US strongly rejects ICC's decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli officials

Shafaq News/ On Monday, US President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken strongly rejected the decision by International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan to seek arrest warrants for two senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Khan announced earlier Monday that he has applied for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Defense Minister Benny Gantz; the head of Hamas' Politburo, Ismail Haniyeh; its top official in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar; and the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif.

Biden called the decision "outrageous" and pledged to stand with Israel as the process unfolds.

He further decried what he described as Khan's "equivalence" between Israel and Hamas, noting that three leaders of Hamas were also included in Khan's application for arrest warrants, along with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

"Let me be clear: whatever this Prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security," President Biden said in a statement.

"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." A statement by Secretary of State Blinken said.

Blinken also expressed Washighton's rejection of the Prosecutor's equivalence of Israel with Hamas, deeming it "shameful."

"Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that carried out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and is still holding dozens of innocent people hostage, including Americans."

Moreover, Blinken pointed out that "ICC has no jurisdiction over this matter."

"The ICC was established by its state parties as a court of limited jurisdiction. Those limits are rooted in principles of complementarity, which do not appear to have been applied here amid the Prosecutor's rush to seek these arrest warrants rather than allowing the Israeli legal system a full and timely opportunity to proceed. In other situations, the Prosecutor deferred to national investigations and worked with states to allow them time to investigate. The Prosecutor did not afford the same opportunity to Israel, which has ongoing investigations into allegations against its personnel."

Blinken said that despite not being a court member, Israel was "prepared to cooperate with the Prosecutor," revealing that the Prosecutor himself was scheduled to visit Israel as early as next week to discuss the investigation and hear from the Israeli Government.

"The Prosecutor's staff was supposed to land in Israel today to coordinate the visit. Israel was informed that they did not board their flight around the same time that the Prosecutor went on cable television to announce the charges. These and other circumstances call into question the legitimacy and credibility of this investigation."

The statement concluded by warning that this decision "could jeopardize ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement that would get hostages out and surge humanitarian assistance in, which are the goals the United States continues to pursue relentlessly."