According to the report of the news agency AFP, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court for his conduct during the Gaza war is the country’s self-defense. Will not stop.

“No outrageous anti-Israel decision will stop us – and it won’t stop me from continuing to defend our country at all costs. We will not bow to pressure,” he said in a video statement.

Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yves Gallant face charges of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” for their actions in Gaza.

The Israeli prime minister said the ICC, set up to protect human rights, had become an “enemy of humanity” and called its decision “a dark day in the history of nations”.

He dismissed the allegations leveled by the international organization as “absolutely baseless”.

Israel has been engaged in conflict in Gaza since October 7, 2023, when a cross-border attack by Hamas militants killed 1,206 people, mostly civilians.

According to statistics from the Hamas-run Health Ministry, their revenge campaign killed 44,056 people in Gaza last year, most of them civilians.

UN agencies have warned of a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with shortages of food and medicine likely to lead to famine.

The ICC found “reasonable grounds” to believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Yves Gallant were criminally responsible for war crimes committed in Gaza, including the use of starvation as a method of warfare. As well as exploitation, crimes against humanity, such as murder, persecution, and torture are included. , and other inhuman acts.

Netanyahu rejected the court’s findings, calling the charges against Israel “fictitious crimes” and arguing that real war crimes committed against Israel and others around the world are being ignored.

Apart from Netanyahu and Gallant, the court has also issued an arrest warrant for the head of the military wing of Hamas, Muhammad Def. Israel previously said Def was killed in an airstrike last July, although Hamas has never confirmed his death.

Netanyahu criticizes court decision to issue warrant for “Mohammed Def’s body”