ICC replaces judge in Netanyahu arrest case on health grounds

Romanian magistrate Iulia Motoc asked to leave the three-judge panel on health grounds on Friday and was immediately replaced by Slovenian ICC judge Beti Hohler, the president of the ICC said.

The move is expected to further delay a decision in the case focused on the Gaza conflict as the new judge will need time to catch up on the filings.

In May prosecutors asked for arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders, saying there were reasonable grounds that the men had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The court has no set deadlines, but has generally taken about three months to rule on requests for arrest warrants in previous cases.

The decision had already been held up by several rounds of legal filings from Israel challenging the jurisdiction of the court.

Flouting a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued a devastating offensive on the besieged enclave since an attack last year by Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Nearly 43,000 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 100,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the territory’s entire population amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in the blockaded territory.