Judges last week issued warrants for the two men along with Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, saying there were reasonable grounds to believe the three men bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel’s government, along with Netanyahu and Gallant, strongly rejected the accusations.
On Wednesday, the prime minister’s office said it had informed the ICC of its “intention to appeal to the court along with a demand to delay implementation of the arrest warrants”.
It reiterated that Israel both denied the authority of the ICC and the legitimacy of the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.
Netanyahu’s office also said US Senator Lindsey Graham had updated Netanyahu “on the efforts that he is advancing in the US Congress against the ICC and countries that have cooperated with it”.
US President Joe Biden called the warrants “outrageous” last week, saying the they will always stand with Israel.
Some European Union countries, including Britain have indicated that they will respect the ICC’s decision if Netanyahu entered their territory.
France’s prime minister said last week that it would “rigorously” comply with its obligations under international law, but will consider immunity for them.
Rights groups criticized France’s statement as a response to political pressure to maintain good relations with Israel.
“No one gets immunity from an ICC arrest warrant because they’re in office — not Netanyahu, not Putin, no one,” said Andrew Stroehlein from Human Rights Watch.
The ICC ruled in 2021 that it had jurisdiction over the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza because the UN’s secretary general had accepted Palestine as a UN member.
The ICC prosecutor’s case against Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif stems from 7 October 2023, when Hamas gunmen attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 others back to Gaza as hostages.
Israel responded by launching a military campaign to eliminate Hamas, during which at least 44,000 people, mostly women and children, were killed in Gaza.
The ICC judges said they found reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.
