WEST BANK (Dispatches) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan was preparing international arrest warrants for the Zionist regime’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and hardline minister Itamar Ben Gvir before he went on administrative leave from his position, due to an ongoing investigation concerning him, The Wall Street Journal reported.
According to the report, the arrest warrants relate to the two Israeli far-right ministers’ involvement in the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. 
Citing current and former ICC officials, the paper also noted that the decision has reportedly been passed on to Khan’s deputies, although it remains unclear how they will proceed.
The ICC is reportedly investigating additional unnamed Israeli officials, along with Ben Gvir and Smotrich, over their involvement in settlement expansion.
According to the ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute, the transfer by an occupying power of its population into occupied territory is a war crime. The Geneva Conventions also prohibit such action.
The United Nations’ International Court of Justice, which is distinct from the non-UN ICC, also sees Israeli settlements as illegal.
The court did not comment to the newspaper regarding Smotrich and Ben Gvir, saying only that it has a mandate to investigate alleged crimes in the Palestinian territories committed since 2014, when the Palestinian Authority joined the ICC. Israel is not a member of the ICC.
In 2021, the court ruled that it has jurisdiction over crimes in the West Bank, even though the Zionist regime is not a member.
Neither Smotrich nor Ben Gvir responded to a WSJ request for comment.
Unnamed Israeli officials told the Kan public broadcaster that after Khan went on leave, and in light of the “concerning facts being revealed about his behavior, it is expected that his deputies will act with caution and responsibility in dealing with the case.”