Jerusalem (Reuters)-The Office of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuhe said on Sunday that he will travel to Hungary this week, challenging an arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
During the visit, which will start on Wednesday and runs until next Sunday, Netanyahu will meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who invited him in November, shortly after the TPI issued the arrest warrant.
Orbán said at the time that the warrant “would not be fulfilled.”
All European Union Member States, including Hungary, are members of the ICC, which means they are required to fulfill their warrants. Orbán, a right -wing nationalist, often conflicts with the EU about democratic standards and human rights in Hungary.
There was no immediate comment from Hungary about this week’s visit.
It will be Netanyahu’s second trip abroad since the TPI announced the warrants after a visit to Washington in February to meet US President Donald Trump.
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Israel denounced the warrants against Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, describing the allegations as “false and absurd.” The ICC also issued an arrest warrant to Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri.
Pressure to Hamas
Netanyahu also repeated the requirement for Hamas to disarm and his leaders leave Gaza, promising to increase the pressure on the group as they follow their efforts to ensure the return of hostages.
He said that Israel will work to implement the “voluntary emigration plan” proposed by US President Donald Trump to Gaza and said his office agreed to keep pressing Hamas, who claims to have accepted a proposal for ceasefire mediated by Egypt and Qatar.
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Sami Abu Zuhri, a high -ranking authority of Hamas, said Netanyahu’s comments were a recipe for an “endless climb” in the region.
Netanyahu denied statements that Israel, who resumed his bombing over Gaza after a two -month truce and sent troops back to the enclave, was not negotiating, and said, “We are leading it under fire, and therefore, it is also effective.”
“We see that there are sudden cracks,” he said in a video statement released on Sunday.
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On Saturday, Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas leader in Gaza, said the group had accepted a proposal that security sources said they included the release of five Israeli hostages a week. But he said that lowering the weapons, as Israel demands, was a “red line” that the group would not cross.
This Sunday, the first day of the Eid Al-Fitr Muslim holiday, Gaza’s health authorities reported that at least 24 people, including several children, had been killed in Israeli attacks. Nine of them were killed in a single tent in the city of Khan Youis in the south.
Later, this Sunday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Service reported that finally managed to access the area to look for rescue teams that had been hit by Israeli fire during a rescue mission in western Rafah, a week after the attack.
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The service said it has recovered 13 bodies on site, with seven members of the Palestinian Red Crescent, five from the Gaza Civil Emergency Service and a United Nations worker. There was no immediate comment from Israel.
By James Mackenzie and Nidal al-Monghrabi
