Israel said it had submitted an “official challenge” to a request from the International Criminal Court prosecutor for an arrest warrant against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, AFP reports.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan in May requested the court issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

“The State of Israel submitted today its official challenge to the ICC’s jurisdiction, as well as the legality of the prosecutor’s requests for arrest warrants against Israel’s prime minister and minister of defence,” foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said on X.

Khan also sought warrants against top Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity.