Israel's ex-defense minister called the ICC's issuance of an arrest warrant against him a disgrace

Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant called the issuance of his arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) a disgrace.

"The outrageous ICC decision will remain a disgrace - it puts the state of Israel and the brutal terrorist organization Hamas on the same page," he wrote on his X (former Twitter) social media page on November 21.

He said the ICC decision encourages the killing and kidnapping of Israeli citizens. Gallant noted that despite this, Israel will not stop and will continue to achieve its goals.

"The IDF will continue to fight to achieve its goals: eliminating Hamas, ensuring the return of hostages and allowing northern Israeli communities to return to their homes," he elaborated.

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The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Yoav Galant and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on November 21. It is noted that they are accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes. The court has reason to believe that the Israeli Prime Minister and the former head of the country's Defense Ministry are criminally responsible as civilian chiefs "for the war crime of deliberately attacking the civilian population."

US President Joe Biden called the ICC decision outrageous and said the country will always stand by Israel against threats to its security. Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog also called the ICC's actions unconscionable. He pointed out that the instance turned a blind eye to the 101 Hamas captives in the Gaza Strip. In his opinion, the court chose the side of evil, which turned the organization "into a shield for the crimes of the Islamic movement."

In turn, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said that the Netherlands is ready to arrest Netanyahu if he arrives in the country. At the same time, the leader of the party "Union of Sarah Wagenknecht - for reason and justice" Sarah Wagenknecht called the warrant a slap in the face to Chancellor Olaf Scholz and German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock.

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, when Hamas launched a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip into Israel, as well as invading border areas in the south and taking hostages. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip.