impose a second round of sanctions; ICC officials and legal experts worry new warrants against Israeli officials might provoke the US to target the court itself, an action that could cripple the institution by effectively severing it from the US financial system.

"In this political landscape I think both the prosecutor's office and the court has to proceed with some degree of caution," said Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association and an adviser to the ICC on sanctions, speaking to The Wall Street Journal. "The ICC is facing an existential threat."

Under the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding treaty, the transfer by an occupying power of its population, either directly or indirectly, into occupied territory constitutes a war crime, The Wall Street Journal reported. Israel provides substantial government support for settlers in the West Bank.

"It's a strong legal argument," Ellis told The Wall Street Journal. "But the political part of this, my God…"

New warrants would increase international pressure on Netanyahu, according to The Wall Street Journal. European governments and Canada have intensified their criticism recently of Israel's handling of the Gaza war, and imposed new sanctions on settlers for violence in the West Bank. President Trump this week called for the war to end "as quickly as possible."

The court charged Netanyahu and Gallant with war crimes and crimes against humanity, alleging they ordered Israeli forces to block humanitarian aid for Gaza as a method to defeat Hamas following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Netanyahu and Gallant didn't respond to requests for comment from The Wall Street Journal. Israel's defenders argue the government was permitting aid into Gaza following Oct. 7 but that deliveries were disrupted by the war and stolen by Hamas.

ICC judges have ordered that any new warrant applications against Israeli officials or Hamas personnel be filed under seal, the officials told The Wall Street Journal. A court spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment from The Wall Street Journal.

Khan publicly announced the applications for Netanyahu and Gallant, defying the advice of some senior prosecutors in the office to keep them secret, The Wall Street Journal learned.

As the court was preparing to seek warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant over the Gaza war, some ICC officials were arguing that the court should first bring a case over West Bank settlements, current and former officials told The Wall Street Journal.

Officials argued that the court would face less blowback over settlements cases than it would from going after Netanyahu over conduct of the Gaza war, since Western governments have defended Israel's right to strike Hamas following the Oct. 7 attacks, the officials told The Wall Street Journal. Western capitals including the US had already sanctioned Israeli settlers for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Smotrich and Ben-Gvir lead ultranationalist political parties that are important components of Netanyahu's coalition government, The Wall Street Journal reported. Both men have called for Israel to retake Gaza and pushed the monthslong blockade of humanitarian aid into the territory that ended last week.

Smotrich championed a decision by the government this year to convert 13 West Bank neighborhoods that had once been outposts, which are illegal under Israeli law, into full-fledged settlements that are entitled to government funding, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"This is another important step on the way to de facto sovereignty in Judea and Samaria," Smotrich said, using the biblical name for the West Bank favored by the far right, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Israel isn't a member of the ICC, and the court's jurisdiction over possible crimes committed by Israeli officials in Judea and Samaria has been a matter of dispute, The Wall Street Journal reported. The court ruled in 2021 that Palestine was a state party to the Rome Statute, and that the court has jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed there even though Israel isn't an ICC member.

Israel maintains that its actions in the Palestinian territories don't fall under the jurisdiction of the ICCl.

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Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, faces serious allegations of sexual assault from a female staff member – claims that emerged just weeks before he sought unprecedented arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the Gaza war. The woman alleges Khan sexually assaulted her multiple times across several countries, while Khan reportedly warned her that pursuing the allegations would damage "the justice of the victims" and told her to "think about the Palestinian arrest warrants," according to testimony reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The timing has raised questions about whether Khan's decision to seek the warrants was influenced by the allegations against him, creating a crisis for the court as it pursues its most politically controversial case.

In a luxury hotel suite overlooking the United Nations headquarters in New York, a confrontation unfolded that would eventually threaten the stability of the International Criminal Court and inject a layer of personal scandal into one of the most politically charged investigations in its history, The Wall Street Journal reported. A female assistant in her 30s alleges that Karim Khan, the ICC's chief prosecutor, sexually assaulted her that December 2023 evening – one incident in what she describes as a pattern of abuse spanning multiple continents and several months.

The Malaysian lawyer, who often traveled with Khan, had asked to meet him at the Millennium Hilton hotel to urge him to ease his increasingly harsh treatment of staff, according to testimony reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Instead, she claims Khan began touching her sexually, pulled her to the bed despite her attempts to leave, removed her pants and forced sexual intercourse – actions she alleges were part of an established pattern. The Wall Street Journal noted that the woman testified she felt "trapped" during these encounters, which allegedly occurred in locations including New York, Colombia, Congo, Chad, Paris and at Khan's residence in The Hague.

Just weeks after these allegations surfaced internally, Khan made the most dramatic move in the court's 23-year history – applying for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The timing has fueled questions about whether Khan was attempting to protect himself through this politically consequential decision, The Wall Street Journal reported. Through his lawyers, Khan has categorically denied any sexual misconduct and rejected any connection between the allegations and his decision on the Israeli warrants.

The Palestinian investigation was already fraught with geopolitical tension, pitting influential Western nations against a bloc of developing countries pushing for action against Israel. According to The Wall Street Journal, the warrant applications shored up support for Khan among anti-Israel ICC member nations that would likely back him if the allegations became public. The woman herself initially declined to cooperate with investigators, telling colleagues she didn't want to disrupt the Palestinian case by bringing a complaint against Khan.

"He always holds on to me and leads me to the bed," she said in testimony reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. "It's the feeling of being trapped." The woman remained in her position, The Wall Street Journal reported, because she didn't want to abandon an important role in human rights law and needed to pay her dying mother's medical bills. She also came to fear retaliation from Khan, according to current and former ICC officials interviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services is now investigating both the sexual assault allegations and claims that Khan attempted to intimidate the accuser and others who reported his conduct, The Wall Street Journal noted. Any action to remove Khan would require a majority vote of the court's 125 member nations, but the investigation's findings could fundamentally alter the trajectory of the court at a moment when its legitimacy is already being questioned by powerful non-member states including the United States, Russia, China and Israel.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Khan has suggested the allegations are part of a broader campaign to undermine the ICC. Court officials reportedly worried that Israeli intelligence was operating in The Hague as the Palestinian investigation intensified, and Russian intelligence agencies were also a concern due to the ICC's investigation of alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Security equipment was installed in the homes of senior prosecutors working on these cases in summer 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The political drama surrounding the allegations began to unfold on April 29, 2024, when Khan's accuser broke down to Thomas Lynch, an American lawyer and close adviser at the ICC, and another colleague, telling them Khan had been sexually abusing her for months, according to ICC officials cited by The Wall Street Journal. Lynch and two other aides confronted Khan at his home on May 2, informing him they were reporting the allegations to the court's human resources office.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Khan responded that he would have to resign, before adding: "But then people will think I'm running away from Palestine." The following day, Khan's office released a statement insisting that "all attempts to impede, intimidate, or improperly influence its officials cease immediately" – without specifically mentioning the allegations, The Wall Street Journal noted.

During this same period, Khan was preparing for a crucial trip to Israel and Gaza that he had been seeking for months. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had pressed Israeli officials to grant Khan access, seeing the visit as an opportunity to persuade him against seeking arrest warrants, according to The Wall Street Journal. Khan told Blinken on May 3 that his trip would provide important context before making any decision on the warrants.

Yet on May 19, Khan suddenly canceled his long-planned visit – then announced the warrant applications the very next day, The Wall Street Journal reported. This move defied the advice of senior prosecutors who wanted to avoid placing public pressure on the judges who would ultimately decide whether to approve the warrants.

The Wall Street Journal detailed how Khan allegedly tried to convince his accuser to disavow the allegations in the months that followed. "The casualties will unfortunately be three: You and your family, me and my family and the justice of the victims," Khan reportedly told the woman, according to a record of a call that is now part of the UN investigation. "Think about the Palestinian arrest warrants," she said he told her on another occasion, according to her testimony cited by The Wall Street Journal.

The woman alleges Khan's unwanted advances began during a work trip to London in March 2023, where he tried to hold her hand, The Wall Street Journal reported. She claims he first had nonconsensual sexual intercourse with her during a trip to Kinshasa in early June 2023. Back in The Hague, Khan would allegedly begin sexually touching her when she delivered documents to his home, according to her testimony.

As time passed, the emotional toll mounted. The woman told Khan she was having suicidal thoughts, which prompted him to leave her alone for several weeks before the alleged assaults resumed, The Wall Street Journal reported. Most recently, during an April 2024 trip to Venezuela and Colombia, Khan knocked on her hotel room door at 3 a.m. in Caracas. The next day in Bogotá, after she declined his invitation to his room claiming illness, Khan allegedly came to her room instead, lay down beside her and sexually assaulted her.

The ICC warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, which charge them with war crimes and crimes against humanity related to Israel's conduct in Gaza, have sparked international backlash. President Joe Biden expressed outrage, and President Donald Trump sanctioned Khan through an executive order shortly after taking office, The Wall Street Journal noted. Even traditional court supporters like France and Germany indicated they might not comply with an ICC request to arrest Netanyahu.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the evidence against Netanyahu and Gallant centers on statements they made in the days after the October 7 Hamas attack. Gallant announced Israel would impose a "complete siege" on Gaza, adding: "There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel." Netanyahu, after meeting with Biden on October 18, stated: "We will not allow humanitarian assistance in the form of food aid and medicines from our territory to the Gaza Strip." ICC prosecutors contend these statements demonstrate that blocking aid to Gaza was a deliberate tactic rather than a side effect of military operations.

The stakes for both Khan and the court itself remain extraordinarily high. As The Wall Street Journal reported, the woman accusing Khan told officials on a February conference call: "I held on for as long as I could because I didn't want to f— up the Palestinian arrest warrants." Yet Khan continues his work, meeting with officials and diplomats and traveling internationally while the investigation proceeds.

"People have told me to stand up against this man," the woman said during that February call, according to The Wall Street Journal, "yet everyone, including elected officials, seems to be very scared of him and says there is nothing we can do [about making him step aside] because he refuses."

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Hungary is expected to withdraw from the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC), coinciding with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned visit to Budapest, according to Wednesday morning reports from the country. Hungary was among the first nations to publicly declare it would not honor the arrest warrant issued against Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban formally invited Netanyahu for a visit last November. "I was shocked to learn about the recent shameful decision of the International Criminal Court," Orban wrote in a letter sent from Budapest to Jerusalem. "Hungary strongly condemns this shameful decision, which has no impact on the Hungarian-Israeli alliance and friendship. As an expression of our deepest support, I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to Hungary for an official visit, where we will ensure your security and freedom."

According to Hungarian media reports, the government had previously contemplated leaving the court, which until last year included Hungarian representative Judge Peter Kovacs. The withdrawal announcement, if it proceeds, will likely coincide with Netanyahu's visit and his meeting with Prime Minister Orban, coming also in the wake of sanctions imposed by US President Donald Trump.

Should Hungary finalize its decision to exit the ICC, the process would be lengthy, potentially extending to approximately a year. The government plans to submit a resolution to parliament regarding membership termination, and if approved by the majority – an official withdrawal announcement will follow.

Reports indicate that Hungarian Justice Minister Bence Tuzson revealed the expected withdrawal during a diplomatic meeting with ambassadors. This meeting took place in a room equipped with facial recognition cameras to verify that only invited diplomats were present. Each chair was labeled with the invitee's name, and tardy participants faced fines calculated by the minute.

The Hungarian government has been weighing its departure from the court for some time. Last year, reports emerged that the government had directed three ministers to explore withdrawal options, though the country was awaiting Trump's position regarding the ICC. A Hungarian source stated, "After the imposition of American sanctions on the court, the government took it as a green light."

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Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the government Tuesday after it allegedly received an International Criminal Court warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity, CNN reported. The 79-year-old was taken into custody amid chaotic scenes at Manila's main airport after returning to the Philippines from Hong Kong.

Interpol's Manila office had received "the official copy of the arrest warrant from the ICC" on Tuesday morning. "Upon his arrival, the Prosecutor General filed an ICC notification for an arrest warrant against the former president for crimes against humanity," the Presidential Communications Office stated, adding that Duterte is currently in custody of authorities.

The ICC has investigated Duterte over his brutal anti-drugs crackdown during his time in office that killed more than 6,000 people based on police data, though independent monitors believe the number could be much higher, CNN reported. The bloodshed prompted the ICC investigation, a monthslong House of Representatives inquiry, and a separate Senate inquiry led by the cousin of the current President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr.

Duterte questioned the basis for his detention in a video posted online by his daughter. "What is the law and what is the crime that I committed?" he asked. The former president has repeatedly denied extrajudicial killings of alleged drug suspects, although he also openly admitted to ordering police to shoot suspects who resist arrest.

The Philippines withdrew from the ICC under Duterte's administration, but under the court's withdrawal mechanism, it retains jurisdiction over crimes committed during a state's membership period – in this case, between 2016 and 2019, when the Philippines' pullout became official.

His former spokesperson Harry Roque contested the legality of the detention. "The warrant of arrest has no basis because it was issued at a time when we are no longer a member of the ICC," Roque said in a livestream on Facebook. "What is happening right now is unlawful detention. We have not seen the warrant of arrest from the police or Interpol."

Presidential communications undersecretary Claire Castro told reporters on Monday that "Our law enforcers are ready to follow what law dictates, if the warrant of arrest needs to be served because of a request from Interpol," according to Reuters.

Duterte had apparently anticipated his arrest. "From my own news, I have a warrant from the ICC or something," he told supporters in Hong Kong on Sunday. "What did I do wrong? I did everything that I could in my time, so there is a little bit of quiet and peace for the lives of the Filipinos."

Rights groups praised the development. Duterte's detention "is a critical step for accountability in the Philippines," said Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "His arrest could bring victims and their families closer to justice and sends the clear message that no one is above the law."

Before becoming president, Duterte established his reputation as mayor of Davao City over two decades, advocating a hardline approach against criminals. He claimed to have drastically reduced the city's previously high rates of violent crime, but his tenure was also marked by allegations of connections to extrajudicial killings by vigilante groups.

During his 2016 presidential campaign, he told a crowd to "forget the laws of human rights" and warned drug pushers that as president, he would kill them just as he claimed to have done as mayor. After taking office, he maintained this unfiltered rhetorical style.

Despite frail health and the looming threat of an ICC arrest warrant, Duterte registered in October to run for mayor of his southern home city of Davao. The move was widely interpreted as an attempt to strengthen his scandal-hit political dynasty amid a bitter falling out between his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, and President Marcos Jr.

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The sanctions on Khan include asset freezes in the US, a ban on American citizens engaging in commercial dealings with him, and a travel ban to the United States, as is customary in cases where individuals are added to the US Treasury Department's sanctions list. These measures could also affect his immediate family. The executive order also prohibits donations or assistance in any way to help Khan circumvent the sanctions, as anyone involved would face sanctions themselves.

It is important to note that the sanctions were imposed due to the court's decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Khan, a British citizen, was included in the blacklist that Trump signed last week, and Reuters confirmed that sanctions have been imposed on him. Currently, Khan is the only individual at the ICC who has been sanctioned, but the presidential order is broader in scope, covering anyone involved in the case against Israel.

Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing sanctions against ICC members and those assisting investigations against the US and its allies. During his previous term, Trump had imposed sanctions on the court, but these were reversed when the Democrats took control of the government.

The International Criminal Court condemned the American decision, stating, "We will continue to deliver justice and hope to millions of innocent victims around the world."

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President-elect Donald Trump plans to implement devastating sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague immediately after taking office, sources close to the matter disclosed to Israel Hayom. These executive orders could be unveiled as soon as January 21, just one day after his inauguration.

The sanctions package will target both individual ICC personnel, including judges and prosecutors, and the institution as a whole. The administration intends to classify the ICC as an organization threatening US interests, employing designation procedures similar to those used by the US State Department for terrorist organizations globally. This designation will trigger severe restrictions on anyone involved with the court's operations.

Financial institutions worldwide will be required to terminate relationships with ICC personnel or face US sanctions themselves. Mirroring actions taken against sanctioned Israeli citizens by the outgoing administration, ICC staff will find themselves unable to perform routine banking operations or use credit cards. Their economic activities will be effectively frozen, with exceptions only for essential needs such as food purchases. Furthermore, all US-based assets belonging to ICC employees and the institution will be frozen.

The incoming administration's strategy extends beyond unilateral actions, as it plans to secure commitments from US allies to reject cooperation with arrest warrants targeting Israeli officials.

These measures aim to create conditions allowing the court to independently withdraw its arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minster Yoav Gallant. Officials hope that during appeal proceedings, either Prosecutor Karim Khan or the judges will identify legal grounds to rescind these warrants.

The incoming administration considers the ICC's arrest warrants against Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant a direct threat to US national security. They believe these actions ultimately seek to strip the US and its allies of their ability to mount military defenses against global threats. Trump administration officials and Republican senators widely view Israel's situation as a precedent, believing the US could face similar warrants next, leading them to treat these actions against Israeli officials as potential precursors to targeting American leadership and military command.

Senator Tom Cotton, who will lead the Senate Intelligence Committee starting next week, stated that "the ICC is a 'kangaroo court' and Karim Khan is a deranged zealot. Woe to him and anyone who tries to enforce these lawless warrants. Let me give everyone a friendly reminder: The US law on ICC is known as the 'Hague Invasion Act,' and there's a reason for that. Think about it."

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Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar strongly defended Sunday the IDF military operations in Gaza and criticized former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon's recent accusations of "ethnic cleansing" while saying that there are growing signs that Hamas might be more flexible in its talks on a hostage deal with Israel.

Speaking at the Israel Hayom security conference, he spoke about the emerging progress, "There are indications of movement toward a hostage deal, though I can't provide more details at this time. We're seeing signs of potentially greater flexibility due to circumstances that have developed, such as the arrangement in Lebanon. We'll know more in the coming days. From the Israeli government's perspective, there's a willingness to pursue this, and I hope we can make progress.

"Regarding the fundamental determination that Hamas cannot control Gaza, we must maintain this position. We need to try to advance an arrangement regarding the hostages. We are committed to making this effort."

Sa'ar called Ya'alon's suggestion that Israeli troops were carrying out crimes "reckless and irresponsible statements that caused damage." He said, "This is particularly evident in how Arab media outlets and social networks have used these claims, as they echo statements from someone who previously held a senior position, despite these claims being completely baseless," adding, "Everything Israel does is in accordance with international law. It's deeply regrettable that former Minister Ya'alon hasn't realized the grave error and damage he has caused and hasn't retracted these statements. I hope he will do so."

The foreign chief also criticized the International Criminal Court for issuing arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. "They're trying to tie our hands and feet. You see countries like France and Holland stating that foreign leaders have immunity that applies in this case. While this isn't the only response, the most significant voices are coming from Washington, where senior senators are calling for sanctions against those who cooperate with the ICC.

"I'm convinced the next administration in Washington will take strong measures. I remind our European friends not to rush to embrace this development and to consider this direction as well," he added.

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