Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich confirmed that the International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant against him, calling the move 'a declaration of war' and pledging to 'fight back with a vengeance.' He accused the Palestinian Authority of pressuring the court to target senior Israeli leaders and said he would act against any economic or other interests within his authority.

Shortly after addressing the warrant, Smotrich ordered the demolition of the long-disputed Khan al-Ahmar Bedouin village east of Jerusalem. He did not specify the charges against him but highlighted his role in establishing more than 100 new settlements and 160 farming outposts in the West Bank, which he said help control 247,000 acres of land.

Reports last year indicated that the court’s prosecutor was seeking action against Smotrich over settlement expansion, following an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice that such activity violates the Geneva Convention prohibition on transferring civilians into occupied territories. Smotrich rejected the legitimacy of the court’s actions, asserting that Israel would not accept what he described as biased interference against its rights and security.