Netanyahu to travel to Hungary despite ICC arrest warrant

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Hungary on April 2 despite an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), his office reportedly said Sunday.

He is expected to meet with his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orbán, as well as other high-level Hungarian officials before going back to Israel on April 6.

Netanyahu is targeted by an ICC arrest warrant charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip. According to Le Monde, Hungary considers it doesn’t have to abide by ICC decisions.

The war in Gaza was triggered by the attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when the militant group killed about 1,200 people and abducted 251. Since then, the Israeli offensive has killed more than 50,000 people in Gaza and displaced more than 90 percent of the area’s population.

On March 18, a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended when the Israeli armed forces resumed airstrikes and land incursions. The three mediators — Egypt, Qatar and the United States — are working to secure another deal as well as the freeing of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

On Saturday, Hamas said it had accepted a new ceasefire plan proposed by the mediators. Israel, however, has made a counter-proposal.

An Israeli strike reportedly killed eight people including five children on Sunday, on the first day of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan.