ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday rejected Israel’s appeal challenging the legality of the court's probe into war crimes in Gaza in October 2023.

The court ruled that the investigation into alleged war crimes in Gaza can continue, rejecting Israel’s argument that the fighting since October 2023 is a new case that requires restarting the process. Judges said the current violence falls under the same Palestine investigation opened in 2021, which also covers crimes committed since 2014.

The decision allows the Gaza probe to proceed and reinforces the legal basis for arrest warrants issued last year for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief Yoav Gallant.

Violence across the West Bank has surged alongside Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has seen nearly 70,000 Palestinians killed since October 7, 2023, according to local health authorities. 

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) and Turkey have both issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu for crimes against humanity.

Israel, however, rejects the ICC’s authority and denies war crimes in Gaza.

Last month, Human Rights Watch said that the Israeli government’s forced displacement of refugees from camps in the occupied West Bank amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, calling for investigations against top officials, including the premier and Defense Minister Israel Katz. 

“Israeli authorities in early 2025 forcibly removed 32,000 Palestinians from their homes in West Bank refugee camps without regard to international legal protections and have not permitted them to return,” said Nadia Hardman, the HRW’s senior refugee and migrant rights researcher. “Israeli forces have carried out war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank that should be investigated and prosecuted.”

Rights groups and UN officials say that, under the cover of the Gaza offensive, Israeli forces and settlers have stepped up raids, shootings, land seizures, and restrictions on Palestinian movement in the occupied territory.

A peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump that brought about a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October offers provisions for the formation of a Palestinian state in the future, with European countries, including France and the UK, in recent months having unilaterally recognized Palestinian statehood.