Israeli strikes leave over 50 dead in Gaza Strip

In November last year, the ICC had issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and then Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity during the Gaza war

- Associated Press

BUDAPEST: Hungary will begin the process of withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC), an official said on Thursday, just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived to red carpet treatment in the country's capital despite an arrest warrant from the world's only permanent global tribunal for war crimes and genocide.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban gave the Israeli leader a welcome with full military honors in Budapest's Castle District. The two close allies stood side by side as a military band played and an elaborate procession of soldiers on horseback and carrying swords and bayoneted rifles marched by.

As the ceremony unfolded, Orban's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, released a brief statement saying that "the government will initiate the withdrawal procedure" for leaving the court, which could take a year or more to complete.

Orban later said that he believes the ICC is "a political court".

Netanyahu's visit to Hungary, which is scheduled to last until Sunday, was only his second foreign trip since the ICC issued the warrant against him in November.