Peskov commented on the ICC decision on Netanyahu's arrest

The decisions of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former head of the country's Defense Ministry Yoav Galant will in no way help to end the conflict in the Middle East. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on November 22.

"On the whole, the ICC action hardly helps anything, that's the first thing. Second, we see no point in commenting on it in any way, because for us these decisions are insignificant," the Russian presidential spokesman said at a briefing.

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The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Galant on Nov. 21. It was 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."

Galant himself said that the ICC's issuance of the warrant for his arrest is a disgrace to the organization, as it has chosen to put Israel and the "brutal terrorist organization Hamas on the same side." He added that the ICC's decision encourages the killing and kidnapping of Israeli citizens.

For his part, 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 Sarah Wagenknecht - for reason and justice" Sarah Wagenknecht called the warrant a slap in the face to Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the head of the German Foreign Ministry 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.