Dr. Faisal Khazal, head of the international lawyers team assigned by the Palestinian Bar Association, explained that the International Criminal Court’s replacement, the day before yesterday, of one of the judges who will rule on the request to issue two arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, does not mean that the judge was forced to step down because she was about to issue an arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Galant.

“Romanian judge Iulia Motoc requested a replacement for health reasons last Friday, and she was immediately replaced by Slovenian judge Betty Holer. Any attempt by the media loyal to the Israeli occupation to delude the international community that Judge Motoc was forced to step down because she was about to issue arrest warrants against the defendants Netanyahu and Galant is nothing but a rumor spread by the Israeli intelligence services to delude the world with the illusion of Israel’s international power and influence as part of the psychological warfare pursued by the military and intelligence services during the war,” Khazal added in a clarification that reached “I” Dot Com today.

“The ICC system is completely different from the domestic judicial systems in most countries, where the attorney general, the public prosecutor, the judge and even the investigation officer can issue arrest warrants. In the ICC, the arrest warrant is issued by the chamber competent to hear the case, which consists of several judges (not one judge),” he continued.

Khazal pointed out that there are expectations that replacing the international judge will lead to further delays in issuing a decision regarding the issuance of potential arrest warrants in the case that deals with the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, considering that “it is illogical, because the Slovenian judge Betty Holer did not come from outside the court, but she is one of the most important and respected international judges, and therefore she will not need to study the case from scratch as if she is seeing it for the first time.”