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The Hungarian parliament on Tuesday approved a bill that will start a year-long process for the country's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

On April 3, Hungary announced its intention to leave the ICC shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Budapest on a rare state visit, defying an arrest warrant issued by the international tribunal over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had met Netanyahu then, criticizing the arrest warrant. He said the warrant proved the ICC is "not an independent court" but operates on "political grounds."

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Tuesday criticized the ICC's recent actions as "nonsensical" and "politically biased," according to a ministry statement, the MTI news agency reported.

He said issuing a wanted list for dead Hamas leaders in an attempt to balance their "politically unacceptable" decision to include Israel's prime minister on the list was "nonsensical" and politically biased.

The warrants issued last November also included Netanyahu’s former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, who was killed in July that year.​​​​​​��

"It is therefore obvious that Hungary has no place in this organization. We will not lend our name to such a frivolous and politically motivated court," he added.

He said the government will notify the UN secretary-general of the decision as soon as the legislation is signed by the president and promulgated. Hungary joined the ICC in 2001.

During Netanyahu's visit, human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, had called on Hungary to arrest Netanyahu and hand him over to the ICC, but the calls went unanswered.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its war on Gaza, where it has killed more than 53,000 people since October 2023 and has blocked all humanitarian aid for more than two months.