Netanyahu Says to Visit Hungary Despite War Crimes Warrant

A portrait of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hangs on the sidewalk during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, in front of the Israeli Defense Ministry in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on March 29, 2025. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
A portrait of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hangs on the sidewalk during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, in front of the Israeli Defense Ministry in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on March 29, 2025. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
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Netanyahu Says to Visit Hungary Despite War Crimes Warrant

A portrait of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hangs on the sidewalk during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, in front of the Israeli Defense Ministry in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on March 29, 2025. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
A portrait of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hangs on the sidewalk during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, in front of the Israeli Defense Ministry in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on March 29, 2025. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Hungary on April 2, his office said on Sunday, defying an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant issued over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

During his visit, Netanyahu is set to hold talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and other senior Hungarian officials before returning to Israel on April 6, AFP reported.

Orban extended an invitation to Netanyahu despite the ICC's arrest warrant issued last year.

One day after the ICC decision in November, Netanyahu thanked Orban for his show of "moral clarity" in extending the invitation.

Netanyahu's office at the time published what it said was a letter from Orban in which the Hungarian premier denounced the ICC decision as a "shameful" move.

The ICC issued warrants for Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes -- including starvation as a method of warfare -- in Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.



Iranian Nuclear Program Degraded by up to Two Years, Pentagon Says

Sean Parnell. (AFP/Getty Images)
Sean Parnell. (AFP/Getty Images)
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Iranian Nuclear Program Degraded by up to Two Years, Pentagon Says

Sean Parnell. (AFP/Getty Images)
Sean Parnell. (AFP/Getty Images)

The Pentagon said on Wednesday that US strikes 10 days ago had degraded Iran's nuclear program by up to two years, suggesting the US military operation likely achieved its goals despite a far more cautious initial assessment that leaked to the public.

Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, offered the figure at a briefing to reporters, adding that the official estimate was "probably closer to two years." Parnell did not provide evidence to back up his assessment.

"We have degraded their program by one to two years, at least intel assessments inside the Department (of Defense) assess that," Parnell told a news briefing.

US military bombers carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22 using more than a dozen 30,000-pound (13,600-kg) bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles.

The evolving US intelligence about the impact of the strikes is being closely watched, after President Donald Trump said almost immediately after they took place that Iran's program had been obliterated, language echoed by Parnell at Wednesday's briefing.

Such conclusions often take the US intelligence community weeks or more to determine.

"All of the intelligence that we've seen (has) led us to believe that Iran's -- those facilities especially, have been completely obliterated," Parnell said.

Over the weekend, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said that Iran could be producing enriched uranium in a few months, raising doubts about how effective US strikes to destroy Tehran's nuclear program have been.

Several experts have also cautioned that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of the deeply buried Fordow site before the strikes and could be hiding it.

But US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week he was unaware of intelligence suggesting Iran had moved its highly enriched uranium to shield it from US strikes.

A preliminary assessment last week from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggested that the strikes may have only set back Iran's nuclear program by months. But Trump administration officials said that assessment was low confidence and had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran's nuclear program was severely damaged.

According to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the strikes on the Fordow nuclear site caused severe damage.

"No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged," Araqchi said in the interview broadcast by CBS News on Tuesday.