The Office of the Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague submitted to the judges a request for an international arrest warrant against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
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This was stated by sources familiar with the matter to the Middle East Eye news website, a pro-Qatari website operating from Britain.
According to a report on the Ynet website, two sources familiar with the matter said that the report was reliable and that the website was considered close to the prosecutor's office in The Hague and Qatar.
According to the report, a request for an arrest warrant has already been filed against Smotrich.
In addition, a hearing is being held at the prosecutor's office regarding similar requests against other ministers, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Defense Minister Israel Katz, and against senior officers such as Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir - but in these cases there is no decision yet, only discussions regarding the evidence.
Middle East Eye further reported that the charges against Smotrich include forced displacement as a crime against humanity, population transfer in Israel as a war crime, and persecution and apartheid as crimes against humanity.
If the arrest warrant is approved by the International Criminal Court, the Minister of Finance will be the first ever to be issued a warrant against him by an international court for apartheid charges.
It was also reported that a Palestinian delegation to The Hague had sent a letter to the court's deputy prosecutors, allegedly presenting evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israeli settlers and forces. The letter also noted that Israel had failed to prosecute those involved in those alleged crimes.
Yesterday it was announced that the court may issue an arrest warrant against five senior Israeli officials, including ministers and military officials.
The Hague court said in an official response yesterday that the published report that arrest warrants had already been issued was "inaccurate," and explicitly denied issuing new arrest warrants against Israelis.
The Foreign Ministry informed National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir - one of the senior officials previously mentioned as those against whom arrest warrants would be issued - that such a request had been submitted. Prosecutor General at the Hague Karim Khan had previously pushed for arrest warrants against Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, and the names of Defense Minister Katz, former Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and current Chief of Staff Zamir were also mentioned.
The person in charge of the investigation is Abdoullahi Sahi from Senegal, who is not considered friendly to Israel and is interested in becoming a judge at the court.
It was Karim Khan's replacement, Attorney Nazhat Shamim Khan, who decided to submit the request.
Unlike the warrants against Netanyahu and Galant, which were public warrants, the court has the option of proceeding with secret warrants - among other things, in cases where the court does not want the suspects to know about it, and will take precautionary measures to avoid being arrested.
It is possible that this time, if orders are issued, they will be secret orders.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded: "I am not afraid and will not be deterred. No order in The Hague will deter me from continuing to lead an aggressive policy against terrorists, against terrorism, and against Israel's enemies at home and abroad.".
While The Hague is protecting terrorists and trying to tie Israel's hands, I will continue to give full support to Israel's fighters and act resolutely for the security of Israeli citizens.
In the face of terrorism, we don't lower our heads - but rather bring the terrorists to their knees.
"I'm sorry to disappoint those 'justice seekers' - I won't apologize, I won't blink, and I won't stop.".
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