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Israel’s Netanyahu Heads to Hungary, Defying ICC Arrest Warrant
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Feb. 16, 2025. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu begins a four-day visit to Hungary on Thursday, defying an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over allegations of war crimes in Gaza as Israel has expanded its military operation in the enclave.
As a founding member of the ICC, Hungary is theoretically obliged to arrest and hand over anyone subject to a warrant from the court, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made clear when he issued the invitation that Hungary would not respect the ruling.
Netanyahu, who is battling a political storm at home over an investigation into suspected ties between Qatar and three of his aides, is due to meet Orban ahead of a press conference at around 1000 GMT.
Netanyahu has rejected the accusations regarding his aides as “fake news.” A Qatari official has dismissed the accusations as part of a “smear campaign” against Qatar.
In Budapest, workers were constructing a stage in the Buda Castle on Wednesday, where Orban was scheduled to welcome Netanyahu in a ceremony with military honors on Thursday morning and security forces could be seen near the central Budapest hotel where Netanyahu will be staying.
The visit will be only the second he has made abroad since the International Criminal Court issued warrants to arrest both him and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant last November, but details of his program have been limited apart from a planned visit to a Holocaust memorial.
He visited Washington in February to meet close ally US President Donald Trump. Neither Israel nor the United States are members of the ICC, with Washington arguing the ICC could be used for politically motivated prosecutions.
Orban invited Netanyahu to visit a day after the ICC issued its arrest warrant over allegations of war crimes in Gaza, where Israel launched an offensive following a devastating attack by thousands of Hamas fighters that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.
‘COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE’
Israel has rejected all the accusations, which it says are politically motivated and fueled by antisemitism. It says the International Criminal Court has lost all legitimacy by issuing the warrants against a democratically elected leader of a country exercising the right of self defense.
Orban has echoed Israel’s condemnation of the court, describing its decision to issue the warrants as “brazen, cynical, and completely unacceptable.”
The ICC said in a statement that member states were under a legal obligation to enforce the court’s rulings, adding that it is not for the states to determine the soundness of its legal decisions.
When it issued the warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and Gallant, the ICC also issued a warrant for the arrest of Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, whose death was confirmed after the warrant was issued.
Prosecutors had originally also sought to arrest Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and the group’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, who along with Deif masterminded the Oct. 7 attack on Israel in 2023. Both were killed by Israel before the request was approved.
The visit takes place as Israel has expanded its military operation in Gaza, announcing its intention to seize parts of the enclave to include in a security zone and evacuate large numbers of Palestinians, with the aim of pressuring Hamas into handing over 59 hostages still in Gaza.
The post Israel’s Netanyahu Heads to Hungary, Defying ICC Arrest Warrant first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.