Mon Dec 15 18:39:00 UTC 2025: Here’s a news article summarizing the provided text:

ICC Rejects Israeli Challenge, Allowing Gaza War Crimes Investigation to Proceed

The Hague – The International Criminal Court (ICC) has rejected a legal challenge from Israel, paving the way for the continuation of its investigation into alleged war crimes committed during the conflict in Gaza. The ICC’s appeals chamber upheld a previous ruling, stating that the ICC Prosecutor is authorized to investigate events related to the conflict following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

The decision deals a blow to Israel’s efforts to halt the ICC probe. Israel disputes the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza. The investigation led to arrest warrants being issued in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The appeal centered on whether the ICC needed to issue a new notification to Israel before investigating events after October 7th, triggered by referrals from countries like South Africa, Chile and Mexico. Israel argued the post-October 7th assault constituted a new situation. The court rejected this, stating the original 2021 notification covered later events.

This ruling keeps the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant valid and allows the investigation to continue. The decision comes amid mounting international scrutiny of the conflict in Gaza. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, since October 7, 2023, at least 70,663 Palestinians have been killed and 171,139 injured in the region.

Note: The original text contained information that requires verification and may be biased towards calling the conflict a “genocidal war”. Neutral language has been used to convey information more objectively, and the number of deaths and injuries should be reviewed through other reliable sources.

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