ICC Issues Secret Arrest Warrants for Five Additional Senior Israeli Officials: Report
JUSTICE, 25 May 2026
The Cradle - TRANSCEND Media Service
International Criminal Court – (Photo credit: Getty Images)
The Hague-based court previously issued warrants for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former War Minister Yoav Gallant.
17 May 2026 – The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued secret arrest warrants for three Israeli politicians and two military officials, Haaretz reported on 17 May, citing diplomatic sources.
The timing of their issuance is unknown. The ICC has often issued arrest warrants in secret, publicly announcing them only later to enable a possible arrest of the suspect.
Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and State Attorney’s Office do not respond immediately to requests for comment.
The Hague-based court issued arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former War Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan requested that ICC judges issue the arrest warrants in May 2024, alleging that Netanyahu and Gallant were responsible for war crimes committed by the Israeli military in Gaza.
Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts, according to the ICC prosecutor.
In response to the issuance of the arrest warrants, the US and Israel carried out a campaign to pressure the ICC to prevent and cancel the arrest warrants issued against the Israeli leaders, Le Monde reported in August 2025.
The campaign, which targeted the ICC chief prosecutor Khan, began in March 2024 after he announced his intention to seek the indictment of Netanyahu and Gallant.
In response, the Israeli prime minister launched a campaign to use “all means” to stop the prosecutor with the help of his allies in London, Washington, and Berlin.
At the end of April 2024, a staff member at the ICC accused Khan of sexual assault.
A source speaking to Le Monde said the allegations were part of an effort to “get rid of the prosecutor” and “hijack the process” of arrest warrants.
In October 2024, while the judges were still determining whether to issue the arrest warrants, a mysterious account named “ICC Leaks” appeared on the social network site X.
The account publicized the allegations of sexual assault made against Karim Khan internally at the ICC the previous May.
The ICC finally issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on 21 November 2024.
In February 2025, Chief Prosecutor Khan was placed under sanctions by the US.
Netanyahu applauded the move, calling the court “anti-Semitic and corrupt.”
Khan continued to work on two other indictments against Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir and Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich.
However, Khan has been on temporary leave since 16 May 2025, pending the outcome of the investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations, which he strenuously denies.
During its genocide in Gaza, Israel has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, the majority women and children, while destroying most of the strip.
Jewish settlers insist they will colonize Gaza, as they are colonizing the occupied West Bank.
“We are here on the way to new Jewish communities in Gaza,” settler leader Daniella Weiss stated in an interview at the border of the strip in late April.
“The 2 million or whatever number of Arabs, Gazans, who live here will not live in Gaza,” Weiss added. “It can take a week, it can take maybe a few months. They will not live here.”
Tags: Anti Zionism, Ethnic Cleansing, Gaza, Genocide, IDF, International Criminal Court ICC, Israel, Justice, Nakba, Neo-Nazis, Netanyahu, Palestine, Rogue states, State Terrorism, West Bank, Yoav Gallant
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Open Letter to The Editorial Board and Contributors of Transcend Media Service
Subject: A Respectful Appeal for Collective Moral Agency Beyond Commentary and TMS Publications.
Dear Esteemed Professors, Senior Members and Founders of Global Peace Organisations, Editorial Board Members, Scholars, “Moral Heirarchists” and Contributors to Transcend Media Service.
I read your publications in the recent issues of TMS, noting a thread of commonality expressed in support of the ongoing plight of Palestinians. I commend your stance. Thank you for accepting my second appeal, appended as an open plea, to engage in a collective effort to highlight the problem of ongoing suffering, torture and genocide of 72,764+ Palestinians, with over 10,000 reportedly vapourised by the collective allies of Israel. The global silence is indeed abysmal, in this major humanitarian crisis of the 21st century.
With humility and deep respect for the intellectual legacy of TMS, founded on the principles of peace journalism and the visionary work of Professor Johan Galtung (MHSRIEP), I write to you as a fellow contributor, committed to the shared pursuit of justice, dignity, peace and global harmony. I trust that in your frenetic schedules you will kindly read this document with good intentions.
Recent reports published within TMS, including those addressing the plight of flotilla activists and the ongoing suffering of Palestinian civilians, reflect the moral clarity and courage that have long defined this platform. These contributions illuminate injustice with scholarly rigour and human compassion.
Yet, I write today with a gentle but earnest question:
Can we, as a community, move from witnessing to collective moral action?
In March 2026, I submitted a draft memorandum proposing that TMS, as a body of globally respected thinkers and “Titans of Peace Propagation” consider endorsing an urgent humanitarian appeal to the United Nations. The intention was not to impose unanimity, but to explore whether our shared ethical commitments might find expression in a unified call for:
• immediate ceasefire measures,
• protection of civilians,
• The targeted killings of journalists
• Blatant violations of the different Geneva Conventions
• accountability under international law,
• and renewed multilateral engagement through the United Nations system.
I fully appreciate that TMS is not traditionally an advocacy institution, and that editorial independence is essential to its integrity. However, I respectfully submit that:
There are moments in history when moral scholarship may justifiably seek a collective voice.
The events currently unfolding, whether involving flotilla activists, civilian populations, or broader regional instability in the Middle East, pose profound challenges not only to international law, but to our shared humanity.
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An invitation to individual conscience
Should a collective institutional endorsement be impractical, perhaps an alternative path may be considered:
• voluntary endorsement of the memorandum by individual contributors,
• publication of parallel perspectives exploring actionable peace mechanisms,
• or informal cooperation toward engaging established UN humanitarian channels.
TMS has long illuminated the path toward peace.
Might it now, in some form, help to gently walk that path together?
I remain deeply grateful, appreciative and indebted for the platform TMS provides, under the editorial baton of the long serving and esteemed Professor Antonio Carlos Siva Rosa, as well as for the tireless efforts of its editorial Board and contributors. My intention is not to burden, but to contribute, however modestly, to the living tradition of peace through scholarship and ethical engagement, which forms the very basic tenets of peace propagation, as initiated by the late Professor Johan Galtung (MHSRIEP)
With respect, sincerity, solidarity and hope,
Hoosen Vawda
Peace Propagator
Durban, South Africa
Global: + 27 82 291 4546
e-mail: vawda@ukzn.ac.za
Dated: Tuesday 26th May 2026
Reference: TMS/Cont/26052026/RHV1