ICC seeks arrest warrant for Israeli minister Smotrich over forced displacement, genocidal remarks

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has requested an arrest warrant for Israeli finance minister Bezalel Yoel Smotrich for the forceful displacement of Palestinians from their lands and for making genocidal comments about the people of Gaza.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Smotrich said he had been informed that the ICC had requested a warrant for his arrest.

He did not specify who had informed him, noting that the process of seeking warrants is confidential.

He claimed the arrest warrants against Israeli officials are “a declaration of war,” adding, “In the face of a declaration of war, we will fight back with a vengeance.”

Announcing that he would go “on the attack” after learning of the arrest warrant, Smotrich said he “will sign an order to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar,” forcibly transferring the Palestinian community from this occupied West Bank village that has endured a years-long legal battle with Israeli authorities for its survival.

He also attacked Palestinian humanitarian organisations, reflecting the Israeli authorities’ anger at Palestinians for seeking international legal action over Israel’s genocidal campaign in the Gaza Strip, which began on October 7, 2023 and has killed more than 72,800 Palestinians and wounded at least 172,700 others.

In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former minister of war Yoav Gallant for “crimes against humanity and war crimes” committed during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Judges and prosecutors at the ICC have since been sanctioned by banks, credit card companies, and tech giants such as Amazon as a result of sanctions imposed by the administration of US President Donald Trump.

The ICC’s request for an arrest warrant centers on Smotrich’s forced displacement orders targeting Palestinians, his support for moving Israeli settlers into occupied territory, and his claim that it may be “justified and moral” to starve Palestinians in Gaza.

If approved, it would make Smotrich the third Israeli official targeted by the court, after Netanyahu and Gallant.

The United Kingdom and four other countries have imposed sanctions on Smotrich and another Israeli minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, for repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians.

Smotrich and Ben-Gvir have called for the permanent occupation of Gaza and the re-establishment of Jewish settlements there, which Israel abandoned in 2005.

In February, Smotrich approved a plan to claim large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property,” as more than 700,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli military forces and settlers have killed at least 1,155 Palestinians, injured around 11,750 others, and abducted approximately 22,000 in the occupied West Bank since October 2023, according to official figures.

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