The U.S has condemned the International Criminal Court’s applications to issue arrest warrants for top Israeli leaders.
President Joe Biden described the decision as “outrageous.”
“The United States fundamentally rejects the announcement today from the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that he is applying for arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials, together with warrants for Hamas terrorists,” Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, said.
The International Criminal Court on Monday sought arrest warrants for the leaders of Hamas and Israel for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the war in Gaza.
In a statement, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza; Mohammed Deif, the commander of the Qassam Brigades, its military wing; and Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau, “bear criminal responsibility” for murder, extermination, and taking hostages” for the Gaza terrorist outfit’s deadly attacks in southern Israel on October 7 and holding foreigners hostage.
There are also reasonable grounds to assume that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are guilty for further crimes and crimes against humanity committed on Palestinian territory, he continued.
To supplement the allegations, Prosecutor Khan, a British national, stated that his office had interrogated victims and survivors of Hamas-led terror strikes in Israel.
In terms of Netanyahu and Gallant’s responsibility, the ICC Prosecutor accused them of using “starvation as a method of war.”
This and other crimes against humanity were allegedly carried out “as part of a widespread and systematic attack on the Palestinian civilian population pursuant to State policy.”
The Pre-Trial Chambers will decide whether to issue arrest warrants, and the purported charges must also be confirmed.
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