Israel submits challenges to ICC on Gaza arrest warrant requests

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel submitted on Friday formal challenges to the International Criminal Court over its jurisdiction and the legality of arrest warrant requests against Israeli leaders for their conduct of the Gaza war, the Foreign Ministry said.

Israel's filings might further delay a decision on the warrants, requested in May against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan last month urged judges to rule on the warrants, sought also against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and others in the Palestinian militant group.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that its first legal brief outlined the ICC's "manifest lack of jurisdiction" in the case.

The second paper, it said, argues that the ICC Prosecutor breached court rules by "failing to provide Israel with the opportunity to exercise its right to investigate by itself the claims raised by the Prosecutor, before proceeding."

The office of the prosecutor could not immediately be reached for comment.

In August, Khan said the court has jurisdiction over any war crimes in occupied Palestinian territories and that rules saying the ICC cannot step in if a country is doing its own genuine investigation do not apply for the warrants sought for Netanyahu and Gallant.

Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed around 1,200 people with some 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli counts. More than 40,000 Palestinians have since been killed in an Israeli assault on Hamas in Gaza that has caused a humanitarian crisis.

Israel and Palestinian leaders have dismissed allegations of war crimes, and representatives for both sides have criticised Khan's decision to seek warrants for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Additional reporting by Stephanie Van Den Berg in The Hague; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)